Jeff Bezos recently announced that he would be stepping down later this year as the CEO of Amazon, the online retailer he started in his Seattle garage nearly 30 years ago. While Bezos doesn’t share my biblical values, I think there’s a lot I can learn from how he ran Amazon. Here are a few of my takeaways from how he managed his life and business. Most of these insights are positive. The last one is a mixed bag.
- Dream big. Act daring. Embrace risk—Amazon’s story is different than that of Apple, though both companies started in a garage. When the two Steves began making computers in the Jobs family garage, they had nothing to lose. They were both young and ambitious, but they weren’t walking away from anything to pursue their dream. That wasn’t the case for Bezos. In order for Amazon’s founder to pursue his dream, he had to leave his job as a senior vice president at D.E. Shaw, an NYC-based hedge fund specializing in mathematical modeling. Bezos understood that there is no risk-free route to dream fulfillment. What risk do you need to accept to fulfill your dream? What do you need to do today to start down that road?
- “Regret minimization framework”—When Bezos was trying to decide whether to leave his job at Shaw, he created the Regret Minimization Framework to help him work through the issues. He had the full support of his wife. That made the decision both easier and more challenging. He felt the weight of the decision, but he also understood that most of his fears were short-term. He wanted to think further out. So, he decided to project himself forward to the age of 80 and then ask himself this question. “If I look back on my life, will I regret not doing this?” Ultimately, he decided that the window to get in on the information revolution was a narrow one, and he needed to act now. So, he did. He quit his job at Shaw, walked away mid-year (which meant forfeiting his annual bonus), moved to Seattle to cut expenses, and poured himself into his dream. The rest is history. How do you view the issue of regrets? Is there anything you wish you would have done that you didn’t? When you’re 80, will you feel good about the choices you’re making today?
- Get plenty of sleep—Bezos is religious about getting eight hours of sleep a night. I don’t think I have any Fortune 500 CEOs reading my blog, but I know plenty of people who lead small to medium-sized organizations. Many of these friends believe they are too busy to get more than 5-6 hours of sleep a night. According to Bezos, if that’s the case, you’re not managing yourself or your company well. The importance of sleep cannot be overstated. Dr. Harneet Walia of the Cleveland Clinic argues that adults between 18-65 need 7-9 hours of sleep a night. The costs are high when we habitually deprive ourselves of sleep. Some of the short-term issues associate with sleep deprivation are a lack of alertness, excessive daytime sleepiness, impaired memory, relationship stress, poor quality of life, and the increased likelihood of being involved in an automobile accident. All of these will negatively affect your ability to care for people and/or lead the organization you lead. Getting enough sleep never happens by accident. You have to be intentional. Bezos is–you should be too. How are you doing in this crucial area of life? If you aren’t getting enough sleep, what do you need to change?
- Make a small number of high quality-decisions each day—Bezos gets up early but never takes meetings before 10 A.M. He argues that many leaders get involved in decisions that don’t need their input. This approach takes up mental and emotional energy while also disempowering those under you in the organization. Bezos says he’s happy if he makes three high-quality decisions a day. These decisions usually flow out of what he calls “High IQ” meetings (more on that below). Are you limiting yourself to making decisions that only you can make? What do you need to give away?
- Obsess over customers—If you lead in an organization, you have “customers.” You may not think of them that way, but there’s a group of people you are tasked to serve. Bezos rightly understood that without customers, Amazon didn’t have a reason for being. We often forget this. We think, “What’s best for us?” or “What’s best for the organization?” According to Bezos, these are the wrong questions. He argues that what’s best for the customer is what’s best for the company. Who are your “customers?” Do your decisions put them first? If not, what needs to change to move your focus to where it needs to be? Have you made it public who you see as your primary stakeholder? There is accountability in making this public.
- Innovate. Then innovate some more—Nothing remains static. In a fast-moving environment, you’re advancing or declining. Advancement requires innovation, and in the words of Marshall Goldsmith, “What got you here won’t get you there.” Amazon was rated the best-managed company in America in 2019 by the Drucker Institute. It was innovation that pushed the company past Apple—their historical rival in the tech space. Interestingly, while Amazon fills more patent applications than other tech companies, it also abandons more patent applications than anyone else. This fact demonstrates its willingness to sacrifice “sacred cows.” Innovation not only includes adopting what moves us forward, but it also includes abandoning what might be holding us back. According to Missio Nexus, “Legacy ministry models, financial pressures, the pace of change, and even success conspire against innovation.” How innovative is your team? Are there people you need to bring onto the team to increase your “innovation quotient?” Conversely, what do you need to abandon today?
- Embrace failure (not to be confused with executing poorly)—In the book, Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, we find an excellent example of what he means (and doesn’t mean) by embracing failure. He states, “If we build a new fulfillment center and it’s a disaster, that’s just bad execution. But when we are developing a new product or service or experimenting in some way, and it doesn’t work, that’s OK. That’s great failure.” I think sometimes we’re too quick to overlook poor execution while unwittingly embracing the fear of failure. Innovative organizations are willing to fail. Well-run organizations are committed to excellence, so when they execute poorly, they fix the problem, learn from their mistake, and do their best to avoid the same mistake in the future. Have you created a culture that tolerates poor execution? What do you do to ensure that you learn from your mistakes? Are you willing to fail in the right areas? What are you doing to create a “failure-friendly environment?”
- Most meetings are pointless. Make them matter—Most of us hate meetings, but they are part of leadership. If you aren’t willing to embrace this reality—don’t lead. However, not all meetings are created equal. I don’t think most leaders hate meetings. They hate unproductive meetings. So, what can we do to increase the productivity of our time together? Bezos requires presenters in meetings to write a memo, no longer than six pages, that is circulated and silently read at the start of a meeting by everyone present. This approach prevents pointless discussion. It also helps presenters refine their ideas before presenting. There is no “winging it” in a Bezos-led meeting. Some version of this approach might make our meetings more productive. What can you do to make your meetings more productive? If you don’t know, start by reading Patrick Lencioni’s book, Death by Meeting.
- Ignore the stock market (focus on long-term gains)—Okay, this one isn’t directly relevant to most of my readers as we operate primarily in the faith or non-profit community. However, that doesn’t mean there is no takeaway. The underlying idea behind this point is to focus on long-term advances rather than short-term wins (or losses). To move the organization forward, we will inevitably have to make decisions that interrupt the status quo. Faith communities seem to perform worse in this area than their business counterparts. We operate with a double bottom line. We have to measure financial progress, but we understand that this isn’t our only matrix for evaluating success. Only time gives perspective. It will reveal if your decision to embrace risk and act in a particular way is correct, but it will also disclose the consequences of your unwillingness to act. What do you need to do now to build for the future?
- Create a culture of productivity above all else—Finally, and this is a less than positive thought, Bezos created a culture in which employees are often worked to the breaking point. Productive is the “god” at Amazon, where everything is measured. I don’t think this is an approach we should adopt, but I also don’t think it’s something we should ignore. Much of what we do in the church can’t be measured. Jesus had great success with his “top three,” good success with “the 12” (11 out of 12 finished well), but he seemingly failed with the crowd (“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” John 6:66). Interestingly, he seemed to be “okay” with this. Jesus loved every one, but he also understood that not everyone would come with him. We don’t see Jesus “blasting” those who left. He knew his calling, and he stuck with it, operating within his sphere of control. Productivity is not an issue we always measure in the faith community. It’s a tension we’re going to have to live with. Do you measure things? If not, you’re probably not being a good steward of those things God has entrusted to you. If you measure things, are you measure the right things? We want to be efficient. We have to be effective. After all, too much is at stake for us to be otherwise.
I hope this article has helped you think through your leadership. If so, I recommend that you take one or two of the areas mentioned above in which you need to improve and develop an action plan for change. So, what are you going to do today to become a better leader?
Several of the big points highlighted in this post came from a Wall Street Journal article entitled, “How Jeff Bazos has run Amazon, from meetings to managing.”
I gathered additional background information from the Wikipedia sites related to Amazon and its founder.