These Are Amazon's 38 Rules For Success

Customer obsession
Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work
vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay
attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.
Ownership
Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term
value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company,
beyond just their own team. They never say, “That’s not my job.”
Invent and simplify

Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams
and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for
new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here.”
As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for
long periods of time.
Are right, a lot

Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts.
They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.
Learn and be curious

Leaders are never finished learning and always seek to improve
themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore
them.
Hire and develop the best

Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They
recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the
organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in
coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent
mechanisms for development like Career Choice.
Insist on the highest standards

Leaders have relentlessly high standards–many people may think
these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising
the bar and drive their teams to deliver high-quality products, services,
and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the
line, and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.
Think big
Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and
communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently
and look around corners for ways to serve customers.
Bias for action

Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible
and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
Frugality
Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-
sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for growing
headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.
Earn trust
Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully.
They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or
embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor
smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams
against the best.
Dive deep
Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit
frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task
is beneath them.
Have backbone; disagree and commit

Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they
disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders
have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the
sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit
wholly.
Deliver results
Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them
with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise
to the occasion and never settle.
AMAZON’S PECULIAR WAYS

Amazon, which likes to describe itself as “peculiar,” created this list of its own traits and even gave it its own
mascot, Peccy. I saw it posted inside the entrance of an Amazon fulfillment center in Kent, Washington, although some of
the peculiar ways seem to relate most directly to the Amazon.com storefront and how the company expresses itself to
customers.
We earn trust with our customers by making precise, high-bar promises

and then keeping them.
We are willing to make long-term investments–sometimes at the

expense of short-term gain.
We share the good and the bad to help customers make informed
buying decisions.
We work to avoid the bland personality that customers typically

associate with the big, homogeneous, corporate Borg.
We take credit for (i.e., brag about) the impressive things we do in a

way that is subtle and sophisticated.
We endeavor to speak to our customers in a tone that is neither

boastful nor boring.
We use specificity when possible and sensible.
We prefer to title features factually with a degree of precision.
We don’t make content look like an ad.
We stay away from creating new icons.
HUMAN RESOURCES MISSION AND TENETS

HR chief Galetti’s department has its own codified goals. They’re full of identifiably Amazon-esque touches, such as the
emphasis on serving the customer and the “unless you know better ones” proviso. But elements such as attempting to be
“the most technically proficient HR organization in the world” also reflect Galetti’s own vision: She is an electrical engineer
who spent 16 years at FedEx in operational roles before coming to Amazon, where she arrived with no previous HR
experience.
We build a workplace for Amazonians to invent on behalf of customers.
Human resources tenets (unless you know better ones . . . )
Employees come to Amazon to do meaningful work, and we make that

easier by removing barriers, fixing defects, and enabling self-service.
Applying to, working at, and leaving Amazon should be frustration-free
experiences.
We seek to be the most scientific HR organization in the world. We

form hypotheses about the best talent acquisition, talent retention, and
talent development techniques, and then set out to prove or disprove
them with experiences and careful data collection.
As we develop new programs and services, we work backwards from

the employee and candidate, understanding our work has a direct
impact on customers. We prioritize work that results in measurable
impact for our customers.
We acknowledge that no process or policy can be so well designed as

to properly cover every situation. When common sense is at odds with
one of our policies or pracitices, we make high-judgment exceptions.
We seek to be the most technically proficient HR organization in the

world. Our team includes dedicated engineers, computer scientists, and
principals who develop world-class, easy, and intuitive products for
candidates and employees.
We manage HR as a business, and we must scale faster through

technology and simplified processes rather than through HR head
count growth. We rigorously audit ourselves to disrupt and reinvent HR
industry standards.
We favor straightforward, two-way communications. When we talk

about our work, we use plain language and specific examples over
generalizations and corporate speak.

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Customer obsession

Invent and simplify

Are right, a lot

Learn and be curious

Hire and develop the best

Insist on the highest standards

Bias for action

Have backbone; disagree and commit

AMAZON’S PECULIAR WAYS

We earn trust with our customers by making precise, high-bar promises

We are willing to make long-term investments–sometimes at the

We work to avoid the bland personality that customers typically

We take credit for (i.e., brag about) the impressive things we do in a

We endeavor to speak to our customers in a tone that is neither

We use specificity when possible and sensible.

We prefer to title features factually with a degree of precision.

We don’t make content look like an ad.

We stay away from creating new icons.

HUMAN RESOURCES MISSION AND TENETS

We build a workplace for Amazonians to invent on behalf of customers.

Human resources tenets (unless you know better ones . . . )

Employees come to Amazon to do meaningful work, and we make that

We seek to be the most scientific HR organization in the world. We

As we develop new programs and services, we work backwards from

We acknowledge that no process or policy can be so well designed as

We seek to be the most technically proficient HR organization in the

We manage HR as a business, and we must scale faster through

We favor straightforward, two-way communications. When we talk

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