Jeff Bezos Missive Of The Alphabet To Amazon Shareholders (Including 1St Disclosure Of Amazon Prime Number Membership #'S Together With Perfect Handstands)

From the SEC:

EX-99.1 2 d456916dex991.htm EX-99.1 LOGO Exhibit 99.1

To our shareowners:

The American Customer Satisfaction Index of late announced the results of its annual survey, too for the eighth yr inward a row customers ranked Amazon #1. The Great Britain has a similar index, The U.K. Customer Satisfaction Index, discover yesteryear the Institute of Customer Service. For the fifth fourth dimension inward a row Amazon U.K. ranked #1 inward that survey. Amazon was also exactly named the #1 work organisation on LinkedIn’s 2018 Top Companies list, which ranks the most sought later places to function for professionals inward the United States. And exactly a few weeks ago, Harris Poll released its annual Reputation Quotient, which surveys over 25,000 consumers on a broad attain of topics from workplace surroundings to social responsibleness to products too services, too for the third yr inward a row Amazon ranked #1.

Congratulations too give thank you lot you to the right away over 560,000 Amazonians who come upward to function every solar daytime amongst unrelenting client obsession, ingenuity, too commitment to operational excellence. And on behalf of Amazonians everywhere, I desire to extend a huge give thank you lot you to customers. It’s incredibly energizing for us to regard your responses to these surveys.

One affair I dear nearly customers is that they are divinely discontent. Their expectations are never static – they expire up. It’s human nature. We didn’t ascend from our hunter-gatherer days yesteryear beingness satisfied. People direct hold a voracious appetite for a improve way, too yesterday’s ‘wow’ speedily becomes today’s ‘ordinary’. I regard that cycle of improvement happening at a faster charge per unit of measurement than e'er before. It may endure because customers direct hold such slowly access to to a greater extent than information than e'er earlier – inward exclusively a few seconds too amongst a duet taps on their phones, customers tin read reviews, compare prices from multiple retailers, regard whether something’s inward stock, notice out how fast it volition send or endure available for pick-up, too more. These examples are from retail, but I feel that the same client empowerment phenomenon is happening broadly across everything nosotros do at Amazon too most other industries equally well. You cannot residual on your accolade inward this world. Customers won’t direct hold it.

How do you lot remain ahead of ever-rising client expectations? There’s no unmarried means to do it – it’s a combination of many things. But high standards (widely deployed too at all levels of detail) are sure as shooting a large business office of it. We’ve had roughly successes over the years inward our request to encounter the high expectations of customers. We’ve also had billions of dollars’ worth of failures along the way. With those experiences equally backdrop, I’d similar to portion amongst you lot the essentials of what we’ve learned (so far) nearly high standards within an organization.

Intrinsic or Teachable? 
First, there’s a foundational question: are high standards intrinsic or teachable? If you lot accept me on your basketball game team, you lot tin learn me many things, but you lot can’t learn me to endure taller. Do nosotros initiative of all too foremost demand to select for “high standards” people? If so, this missive of the alphabet would demand to endure generally nearly hiring practices, but I don’t mean value so. I believe high standards are teachable. In fact, people are pretty skillful at learning high standards merely through exposure. High standards are contagious. Bring a novel someone onto a high standards team, too they’ll speedily adapt. The reverse is also true. If depression standards prevail, those also volition speedily spread. And though exposure plant good to learn high standards, I believe you lot tin accelerate that charge per unit of measurement of learning yesteryear articulating a few substance principles of high standards, which I promise to portion inward this letter.

Universal or Domain Specific? 
Another of import query is whether high standards are universal or domain specific. In other words, if you lot direct hold high standards inward i area, do you lot automatically direct hold high standards elsewhere? I believe high standards are domain specific, too that you lot direct hold to acquire high standards separately inward every arena of interest. When I started Amazon, I had high standards on inventing, on client care, too (thankfully) on hiring. But I didn’t direct hold high standards on operational process: how to proceed fixed problems fixed, how to eliminate defects at the root, how to inspect processes, too much more. I had to acquire too prepare high standards on all of that (my colleagues were my tutors).

Understanding this betoken is of import because it keeps you lot humble. You tin consider yourself a someone of high standards inward full general too even thence direct hold debilitating blind spots. There tin endure whole arenas of attempt where you lot may non fifty-fifty know that your standards are depression or non-existent, too sure as shooting non footing class. It’s critical to endure opened upward to that likelihood.

Recognition too Scope 
What do you lot demand to attain high standards inward a especial domain area? First, you lot direct hold to endure able to recognize what skillful looks similar inward that domain. Second, you lot must direct hold realistic expectations for how hard it should endure (how much function it volition take) to attain that effect – the scope.

Let me give you lot 2 examples. One is a sort of toy illustration but it makes the betoken clearly, too roughly other is a existent i that comes upward at Amazon all the time.

Perfect Handstands 
H5N1 closed friend of late decided to acquire to do a perfect free-standing handstand. No leaning against a wall. Not for exactly a few seconds. Instagram good. She decided to start her journeying yesteryear taking a handstand workshop at her yoga studio. She too then practiced for a spell but wasn’t getting the results she wanted. So, she hired a handstand coach. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, but manifestly this is an actual affair that exists. In the really initiative of all lesson, the coach gave her roughly wonderful advice. “Most people,” he said, “think that if they function hard, they should endure able to master copy a handstand inward nearly 2 weeks. The reality is that it takes nearly vi months of daily practice. If you lot mean value you lot should endure able to do it inward 2 weeks, you’re exactly going to destination upward quitting.” Unrealistic beliefs on reach – ofttimes hidden too undiscussed – kill high standards. To attain high standards yourself or equally business office of a team, you lot demand to shape too proactively communicate realistic beliefs nearly how hard something is going to endure – something this coach understood well. 

Six-Page Narratives 
We don’t do PowerPoint (or whatsoever other slide-oriented) presentations at Amazon. Instead, nosotros write narratively structured six-page memos. We silently read i at the showtime of each coming together inward a form of “study hall.” Not surprisingly, the character of these memos varies widely. Some direct hold the clarity of angels singing. They are bright too thoughtful too laid upward the coming together for high-quality discussion. Sometimes they come upward inward at the other destination of the spectrum.

In the handstand example, it’s pretty straightforward to recognize high standards. It wouldn’t endure hard to lay out inward especial the requirements of a well-executed handstand, too and then you’re either doing it or you’re not. The writing instance is really different. The deviation betwixt a non bad memo too an average i is much squishier. It would endure extremely hard to write downwardly the detailed requirements that brand upward a non bad memo. Nevertheless, I notice that much of the time, readers react to non bad memos really similarly. They know it when they regard it. The measure is there, too it is real, fifty-fifty if it’s non easily describable.

Here’s what we’ve figured out. Often, when a memo isn’t great, it’s non the writer’s inability to recognize the high standard, but instead a incorrect expectation on scope: they mistakenly believe a high-standards, six-page memo tin endure written inward i or 2 days or fifty-fifty a few hours, when actually it powerfulness accept a calendar week or more! They’re trying to perfect a handstand inward exactly 2 weeks, too we’re non coaching them right. The non bad memos are written too re-written, shared amongst colleagues who are asked to improve the work, laid aside for a duet of days, too and then edited i time to a greater extent than amongst a fresh mind. They merely can’t endure done inward a solar daytime or two. The fundamental betoken hither is that you lot tin improve results through the uncomplicated human activity of instruction reach – that a non bad memo in all probability should accept a calendar week or more.

Skill 
Beyond recognizing the measure too having realistic expectations on scope, how nearly skill? Surely to write a footing flat memo, you lot direct hold to endure an extremely skilled writer? Is it roughly other required element? In my view, non thence much, at to the lowest degree non for the private inward the context of teams. The football game coach doesn’t demand to endure able to throw, too a cinema manager doesn’t demand to endure able to act. But they both do demand to recognize high standards for those things too learn realistic expectations on scope....

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