Has anyone not heard of the New York Times story on the work culture at Amazon?
Time to read it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?_r=0
Here is a snippet from the piece:
On Monday mornings, fresh recruits line up for an orientation intended to catapult them into Amazon’s singular way of working.
They are told to forget the “poor habits” they learned at previous jobs, one employee recalled. When they “hit the wall” from the unrelenting pace, there is only one solution: “Climb the wall,” others reported. To be the best Amazonians they can be, they should be guided by the leadership principles, 14 rules inscribed on handy laminated cards. When quizzed days later, those with perfect scores earn a virtual award proclaiming, “I’m Peculiar” — the company’s proud phrase for overturning workplace conventions.
At Amazon, workers are encouraged to tear apart one another’s ideas in meetings, toil long and late (emails arrive past midnight, followed by text messages asking why they were not answered), and held to standards that the company boasts are “unreasonably high.”
The founder and CEO has already responded indicating this story does not represent the Amazon he knows. That begs a simple question: does he know Amazon?
I interviewed with Amazon in 2007 at a DC. I remember one of the VPs interviewing me answering a cell phone and yelling at the person on the line their "data is shit". This happened as we were touring the DC. Okay, I thought.
Amazon didn't invite me for employment.
Having spent a fair amount of time with startups since 2007 there wasn't much in the article that surprised me. It is a tough world. Most concerning, however, are the issues around work illness and treatment of women. This story isn't going away any time soon.
Happy Reading,
J.W. Gant
They are told to forget the “poor habits” they learned at previous jobs, one employee recalled. When they “hit the wall” from the unrelenting pace, there is only one solution: “Climb the wall,” others reported. To be the best Amazonians they can be, they should be guided by the leadership principles, 14 rules inscribed on handy laminated cards. When quizzed days later, those with perfect scores earn a virtual award proclaiming, “I’m Peculiar” — the company’s proud phrase for overturning workplace conventions.
At Amazon, workers are encouraged to tear apart one another’s ideas in meetings, toil long and late (emails arrive past midnight, followed by text messages asking why they were not answered), and held to standards that the company boasts are “unreasonably high.”
The founder and CEO has already responded indicating this story does not represent the Amazon he knows. That begs a simple question: does he know Amazon?
I interviewed with Amazon in 2007 at a DC. I remember one of the VPs interviewing me answering a cell phone and yelling at the person on the line their "data is shit". This happened as we were touring the DC. Okay, I thought.
Amazon didn't invite me for employment.
Having spent a fair amount of time with startups since 2007 there wasn't much in the article that surprised me. It is a tough world. Most concerning, however, are the issues around work illness and treatment of women. This story isn't going away any time soon.
Happy Reading,
J.W. Gant
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