The Muse: Amazon has forever changed the way people shop online, but it wasn’t always the juggernaut that it is today. In fact, once upon a time it was just a tiny startup with a big vision. So, how did it end up as the giant online retailer that it is now?
It’s hard to say, but one thing founder Jeff Bezos was very intentional about was how he hired for the company. In fact, in his 1998 letter to shareholders, just four years after Amazon was founded, Bezos wrote, “It would be impossible to produce results in an environment as dynamic as the Internet without extraordinary people… Setting the bar high in our approach to hiring has been, and will continue to be, the single most important element of Amazon.com’s success.”
7 comments:
I would say that these three questions are pretty straight forward and make complete sense. The first question of is there person admirable I find to be universal among all jobs You want to admire the people you work with and be proud that you get to share a similar experience with them. I found the last two questions to be more interesting and fit Amazon's employee's. I love that they are always trying to expand their companies potential and continue to raise the bar for future employees, they don't want to maintain effectiveness, but rather continue to expand. Lastly, the quirky traits question is great and it puts the employee on the spot and would generate some fun responses.
I find this article to be a very interesting insight into the way Amazon works as a company. I bet when they started their company they didn’t think that they’d have drones dropping off packages at their customers’ door in just a few years. I’m sure once someone walked in the door and said, “Oh! By the way, I’ve also got a degree in robotics...if that matters.” they had already started drafting up plans by his or her first month at work had ended. I believe there is a lot to be gained from reading this article as a production manager. In theatre, especially, people are hired for their skill sets and I have rarely found myself working with someone in another department that I admired throughout the whole process for their knowledge and abilities. If theaters were more determined to hire someone who was admirable, or had skills outside of our day to day routines (if you can call them that), then we might be more excited to work as a team on a stressful production.
No matter what company you work for or own, big or small, I think that making sure that one hires personnel that are going to fit these three questions is quite important. A company is only as good as the people that run it, and hiring people is a fundamental starting place for any great company. Amazon made sure that they hired those they thought would help the company succeed, and this has contributed to their success. These three seemingly simple questions do indeed set a very high bar for hiring new people, but with a track record and results like Amazon's, who's to argue?
The first question is definitely an interesting perspective to place on someone in a management level. Often management seem to be trying to fill voids or just find someone to just get it done. Unless the person you are hiring is purely going to press a button and punch out license plates, management should realize what a vital part their employees are. When ever I find myself in a management position I try to view my responsibility as making sure my team can get the job done, not necessarily that I am going to get the job done with them helping me. I count on my team to be capable of the job that they are here to do and I try to do my best to be as helpful to them and make their lives easier. If i cant admire the work that they are going to be doing for me then I do not have someone on my team that I can truly hold to a high enough regard for the expectations I try to hold for any project that I may be doing.
This set of questions shows that Amazon seeks to hire people who not only will fulfill the needs of their company, but will also challenge it and push its limits. I would not be surprised if other tech companies (i.e. Google, Youtube, Facebook, etc.) would agree with these three criteria that the Amazon CEO outlines. Today, tech companies are not only looking to sustain, they are looking to grow and improve themselves. In the theater world, I am not sure this is currently always the case. The last question in this article surprises me the most. I have always thought of tech companies such as Amazon as wanting to hire well rounded people who could perform a myriad of tasks across disciplines. However, after considering the Amazon CEO's perspective, it makes a lot of sense to look for "superstars." If you hire all superstars across a variety of disciplines, you are bound to end up with extremely positive results.
This is a prime example of why Amazon is the big player it is today. They are constantly striving for excellence. Not excellence in what they are doing that day, but excellence in what they will imagine tomorrow.
They build upon their previous success and push their ideas beyond completion. Just like Abagail mentioned, I am sure it was not their intention to stream movies when they first started shipping textbooks. And now, after streaming video, they are taking it to the next level and creating their own content.
Companies should strive to emulate this form of extreme forward thinking. It is learning to appreciate when someone with true talent comes before you and having the patience to hold on to that person until you get the idea arrives of what to do with them.
You never know when someone could come in handy in the future. Take TAIT for example. Their workforce is one of the most diverse in the industry. Engineers working with artists, accountants working with welders. It is unions like these that create items with big picture ideas in mind.
I think these criteria are great and the success of Amazon is proof that they work. Amazon is an extremely innovative company and even at the height of their success they continue to improve and expand their services. I have to imagine that in order to do that they need a well rounded and cohesive team. The type of person that these questions outlined would not only add to the effectiveness of their workplace, but be an asset to the social environment.
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