{"id":117520,"date":"2023-11-14T08:29:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T12:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=117520"},"modified":"2023-11-14T13:32:41","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T17:32:41","slug":"working-backwards-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/working-backwards-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Working Backwards: Book Overview and Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How does the Working Backwards<\/em> book describe Amazon\u2019s guiding principles and strategies? What tools do the authors present as Amazon\u2019s keys to success?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Working Backwards<\/em>, authors Colin Brayr and Bill Carr describe how Amazon\u2019s tools like the deep thinking document, the six-pager, and a rigorous hiring process have helped it get ahead in the industry. Learning more about these strategies can help strengthen and grow any business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn about the tools and strategies that have led Amazon to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

About Working Backwards<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you want to start a successful business<\/a>, many would argue that Amazon is the one to imitate. In just a few decades, Amazon has grown from an obscure internet startup to a household name, raking in hundreds of billions of dollars by offering a vast range of products and services. Authors Colin Bryar and Bill Carr explain exactly how Amazon achieved its meteoric growth and argue that any company can follow in its footsteps in its Working Backwards<\/em><\/a> book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Working Backwards<\/em>, Amazon insiders Bryar and Carr detail the specific guiding principles and business practices that Amazon used to become such a dominant force in so many industries. Bryar worked as Chief of Staff to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for two years, picking up many of Bezos\u2019s business management strategies. Carr served as Amazon\u2019s Vice President of Digital Media, where he was directly responsible for the success of projects such as Amazon Music and Prime Video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll begin this article by examining the broad strategy behind Amazon\u2019s success\u2014articulate the internal culture you want, then design your business in a way that encourages this culture. Then, we\u2019ll get specific, discussing the tools Amazon uses to create its culture of success: first, the processes Amazon uses to develop successful business strategies, then those they use to build productive teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our commentary, we\u2019ll expand on Bryar and Carr\u2019s advice with relevant tips from business books like What You Do Is Who You Are<\/em><\/a> and The Lean Startup<\/em><\/a>. We\u2019ll also offer counterpoints to Amazon\u2019s business philosophy with alternative strategies from books like Range<\/em><\/a> and It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Crazy at Work<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Amazon Established a Culture of Success<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to Bryar and Carr, Amazon is more successful than other, more traditional businesses because they consistently do things differently<\/strong> than traditional business wisdom would dictate. Consistently doing things differently is more difficult than it sounds. As a company grows, it becomes impossible for one leader to directly ensure that workers throughout the organization persistently follow an unconventional path to success<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon\u2019s Primary Guiding Principle<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

What specific principles does Amazon use to remain such a success? Bryar and Carr assert that Amazon\u2019s foremost guiding principle is that providing a valuable, satisfying customer experience is the company\u2019s top priority<\/strong>. The authors contend that Amazon\u2019s success is largely due to founder Jeff Bezos\u2019s insistence that the surest way to maximize revenue is to provide the most value to customers in the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, Amazon employees apply this guiding principle by <\/strong>working backwards<\/em><\/strong>\u2014first, they identify the valuable experience they want to provide to customers. Then, they seek out the resources and skills they need to provide that experience and develop a strategy to create that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon\u2019s Tools for Strategy Development<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve established that Amazon found success by specifying guiding principles and designing the company in a way that aligned with those principles. For the rest of this guide, we\u2019ll explain this second part in more detail\u2014how Amazon designed their company\u2019s business practices to reinforce their principles. Some of these practices are meant to encourage Amazon employees to work backwards, while others are meant to reinforce some of Amazon\u2019s other important guiding principles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this section, we\u2019ll discuss four tools Amazon\u2019s workers use for strategy development<\/em>; that is, to identify what to do to succeed. This not only includes tools to help them envision the customer experience (working backwards) but also tools to help them create and refine the customer experience after they\u2019ve defined it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n