Ah "don't compromise for the sake of social cohesion." This part of the LP is probably the signle biggest source of the 'Amhole' stereotype. Certainly a distinctive belief of the company that harmony is often overvalued in the workplace - that it can stifle honest critique or encourage polite praise for flawed ideas. One downside is that every meeting becomes a "battle royale".
I half-jokingly tell people that this scene (linked below) is a good depiction of a real life Amazon meeting. It's from S1 of the Star Wars TV show Andor.
Side note, I suspect that Bezos would score very low on 'agreeableness' on a personality test. Not meant as a diss, but agreeableness is a trait in psychology quantified on a sliding scale similar to introversion/extroversion. It's kind of a poor name since saying one is "disagreeable" has a negative connotation. Would also not surprise me if folks in company leadership also generally score low on agreeableness. Check out the "Big 5" personality traits.
Yeah - I'm sure it contributes to the Amhole stereotype. I personally don't like conflict when it's aggressive vs. inquisitive (in the positive, non Spanish-Inquisition way). I get that I've got a hardened skin from Amazon, though I didn't attend too many meetings that felt like a battle royale. Even the story I share from Amazon at the end of the piece really was better described as the other team "always looking out for us" in a somewhat sarcastic way you might use when a bunch of brilliant scientists start inventing new techniques to figure out why your ads can't possibly not be terrible. But I know others who would say differently.
But … I've developed many tricks over the years to try to generate the constructive conflict because as much as I hate realizing I'm wrong, I've decided I feel worse finding out I was wrong later when things don't work.
FWIW - this piece was motivated from two of the three companies I worked with after Amazon. Niceness and compromise at least in some quarters seemed a way to smooth over stressful things - and anytime I noticed that happening the results were truly not good. So I wouldn't use Amazon as the gold standard here. But if name dropping Amazon/Jeff gets people engaged. ;-)
Also - I found that Andor scene pretty stressful, much in the same way I can't watch The Office because it seems too workplace triggering. I don't get why people watch medical drama shows (at least ones after Clooney left) - being human I don't want to watch that either. :-)
Just like the old joke lawyers tell -- "you know it's a good compromise when both parties are equally unhappy"
Ah "don't compromise for the sake of social cohesion." This part of the LP is probably the signle biggest source of the 'Amhole' stereotype. Certainly a distinctive belief of the company that harmony is often overvalued in the workplace - that it can stifle honest critique or encourage polite praise for flawed ideas. One downside is that every meeting becomes a "battle royale".
I half-jokingly tell people that this scene (linked below) is a good depiction of a real life Amazon meeting. It's from S1 of the Star Wars TV show Andor.
https://youtu.be/iKl0F640914?si=PrBlp0rHBNE9Y73g
Side note, I suspect that Bezos would score very low on 'agreeableness' on a personality test. Not meant as a diss, but agreeableness is a trait in psychology quantified on a sliding scale similar to introversion/extroversion. It's kind of a poor name since saying one is "disagreeable" has a negative connotation. Would also not surprise me if folks in company leadership also generally score low on agreeableness. Check out the "Big 5" personality traits.
Yeah - I'm sure it contributes to the Amhole stereotype. I personally don't like conflict when it's aggressive vs. inquisitive (in the positive, non Spanish-Inquisition way). I get that I've got a hardened skin from Amazon, though I didn't attend too many meetings that felt like a battle royale. Even the story I share from Amazon at the end of the piece really was better described as the other team "always looking out for us" in a somewhat sarcastic way you might use when a bunch of brilliant scientists start inventing new techniques to figure out why your ads can't possibly not be terrible. But I know others who would say differently.
But … I've developed many tricks over the years to try to generate the constructive conflict because as much as I hate realizing I'm wrong, I've decided I feel worse finding out I was wrong later when things don't work.
FWIW - this piece was motivated from two of the three companies I worked with after Amazon. Niceness and compromise at least in some quarters seemed a way to smooth over stressful things - and anytime I noticed that happening the results were truly not good. So I wouldn't use Amazon as the gold standard here. But if name dropping Amazon/Jeff gets people engaged. ;-)
Also - I found that Andor scene pretty stressful, much in the same way I can't watch The Office because it seems too workplace triggering. I don't get why people watch medical drama shows (at least ones after Clooney left) - being human I don't want to watch that either. :-)
Thanks so much for reading and engaging!!