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Thanks for writing this, and with all due respect: This exact article could have been copy/pasted from any of the other big-tech companies. What makes Amazon d

Thanks for writing this, and with all due respect: This exact article could have been copy/pasted from any of the other big-tech companies. What makes Amazon different?

sumitgt 9y ago
The way Amazon does one-pagers is sort of unique.
- xchaotic 9y ago
  You mean on six pages? ;)
  - sumitgt 9y ago
    The 20 minute quiet reading in the beginning is kinda different. At the other companies I've worked for, you were expected to come to the meeting having read the docs sent over email.
    - sushisource 9y ago
      The Amazon way appeals to me because in my experience pretty much no one ever does the pre-reading.
      - jdbernard 9y ago
        And even if they do chances are they've context switched enough since reading that most of the details are lost.
    - RandomOpinion 9y ago
      > At the other companies I've worked for, you were expected to come to the meeting having read the docs sent over email. It may be expected but large numbers of people don't do it. The 20 min. thing is a bit odd but I can see how it could be a net positive.
    - wtetzner 9y ago
      Yeah, although the 20 minute reading seems better to me. For one thing, it means everyone in the meeting has actually read the docs. But it also means that it's fresh in everyone's mind when the meeting actually starts.
faitswulff 9y ago
The author says as much: > ...but at the end of the day it’s just another high-tech company, nothing surprising.
- peterwwillis 9y ago
  So, basically: "If you like being shunt into small teams to work on small projects that take too long and go nowhere, being unable to effect larger changes that actually improve things upon the sprawling mass of wasted effort and reinvented wheels, no long term organization or planning or realistic goals, no semblance of cross-group communication or organization, total enslavement to a disjointed hierarchical mess of disparate initiatives that are ignorant of one another (to say nothing of even caring to help each other), and wasting half your time supporting legacy systems that nobody has the energy or balls to finally put in the dirt, welcome to working at a big tech company." I might be a little cynical.
pwinnski 9y ago
I've read many posts here on HN about how terrible working for Amazon is compared to other big tech companies, so this makes for some balance, at least.

Thanks for writing this, and with all due respect: This exact article could have been copy/pasted from any of the other big-tech companies. What makes Amazon different?

sumitgt 9y ago

The way Amazon does one-pagers is sort of unique.

xchaotic 9y ago
You mean on six pages? ;)
- sumitgt 9y ago
  The 20 minute quiet reading in the beginning is kinda different. At the other companies I've worked for, you were expected to come to the meeting having read the docs sent over email.
  - sushisource 9y ago
    The Amazon way appeals to me because in my experience pretty much no one ever does the pre-reading.
    - jdbernard 9y ago
      And even if they do chances are they've context switched enough since reading that most of the details are lost.
  - RandomOpinion 9y ago
    > At the other companies I've worked for, you were expected to come to the meeting having read the docs sent over email. It may be expected but large numbers of people don't do it. The 20 min. thing is a bit odd but I can see how it could be a net positive.
  - wtetzner 9y ago
    Yeah, although the 20 minute reading seems better to me. For one thing, it means everyone in the meeting has actually read the docs. But it also means that it's fresh in everyone's mind when the meeting actually starts.

faitswulff 9y ago

The author says as much: > ...but at the end of the day it’s just another high-tech company, nothing surprising.

peterwwillis 9y ago
So, basically: "If you like being shunt into small teams to work on small projects that take too long and go nowhere, being unable to effect larger changes that actually improve things upon the sprawling mass of wasted effort and reinvented wheels, no long term organization or planning or realistic goals, no semblance of cross-group communication or organization, total enslavement to a disjointed hierarchical mess of disparate initiatives that are ignorant of one another (to say nothing of even caring to help each other), and wasting half your time supporting legacy systems that nobody has the energy or balls to finally put in the dirt, welcome to working at a big tech company." I might be a little cynical.

pwinnski 9y ago

I've read many posts here on HN about how terrible working for Amazon is compared to other big tech companies, so this makes for some balance, at least.