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A Critique of the Amazon Leadership Principles, Part 2
In Part 1 of my Critique of the Amazon Leadership Principles, I covered the first two principles of Amazon’s guiding documentation: Customer Obsession and Ownership. In this next part, I will critique the next three (3) leadership principles:
- Invent and Simplify
- Are Right, A Lot
- Learn and Be Curious
Each section begins with a quote from the original document, followed by my critique. This is a work-in-progress and I acknowledge that my critique is subject to… critique. This is Medium, so please feel free to highlight those sections with which you agree or disagree, and leave your comments.
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.
I agree with all of this. As someone who incorporates elements of Lean Six Sigma and Agile methodologies like Scrum into my processes, I’m always looking for ways to improve on both efficiency and quality.
