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This isn't a jibe at Amazon, but I wouldn't call it Principles. Principles is something you adhere to when there's no financial gain involved. When defense cont
by rodionos 9y ago
This isn't a jibe at Amazon, but I wouldn't call it Principles. Principles is something you adhere to when there's no financial gain involved. When defense contractors use the terms Values, Excellence, Honesty etc - it just undermines the effort.
There should be a better word to describe this, perhaps Weights and Constraints when making decisions at Amazon. It's difficult to come up with something as good as Azimov's laws but for humans.
- golergka 9y agoI don't quite understand - what is it about financial gain that makes it incompatible with principles?
- yAnonymous 9y agoNothing. He doesn't know the meaning of the word, that's all.
- golergka 9y agoI have to admit, I have the same opinion. But I'm always delighted to be proven wrong, and would appreciate good arguments against it.
- rfrey 9y agoA principle is just a foundational truth that you start a chain of reasoning or behavior from. You can have principles for maximizing profits, principles for good software architecture, principles for increasing reliability of your vehicle. These are principles for leadership, OP is conflating that with principles for moral living, or principles for ethical behavior, or something like that.
- rodionos 9y agoPrinciples is something that you keep regardless if there is money on the table. If money plays any role in the decision process - it's called a contract.
- mabbo 9y agoAmazon doesn't have definitive proof that following these overall guidelines will make the company successful, but they have been following them to help with decision making and they've also made a lot of money. To quote a movie: 'the code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules'
- golergka 9y agoStrange. What if the logic of the principle directly involves money?
- ckozlowski 9y agoI think a bit of that still holds true. Jeff has said repeatedly (most famously in the 1997 shareholder letter) that we will sacrifice short-term profits for long-term gain. And with that there's been many instance in just the time I've been here where we're practically begging the customer to do things that will save them money because it's the right thing to do. It builds trust. Of course we think we're earn more money over the long run doing things this way. This is, after all, a business. But it's been a refreshing change of pace in that I don't hear any worry about that long term. It has always been, even in sales, "customer obsession", help them thrive. If we focus on our principles and adhere to that, then the business will grow itself. (Disclaimer: I work for AWS.)
- Spooky23 9y agoNot necessarily. Principles are foundational. How you apply them is subject to interpretation and context.