Saturday, August 22, 2015

The Amazonian Manifesto

We, Amazonians, love our company.

We, Amazonians, believe in our company's mission.

We, Amazonians, believe in obsessively serving our customers.

We, Amazonians, believe in working hard and delivering to our customers the best service and the best product that we can deliver.

And we are willing to sacrifice for the sake of fulfilling that mission every single day.

We are willing to sacrifice our physical comfort by working long and hard hours.

We are willing to sacrifice time with our loved ones by not always being there when they need us.

And we are willing, always, to go the extra mile for the sake of making our customers happy.

We Amazonians are willing to do all of that and more, and we HAVE done all of that and more.

And we will continue being who we are and doing what we do best, for the sake of our customers.

But these we will NOT do.

We will NOT tolerate a working environment that treats us as expendable entities, as replaceable and interchangeable as the frugal desks where we work.

We will NOT tolerate management that behaves as though the basic rules of human decency are optional niceties.

We will NOT tolerate a system that insidiously pits worker against worker, colleague against colleague.

We will NOT tolerate a system that breeds a culture of cynicism by proclaiming lofty principles in words but systematically flouting those same principles in action.

We believe that the following behavior SHOULD NEVER be tolerated, from and by anyone at Amazon, from Jeff Bezos to the lowliest intern at Amazon:

Behavior that is exploitative and that cares only about squeezing the most out of a worker.

Behavior that is demeaning to another worker and that impugns their dignity.

Behavior that is uncaring and that does not treat a worker as a whole human being.

Behavior that is aggressive, impolite, humiliating and disrespectful.

We believe that in Amazon, managers and executives are granted powers that they rarely know how to wield responsibly.

Power indeed corrupts, and in a system where the powerful are given the power and the tools to easily crush dissent, the result is a system that can easily be manipulated in the service of selfish, narrow, personal political goals.

At Amazon, grown adults quake at the sight of an executive.  That is not how things should be.

At Amazon, contradicting an executive is considered a serious breach of protocol.  That is not how things should be.

At Amazon, decisions are supposed to be driven by data, not by whims and speculation. Decisions are rarely driven by data.  Instead, data is manipulated, suppressed, and massaged, to the extent that it can, to present things in a certain light and as executives wish to see them.  The truth is not Amazon's currency.  Amazon's currency is delivering the result that the boss wants.  That is not how things should be.

We, Amazonians, believe that our great company deserves a better order.

We, Amazonians, believe that our great company deserves an order that can be sustained.

In a world where competition for the best and the brightest talent is continually intensifying, the drip drip against Amazon's reputation as a place to work is worrisome and should be taken seriously.

Let us not wait until the image has hardened of Amazon as a place where "overachievers go to feel bad about themselves," and feel bad about themselves NOT because they are surrounded by talent that pushes them to the limit, but rather because those overachievers are made to feel bad by mediocre management that values obedience first and foremost and above intelligence, hard work, and a commitment to excellence.

The note that Jeff Bezos sent to employees a few days after the hard hitting New York times article was far from re-assuring.

Rather than clearly recognizing that a problem does exist and committing to making it his priority to address that problem head on, Jeff pleaded incredulity and insisted that the "article doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring Amazonians I work with every day."   "I don’t recognize this Amazon," Jeff added, and then recommended "that anyone working in a company that really is like the one described in the NYT would be crazy to stay."  To many, that sounded very much like, "if you don't like it here, leave."

But perhaps what was most disappointing in Jeff's note was the total lack of vocal self criticism, a principle that is regularly preached by Jeff and his managers as an effective method for self improvement.

The most charitable interpretation of Jeff's note is that it reflects a perception that is developed while operating in a highly insulated bubble.  And one may even go one step further and extend the generosity to Jeff's direct reports.

But the proposition that Jeff and his executives are not aware of the state of affairs that plagues the workforce defies common sense.

A median average stay of 1 year is a stunning and damning piece of statistic, and its persistence, year after year, by itself speaks volumes on the state of stubborn denial that Jeff and his team continue to operate in.  That the statistic is not only allowed to persist but is often held as a badge of honor and an indicator that staying at Amazon requires uncommon "toughness," is unsettling and makes one worry for one's company.

There is a reason why Giants fall.  Giants fall when their hubris blinds them to the blaring sirens of danger.

Amazon is loved by millions of people around the world.  And we, Amazonians, among them, love Amazon the most.

It is in that spirit that we plead with its leaders to open their eyes and to engage with reality, soberly, humbly, and with a commitment to fix what is broken, rather than to bluster and ride yet another "passing storm" through.

Here are our concrete recommendations on how Amazon can become better:
  • Abolish the Feedback Tool: this tool is insidious and fosters an unhealthy atmosphere of corrosive mistrust.  It is neither healthy nor normal for a worker to speak ill of a fellow co-worker behind their back, let alone to that co-worker's very boss.  Such practice should not be tolerated as normal or proper.  At Amazon, a whole tool has been erected especially to lull people into accepting such unethical behavior as the new normal.  It really is NOT and should NEVER be accepted as normal or acceptable behavior.
  • Abolish the Levels Systems: the "Levels" system that is used to designate people is demeaning and serves only one purpose: to clearly stratify and establish a rigid and oppressive caste hierarchy.  Let people be defined by what they do and how experienced they are, rather than by one Letter (L) and one number (from 1 to 12, with 9 not used and 12 occupied by Jeff Bezos and only Jeff Bezos).
  • Abolish the "Rank and Yank" System: Amazon should hire the best (and it does) and should invest in nurturing those it hires.  The "Rank and Yank" system is a crude attempt at motivating by fear, and what it leads to often is not workers doing their best to thrive, but workers doing their best to survive by undermining those against whom they are competing.  The result is that those who do not play politics, those who find it distasteful and unsavory to engage in the back-stabbing game, who simply want to work hard and serve the customer -- the "earnest lot" -- end up losing, while the scheming variety prosper.  It is NOT a coincidence that Middle Management -- those who have learned how to play the game and have survived for multiple years -- is widely viewed as manipulative, ruthless with peers and those they deem "dispensable," but breathlessly craven in the presence of higher authority.
Imagine an Amazon with a healthy and happy workforce -- one that delivers the amazing results that today's Amazon delivers, but does so in a sustainable way.

Imagine an Amazon that takes care of its people, nurtures them and patiently invests in their health and happiness.

Imagine an Amazon known as "the greatest place to work."

That, Jeff, should be your TOP project and the legacy you should be aiming to leave behind.  For drones and rockets and electronic gizmos will become common commodities soon, but Amazon the company is something very special, and worthy of your formidable will and attention.

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