The Amazon Way - BookWyrm

audio cd

Published Aug. 10, 2021 by Brilliance Audio.

ISBN:: 978-1-7136-2579-7

(2 reviews)

In just twenty years, Amazon.com has gone from a start-up internet bookseller to a global company revolutionizing and disrupting multiple industries, including retail, publishing, logistics, devices, apparel, and cloud computing. But what is at the heart of Amazon.com's rise to success? Is it the tens of millions of items in stock, the company's technological prowess, or the many customer service innovations like "one-click"? As a leader at Amazon who had a front-row seat during its formative years, John Rossman understands the iconic company better than most. From the launch of Amazon's third-party seller program to their foray into enterprise services, he witnessed it all--the amazing successes, the little-known failures, and the experiments whose outcomes are still in doubt. In The Amazon Way, Rossman introduces readers to the unique corporate culture of the world's largest Internet retailer, with a focus on the fourteen leadership principles that have guided and shaped its …

In just twenty years, Amazon.com has gone from a start-up internet bookseller to a global company revolutionizing and disrupting multiple industries, including retail, publishing, logistics, devices, apparel, and cloud computing. But what is at the heart of Amazon.com's rise to success? Is it the tens of millions of items in stock, the company's technological prowess, or the many customer service innovations like "one-click"? As a leader at Amazon who had a front-row seat during its formative years, John Rossman understands the iconic company better than most. From the launch of Amazon's third-party seller program to their foray into enterprise services, he witnessed it all--the amazing successes, the little-known failures, and the experiments whose outcomes are still in doubt. In The Amazon Way, Rossman introduces readers to the unique corporate culture of the world's largest Internet retailer, with a focus on the fourteen leadership principles that have guided and shaped its decisions and its distinctive leadership culture.

6 editions

Alexander L. Belikoff reviewed The Amazon way by John Rossman

Review of 'The Amazon way' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The book is basically an advocacy brochure for Amazon Leadership Principles. As far as the Principles go, I am a big fan - they are honest, emphasize the right traits and suggest really robust behavior patterns. I definitely find myself reviewing them and checking my decisions against them on a regular basis. So from that aspect, this book is highly recommended.

I do disagree however with the Author's insistence, that these Principles are inextricably linked to the "gladiator pit" corporate culture (at least the way I see it based on many external and internal accounts). The Author is constantly trying to explain and excuse the tongue lashings, "beatdowns", and cross-team Darwinian survival as the essential traits, that both support the Principles and also allow Amazon.com to constantly push the bar higher. I do believe that strong leadership doesn't have to be based on war mentality. But that is a completely …

The book is basically an advocacy brochure for Amazon Leadership Principles. As far as the Principles go, I am a big fan - they are honest, emphasize the right traits and suggest really robust behavior patterns. I definitely find myself reviewing them and checking my decisions against them on a regular basis. So from that aspect, this book is highly recommended.

I do disagree however with the Author's insistence, that these Principles are inextricably linked to the "gladiator pit" corporate culture (at least the way I see it based on many external and internal accounts). The Author is constantly trying to explain and excuse the tongue lashings, "beatdowns", and cross-team Darwinian survival as the essential traits, that both support the Principles and also allow Amazon.com to constantly push the bar higher. I do believe that strong leadership doesn't have to be based on war mentality. But that is a completely different topic.

Finally, the two appendices (one on "self-service," the other on "platformization") feel somewhat irrelevant to the topic and artificial. I don't think they contribute much to the overall narration.

Bottom line: in my taxonomy it falls under a "reference" category. It is a really good book - as long as you focus on "what" and "why" and ignore war stories. As such, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone working in pretty much any capacity - not necessarily in Technology or for a large corporation. The Principles are solid and the book is concise enough to grant a high signal/noise ratio. Get this book!

Lumii

rated it

Aug. 25, 2016