Have you caught ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ on Amazon Prime? While you’re enjoying the visual feast, you may be surprised to know how involved Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, was in the pitch to acquire the series.
Known for his relentless drive and visionary forward-thinking, Bezos is one of the most prominent leaders of this generation. We distil three learnings from “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon”, written by Brad Stone.
1) Work towards the long-term.
“I knew that when I was 80, I was not going to regret having tried … [participating] in this thing called the Internet that I thought was going to be a really big deal. I knew that if I failed, I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried.”
— Jeff Bezos
Before Amazon, Bezos led a team at D.E Shaw, a renowned private equity firm. He had caused a stir amongst his friends and family when he left that financial comfort and status to start an online bookstore.
Yet, his decision wasn’t a thoughtless nor impulsive one – Bezos used a mental model called ‘the regret minimisation framework’. At the risk of simplifying the process, start by asking yourself: ‘Will I regret my decision in X years?’.
For Bezos, the answer was yes; he would regret not trying to start Amazon, even if success wasn’t completely assured. Once he made that decision, he committed fully to it and pursued his goal relentlessly. What’s clear from this is his clear-headed ability to prioritise the future over the short-term and stay dedicated to that long-term vision, despite possible hardships.
When faced with hard decisions, adopting the same framework can help to clarify our thinking and priorities. More importantly, we need the discipline to commit to what we’ve set our minds on and not second-guess ourselves. It’s only through putting in our full efforts that we’ll be able to see success in the long term eventually.
2) Focus on one thing first and do it well.
Although Amazon began as an online bookstore, Bezos had always dreamt bigger: he wanted to create a store that sold everything. However, he was well aware that it would be impractical (and impossible) to do this right from the onset, particularly given that it was the burgeoning era of Internet businesses.
Instead, he listed twenty possible product categories for an online store; and narrowed down his choices. Books ended up being his option because distribution lines were easier to manage, and books were pure commodities, indistinguishable products from one another, so long as they were the same title.
Focusing on books allowed him to scale up and build his team’s technical and operational capabilities so that they could eventually explore (and dominate) other areas of e-commerce. The learnings from selling books also applied to other product categories so that they could work better and smarter the second time round.
Similarly, when faced with an immense task or an ambitious goal, it may feel overwhelming if we try to do everything, all at once, from the start. A more manageable way of working would be to break things down into smaller pieces of work and focus on doing it well, one step at a time. This builds our competencies while giving us the confidence to continue at what we’re doing.
3) Think outside of yourself.
A key to Amazon’s success is Bezos’ focus on customers and their experiences. Customer-centricity is so ingrained in his beliefs that he does not allow PowerPoint decks or slide presentations in meetings; instead, employees craft narratives out of their arguments and points, addressing the consumer.
Beyond the typical statement about how vital customer experiences are to brand loyalty (and generating sales), Bezos’ esoteric workroom rules point to something more important: learning how to communicate to your key audiences beyond yourself.
Our focus at work is often on getting things done as quickly as possible. This may come at the cost of understanding how we are presenting ourselves to our colleagues or superiors. We should all try to be more mindful of how we position ourselves or communicate our ideas. Impressions matter, and only by focusing on our customers (in the workplace: our bosses and colleagues) would we be better able to advance ourselves.
These are just three of the many life lessons that can be gleaned from ‘The Everything Store’; that’s just from the book’s first few chapters!
For a complete summary of Bezos’ work ethics and the journey of Amazon, download the NexPage app, available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. We’ve just released a complete summary of this inspiring book, along with other best-sellers, to help you along your journey towards success too.
These are just three of the many life lessons that can be gleaned from ‘The Everything Store’; that’s just from the book’s first few chapters!or a complete summary of Bezos’ work ethics and the journey of Amazon, download the NexPage app, available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. We’ve just released a complete summary of this inspiring book, along with other best-sellers, to help you along your journey towards success too.