Amazon’s Leadership Principles

  • Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers
  • They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job.”
  • As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.
  • They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.
  • Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
  • They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing
  • are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them

Netflix Culture

  • You only say things about fellow employees you say to their face
  • We have no bell curves or rankings or quotas such as “cut the bottom 10% every year.” That would be detrimental to fostering collaboration, and is a simplistic, rules-based approach we would never support. We focus on managers’ judgment through the “keeper test” for each of their people: if one of the members of the team was thinking of leaving for another firm, would the manager try hard to keep them from leaving? Those who do not pass the keeper test (i.e. their manager would not fight to keep them) are promptly and respectfully given a generous severance package so we can find someone for that position that makes us an even better dream team
  • Ultimately, your economic security is based on your skills and reputation, not on your seniority at one company. At Netflix, you learn a lot working on hard problems with amazing colleagues, and what you learn increases your market value. Knowing that other companies would quickly hire you if you left Netflix is comforting. We see occasional outside interviewing as healthy, and encourage employees to talk with their managers about what they learn in the process.
  • Picking up the trash is the metaphor for taking care of problems, small and large, and never thinking “that’s not my job.” We don’t have rules about picking up the real or metaphoric trash. We try to create a sense of ownership so that this behavior comes naturally.