What does it need to be successful? The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, gives his advice. This week, the Amazon CEO issued its annual letter to shareholders, emphasizing the financial results of the e-commerce company. He also mentioned the secrets of Amazon's success and some of his smarter business practices.
You can read the letter as a whole here, and some of the most important items are:
Success is to have high goals.
How is Amazon the first to meet the ever-increasing demands of its customers? Beas says there is not only one answer to this question. But having "high goals" is a big part of this success. Of course, this is partly based on the premonition.High goals can be "taught" and are commensurate with the industry.
Even if having high goals is the key to success, as Besos said, but there are some good and bad news for all of us about it. The good news is that no one can be "taught" to have high goals. "High targets are contagious," says Bezos. "Bring a new person to a team of high standards and adapt accordingly, quickly".
The bad news is that having high goals in one area of his life does not mean he will have to others. At this point, he betrayed himself as an example: "When I started Amazon I had high goals in the field of invention, customer service and (fortunately) recruiting staff. But I did not have high goals in operating procedures: how to fix a problem without having to fix it again ". High targets require "recognition and a vision of the future".
How do you achieve high standards in a particular industry? "First, you need to be able to recognize what's worth in this industry," he notes. "Second, you have to have realistic expectations of how difficult it is to achieve this result (how hard you have to work on) - to have a perspective of the future."
And that brings us to ... vertical
So what exactly does the vertical have to do with all this? What usually comes in the middle of achieving his high goals, according to Bezos, is that many things are difficult. People set goals for themselves (or others, as Beas does in the role of CEO), without always recognizing how difficult it can be, as well as how much work it takes to reach their goals. It is difficult to make a vertical one, and it takes a lot of effort, so achieving one's goals requires work.
Writing is like doing a vertical - very, very difficult
Writing in a clever and clear way that can communicate ideas to others is also difficult. This is the problem with Amazon, according to Beas, because "we do not use PowerPoint (or any other program with slides for presentations." Instead, employees communicate with each other through "six-page memos that are narrative".
Unfortunately, according to him, many people think they can simply "scatter" a six-page memo in about a day or even within a few hours. And the result is moderate. Besos, however, thinks that the memoirs come out much better when one goes weeks to process them. And he believes that many things would improve if we were approached with a clearer picture of how much effort they needed.
What is not necessary for success is ... abilities
Besos completes his narrative, before referring to the details of Amazon's performance, with a reassuring note. What you do not need to have is skill, especially if you are a member of a group.
"The football coach does not have to be able to play the sport himself, and a director does not have to be able to play a role in front of the cameras," he says. "But they both need to be able to recognize what the best result they can achieve for this sector and impart to others realistic expectations for the future."
