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Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards)

November 2, 2023

AI Summary

5 min read

Bill Carr, co-author of Working Backwards, draws from 15 years at Amazon to explain the company's process innovations developed mainly from 2003-2007 during rapid scaling. These include single-threaded leadership, working backwards from customer needs, input-output metrics, disagree-and-commit decision-making, and Bar Raiser hiring, all reinforced by leadership principles and designed for ownership, speed, and functional excellence in complex organizations.

Scaling Through Single-Threaded Leadership

As Amazon grew beyond retail into marketplaces, international operations, and new lines like AWS, centralized resource fights slowed progress. Single-threaded leaders emerged as a counter: dedicated teams with one accountable owner and cross-functional resources (direct or dotted-line reports) focused on a program like search improvements, not short-term projects. This trades collaboration for agility but requires preconditions like service-oriented architecture with APIs for independence. Countermeasures preserve expertise—centralized C-level functions set standards for code reviews, promotions, and panels where specialists from other teams assist.

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What you'll learn

1 *(00:04:30) **Amazon's Process Innovations and Origins**
2 *(00:12:03) **Single-Threaded Leaders Explained**
3 *(00:22:06) **Countermeasures for Single-Threaded Teams**
4 *(00:25:23) **Disagree and Commit in Practice**
5 *(00:35:26) **Working Backwards and PR/FAQ Process**
6 *(00:54:31) **Input vs. Output Metrics**
7 *(01:04:23) **Handling Failures and Risk-Taking**

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Show Notes

Bill Carr is the co-author of Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon. With a background at Amazon of over 15 years, Bill played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s global digital music and video ventures, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. After Amazon, Bill was an Executive in Residence with Maveron, an early-stage, consumer-only venture capital firm. He later served as the chief operating officer of OfferUp, the largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers in the U.S. Today he’s the co-founder of Working Backwards LLC, where he helps companies implement Amazon’s time-tested management strategies. In this episode, we discuss:

• What exactly “working backwards” is, and how you do it

• Why having “single-threaded leaders” is so effective

• Inside Amazon’s intense product review process

• How to actually follow the “disagree and commit” principle

• The thinking behind the principle “Leaders are right, a lot”

• Input vs. output metrics

• Fostering a culture of risk-taking and innovation

• The role and responsibilities of a “bar raiser” in your hiring, and how it significantly improves the success rate of new hires

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/unpacking-amazons-unique-ways-of-working-bill-carr-author-of-working-backwards/

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Where to find Bill Carr:

• X: https://twitter.com/BillCarr89

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-carr/

• Website: https://www.workingbackwards.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/