Colin Bryar

“We have an unshakeable conviction that the long-term interests of shareowners are perfectly aligned with the interests of customers.” 2 In other words, while it’s true that shareholder value stems from growth in profit, Amazon believes that long-term growth is best produced by putting the customer first

customer obsession instead of competitor obsession; willingness to think long term, with a longer investment horizon than most of our peers; eagerness to invent, which of course goes hand in hand with failure; and then, finally, taking professional pride in operational excellence.”

working backwards from the desired customer experience.

Both Jeff and Andy made it clear that this was not the role of an observer or auditor, nor was it a training role. I would be expected to contribute immediately: to come up with ideas, take risks, and be a sounding board for Jeff.

I worked with him during his regular office hours from ten in the morning to seven in the evening. Most days entailed between five and seven meetings with product or executive teams.

I was often asked, “How do you think Jeff will respond to this idea?” My standard answer was, “I can’t predict what he’ll say, but these are the principles that typically inform his response. . . .”

miss. One time a friend saw me writing down a long list of items in a notebook and asked what I was doing. I responded, “Well, I have a five-hour flight to New York with Jeff later this week and I want to make sure I have at least five hours’ worth of questions and topics in case there’s any free time.”

I often directly asked him for his specific thinking behind his insights, as the reasoning behind them was often more illuminating than the insights themselves.

We need to plant many seeds,” he would say, “because we don’t know which one of those seeds will grow into a mighty oak.”

not a mystical leadership cult but a flexible mindset. You can take the elements that you need as you need them, then tweak and customize them as conditions warrant. The concept also has a wonderful fractal quality, meaning it can add benefit at any scale.