The Amazon Way — John Rossman
Paperback | Clyde Hill Publishing | June 9, 2021
The Gist
A guy who used to work for Amazon unpacks fourteen leadership guidelines the company swears by, but it feels more like propaganda(?).
Read if you like
Books on company culture
Business books
Leadership books
You’re looking to get a job at Amazon
You’ve got a job at Amazon and want to survive and excel
The Verdict: Borrow It
John Rossman’s The Amazon Way briefly looks at 14 core leadership principles that he attributes to Amazon’s overwhelming success. Though Rossman covers a range of topics that are important for organizations to consider, he often glazes over areas where more in-depth examples and discussions are needed. Additionally, the book often tries to paint the cutthroat culture and Bezos in a positive light, defending mind games, rude antics, and mistreatment of employees (even though the company’s “golden rule” is “Treat others the way you want to be treated”). Although Rossman may truly believe in these principles, trying to defend Amazon’s culture and CEO makes him and the principles seem inauthentic. It would have been more controversial if Rossman had not tried to paint Bezos and the culture in a positive light and just called a spade a spade by saying, “Yes, this is how it is and I’m not going to waste sentences trying to tell you otherwise,” he would’ve been able to focus entirely on digging deeper into the principles and delivered a pretty useful resource.
