Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards)

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Nov 2, 2023

Bill Carr, co-author of 'Working Backwards' and former Amazon executive, shares insights from over 15 years inside the tech giant. He explores the 'working backwards' methodology and how it prioritizes customer needs in product development. Carr discusses the value of 'single-threaded leaders' and Amazon's rigorous product review process. He emphasizes the 'disagree and commit' approach for better decision-making and illustrates how fostering a culture of risk-taking drives innovation. Additionally, he highlights unique hiring practices that improve success rates of new employees.

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INSIGHT

Process Innovation at Amazon

Amazon was equally focused on process innovation as it was on product innovation.
This focus, combined with a scientific approach to experimentation and iteration, led to the development of many unique working practices.

ANECDOTE

Failed Experiment: Fitness Functions

Amazon experimented with "fitness functions," a weighted index of key metrics, for teams.
This approach proved ineffective, as compound metrics obfuscated the drivers of success, leading Amazon to favor individual metrics.

INSIGHT

Single-Threaded Leadership

Single-threaded leadership promotes ownership, speed, and agility by dedicating resources to a single leader and their team.
This model requires countermeasures to maintain functional excellence when specialists are distributed across teams.

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Walter Isaacson

This biography, based on more than 40 interviews with Steve Jobs and over 100 interviews with family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues, provides a riveting story of Jobs' roller-coaster life and intense personality. It highlights his passion for perfection, his ferocious drive, and how he revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. The book explores Jobs' contradictions, his 'reality distortion field,' and the lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values that can be drawn from his life and career.

Seveneves

Neal Stephenson

Seveneves tells the story of an apocalyptic event where the Moon suddenly breaks apart without warning, leading to a catastrophic 'Hard Rain' of moon fragments that will render Earth uninhabitable for thousands of years. The novel follows the global efforts to save humanity by evacuating people to a swarm of 'arklet' habitats in orbit. The story is divided into three parts, covering the immediate aftermath, the long-term survival in space, and the eventual re-colonization of Earth five thousand years later. The book delves into themes of science, technology, genetics, and the long-term implications of human survival and societal rebuilding[2][3][5].

Good to Great

Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

Jim Collins

In 'Good to Great,' Jim Collins and his research team investigate why some companies achieve long-term greatness while others do not. The book identifies key concepts such as Level 5 Leadership, the Hedgehog Concept, a Culture of Discipline, and the Flywheel Effect. These principles are derived from a comprehensive study comparing companies that made the leap to greatness with those that did not. The research highlights that greatness is not primarily a function of circumstance but rather a result of conscious choice and discipline. The book provides practical insights and case studies to help businesses and leaders understand and apply these principles to achieve sustained greatness.

Discipline is Destiny

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Ryan Holiday

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The Practice of Management

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Published in 1954, 'The Practice of Management' by Peter Drucker is a seminal work that remains highly relevant today. The book defines management as a distinct responsibility and outlines its key functions, including managing business, managers, and workers. Drucker introduces the concept of 'Management by Objectives' (MBO), emphasizing the importance of setting clear objectives and measuring performance. He also stresses that the primary purpose of a business is to create a customer, rather than maximize profit, and highlights the roles of marketing and innovation in achieving this goal. The book is known for its practical wisdom and scholarly insight, making it a valuable resource for both scholars and practitioners in the field of management.

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Working Backwards

Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon

Colin Bryar

Bill Carr

Working Backwards provides a detailed look at Amazon's approach to culture, leadership, and innovation. The book is written by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr, who collectively have 27 years of experience at Amazon. It outlines the company's 14 leadership principles and how they are applied in practice, focusing on customer obsession, long-term thinking, and operational excellence. The book is divided into two parts: the first part explains the leadership principles and practices, while the second part includes case studies on the development of products like Kindle, Amazon Prime, and Amazon Web Services. The authors provide practical steps and insights that can be applied to any business, regardless of size or industry[2][4][5].

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Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries

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The Effective Decision

None

Peter Drucker