# Working Backwards  ## Metadata - Author: [[Colin Bryar and Bill Carr]] - Full Title: Working Backwards - Category: #books ## Highlights - “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. ([Location 44](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=44)) - “Our culture is four things: 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.” ([Location 48](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=48)) - the Bar Raiser hiring process that ensures that the company continues to acquire top talent; a bias for separable teams run by leaders with a singular focus that optimizes for speed of delivery and innovation; the use of written narratives instead of slide decks to ensure that deep understanding of complex issues drives well-informed decisions; a relentless focus on input metrics to ensure that teams work on activities that propel the business. And finally there is the product development process that gives this book its name: working backwards from the desired customer experience. ([Location 61](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=61)) - Jeff often used an analogy in those days when describing our efforts to innovate and build new businesses. “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.” ([Location 128](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=128)) - Note: This is exactly the tinkering idea from antifragile. This mindset gains from disorder/randomenss - The basic premise is, for each initiative or project, there is a single leader whose focus is that project and that project alone, and that leader oversees teams of people whose attention is similarly focused on that one project. ([Location 198](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=198)) - The customer is also at the center of how we analyze and manage performance metrics. Our emphasis is on what we call controllable input metrics, rather than output metrics. Controllable input metrics (e.g., reducing internal costs so you can affordably lower product prices, adding new items for sale on the website, or reducing standard delivery time) measure the set of activities that, if done well, will yield the desired results, or output metrics (such as monthly revenue and stock price). We detail these metrics as well as how to discover and track them in chapter six. ([Location 213](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=213)) - From the tone of customer emails to the condition of the books and their packaging, Jeff had one simple rule: “It has to be perfect.” He’d remind his team that one bad customer experience would undo the goodwill of hundreds of perfect ones. ([Location 251](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=251)) - “When I interview people I tell them, ‘You can work long, hard, or smart, but at Amazon.com you can’t choose two out of three.’”2 ([Location 269](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=269)) - If, for example, a person spoke up at a meeting and suggested an idea that was obviously geared toward short-term considerations and ignored significant longer-term ones, or proposed something that was competitor- rather than customer-centric, there would be an uncomfortable pause before someone pointed out what was on everyone else’s mind. ([Location 292](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=292)) - People often ask, “How do you remember all 14 principles?” The answer is not that we are particularly good at memorization. In fact, if a company’s principles must be memorized, it’s a warning sign that they aren’t sufficiently woven into the fabric of that company. We know and remember Amazon’s principles because they are the basic framework used for making decisions and taking action. We encountered them every day, measured ourselves against them, and held one another similarly accountable. The longer you work at Amazon, the more these 14 principles become part of you and how you look at the world. ([Location 335](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=335)) - Bias for Action. Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk-taking. ([Location 368](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=368)) - Dive Deep. Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdotes differ. No task is beneath them. ([Location 374](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=374)) - There’s a saying often heard at Amazon: “Good intentions don’t work. Mechanisms do.” ([Location 393](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=393)) - S-Team goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely (SMART). An actual S-Team goal could be as specific as “Add 500 new products in the amazon.fr Musical Instruments category (100 products in Q1, 200 in Q2…),” or “Ensure 99.99 percent of all calls to software service ‘Y’ are successfully responded to within 10 milliseconds,” or “Increase repeat advertisers from 50 percent to 75 percent by Q3 of next year.” ([Location 439](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=439)) - S-Team goals are aggressive enough that Amazon only expects about three-quarters of them to be fully achieved during the year. Hitting every one of them would be a clear sign that the bar had been set too low. ([Location 442](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=442)) - At many companies, when the senior leadership meets, they tend to focus more on big-picture, high-level strategy issues than on execution. At Amazon, it’s the opposite. Amazon leaders toil over the execution details and regularly embody the Dive Deep leadership principle, which states: “Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdotes differ. No task is beneath them.” ([Location 446](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08BYCQBZN&location=446))