Amazon

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Everything at Amazon Web Services is intensely political. Any critical decision has to go through multiple internal stakeholders who will not allow the company to help a customer if it's not possible to claim credit for it. The leadership principles at Amazon Web Services are a complete lie.

Deliver Results is a lie: at AWS, as long as you claim to be doing something, that's fine. The company grows so fast, and things change so quickly, that the most important activities are looking busy and communicating that you are busy. Nobody will check.

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit: this principle is about solving conflicts, but it's actually a stick waved by managers when somebody has a different opinion. It's not about commitment, it's about obeying; this principle is there to make sure you can never contradict your manager.

Dive Deep: AWS is not a data driven company. Nobody looks at data. The important thing is to shout big numbers, and people won't ask details; if they ask an explanation for the data, remind them to Disagree and Commit.

Earn Trust: Earn Trust is the catch-all principle which gets weaponised when you have data supporting your ideas. If your manager is incompetent, you can either Disagree and Commit or get flagged for "failing at Earn Trust".

Frugality: money at AWS doesn't matter, and this principle is just another empty excuse for going against a new idea.

Bias for Action: this principle manages to turn AWS into complete chaos. If somebody else wants your job, they will start invading yours in the name of "bias for action". Soon they will be able to claim that you needed help, and maybe even make a case to be your boss. And remember, claiming to do your job at AWS comes before Delivering Results.

Think Big: at AWS, Thinking Big doesn't exist. If there is no money to be made, in no way will AWS embark in a Think Big idea. And forget about Long Term: AWS exists firmly for short term revenue, and it's not different from Oracle.

Insist on the Highest Standards: this is how highest standards work at AWS; if you insist on the highest standards, you get fired. The only people at AWS who need to uphold some standard are in some Services teams in the US - a few technical teams actually know what they are doing, and keep the company running.

Hire and Develop the Best: AWS is a very flat organisation. If you actually end up hiring the best, it's very easy to park somebody and claim that they are "the same as anybody else". And if you have better ideas? More knowledge? More data? Guess what: "Earn Trust". Your talent and expertise don't matter at AWS, and don't even think about meritocracy.

Learn and Be Curious: at AWS you get continuous training. No project management, no product management, but random training on every single product or offer coming out in the market. Is it useful for your career? Only if you stay at AWS. 90% of the training is NOT transferable.

Are Right, A Lot: this is valid for managers. If you are not a manager and you are right, you can guess what happens.

Invent and Simplify: AWS sells storage and compute. They hire people without any education to sell storage and compute. There is no invention, and the only simplification is in the minds of the salespeople. How a Big Tech can have such a low bar for its leadership is beyond anybody's guess.

Ownership: this works very well with "Bias for Action". If somebody else starts doing your job and shows commitment, they will soon own it. You will be in continuous competition, and most of your energy will go in keeping your job safe from those who want to take it over.

Customer Obsession: customers exist to give AWS money. If the revenue is not there to justify 50% YoY growth, customers will be ignored. If the customer wants to work with an APN partner member who is not managed by the salesperson, the account manager will suggest a completely unrelated partner.

With all the politics going on, with the continuous abuse and re-abuse of Leadership Principles, AWS can only work as a self-service. As a business, it's nothing more than a kakistocracy, kept together by its service teams.

The only principles at AWS are "lie, cheat and steal your way up". And good luck to you if you don't live in the US - AWS can and will discriminate against you if you are not American or if you are not based in Seattle. Your ideas, your talent, your contributions will always matter less than your office location.

And don't worry if you are a woman who wants to join AWS - you WILL be discriminated against, in case you had doubts. The hiring and promotion processes are completely opaque, and it's very easy to twist feedback to decline hiring a woman or a foreigner.

You are AWSome