The company's sorta adopting Amazon's leadership principles. Should I fear that?

7 points by gregthompsonjr 10 years ago | 2 comments

I'm an engineer for a well-known media/tech company. The executives are drilling down on company culture, building a clear identity and becoming more efficient. I think that's great.

This year, the company decided it would be great to adopt the OKR system (used at Google, conceived with love at Intel). I'm not a manager, but the push to accurately measure performance and identify pitfalls seems to be reasonable.

We all heard of Amazon's infamous leadership principles. I'm sure there are plenty of tech companies out there that are striving to reproduce Amazon's amazing success (we should be). The sphere of tech leadership where I work (wonderful folk) unanimously decided that we take a page out of Amazon's book of military-grade operation and adopt their leadership principles.

We aren't following the leadership principles verbatim. Those behind the adoption chopped and screwed Amazon's document, manufacturing a customized, Company-esque version of leadership principles. It mostly looks like a summary of the original, with a friendlier, less boarding-school-like tone.

The adoption/adaptation is scary. We aren't robots. We aren't numbers. Not everyone is built to lead (not saying I'm not, but some will take certain things too far). I've already seen the sociopathic nature of those in finance and other industries. More importantly, I'm aware of how depressing the Amazon culture has been to plenty of Amazon engineers (the NYT wrote about it, ask employees of Amazon, and google 'amazon FACE'). While efficiency is important, so is my health. I like where I work, and I haven't been with the company very long, but already, so much has changed—sometimes for better, sometimes for worse if you're at the bottom of the totem pole.

Should I be afraid of these changes? If so, why? Have you dealt with such a transition? If so, how'd it go? I'd ask someone about these changes internally and voice my concerns, but I fear that higher-ups will consider me poisonous to the company for being worried.

srt146 10 years ago |

Any time management mentions "leadership" they are trying to set up a system in which managers, by the nature of their job, are succeeding and every else is failing. No management ever adopts things like superior knowledge or ability or even competence, because obviously they would fail at it. For instance, one of Amazon's is 'hire and develop the best' which has nothing to do with any individual jobs at all. So, yes, 'leadership' buzz phrases are a warning sign. As an engineer you learn to ignore this shit. Follow the money. Can the company hire your replacement? Do they have enough money that they don't need engineers? If not, just keep doing your job and following the engineer playbook.

pinewurst 10 years ago |

(This probably should've been tagged "Ask HN:"...)

For what my opinion is worth, I don't think there's much to be afraid of here. There's a pretty big gulf between mouthing Amazon's cant and actually becoming that sort of Darwinian hell workplace. Amazon is the way it is because Jeff Bezos wants it to be so.

I've been through several different episodes where the PHBs decide to adopt some philosophy that doesn't really affect daily work life.

My current workplace has hired some senior Amazon management and beyond adopting their sort of product definition (the infamous PR/FAQ), has had no other effects. We're still dreadful incompetents with or without them, but seemingly no more cruel.