Devops culture: Amazon leadership principles

Introduce

DevOps The core principle of consists of four parts , be called CAMS.

• Culture Culture
• automation Automation
• assessment Measurement
• share Sharing

among , Culture is an intangible asset , It should also be the most important Obscure Part of .

 In most cases ,  The idea of the boss directly determines the corporate culture .

We put aside the philosophical significance of culture , Take amazon , See how culture works , How to handle 【 A slogan hanging on the wall , Landing on the solution 】 in .

Amazon Leadership Principles

Culture and enterprise competitiveness

Amazon uses 16 Three leadership principles support the core competitiveness of enterprises . Look at Amazon's leadership principles , It's all about 【 Customer 】,【 product 】,【 The team 】,【 cost 】 From the angle of .

although 16 Three leadership principles cover all 4 The core competitiveness of an enterprise , If you taste it carefully , It's not hard to find out , The emphasis is biased towards 【 product 】&【 The team 】, It's not just 【 Meet customers 】&【 Cost for profit 】.

Customer Obsession - Customer first

Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

Leader Work from the customer's perspective . Win the trust of customers by working actively . Competitors certainly need attention , But we need to pay more attention to customers .

Ownership - Master

Leaders are owners. They think long term and don't sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say "that's not my job."

Leader Is the project owner . They need to think long-term , Don't sacrifice long-term value for short-term results . They act on behalf of the whole company , Not just their own team . They never say “ That's not my job ”.

Invent and Simplify - Innovation and simplification

Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by "not invented here." As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.

Leader The team should be asked to actively innovate , And pursue simplification . They are open-minded , Look for new ideas from all aspects , Can not have 【 It shouldn't be our innovation here 】 idea . When we explore new things , Accept 【 May be misunderstood for a long time 】 risk .

Are Right, A Lot - Always do things the right way

Leaders are right a lot. They have strong business judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.

Leader Need to maintain the right way of doing things . They have strong business judgment and good intuition . They seek different views , And try to overthrow their beliefs .

Learn and Be Curious - Keep learning and exploring mentality

Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.

Leader You need to keep learning , They always seek to improve themselves . They are curious about new possibilities and take action to explore them .

Hire and Develop the Best - Cultivate the best talents

Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.

Leader Through every recruitment and promotion , Improve performance standards . They need to identify the people they come into contact with , And willing to mobilize them as needed within the company .Leader Active training Leader And take their role in guiding others seriously . From the perspective of our employees , Actively explore the direction of career development .

Insist on the Highest Standards - Adhere to the highest standards

Leaders have relentlessly high standards—many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and driving their teams to deliver high-quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

Leader keep 【 Unconditional 】 High standards of -“ Many people may think these standards are unreasonably high ”.Leader Continuously improve standards and drive their team to provide high-quality products 、 Services and processes .Leader Ensure that defects do not affect the production line , And the problem needs to be repaired in time .

Think Big - Enlarge the pattern

Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.

Narrow thinking space is a kind of self satisfaction .Leader To develop & Convey a bold direction , To achieve positive results . They think in different ways and look around for ways to serve their customers .

Bias for Action - Dare to act

Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.

Speed is important in business . Many decisions and actions are reversible , No further research is needed . We value calculated risk taking .

Frugality - frugal

Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.

Advocate more results with limited resources . Limited resources often promote more inventions . Increase the number of employees 、 No extra points for budget size or fixed costs .

Earn Trust - Win trust

Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.

Leader You should listen carefully , Talk frankly , Respect others . Even if it's embarrassing ,Leader Also learn to criticize yourself loudly .Leader Not self satisfied , With the best people / Compare with the team .

Dive Deep - Go deep into the details of the work

Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are sceptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.

Leader Our work covers all levels , Always keep in touch with details , Regular audit , And be skeptical when the measurement standards are different from anecdotes . non-existent 【 It's not my job 】.

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit - Be assertive ; Have the courage to oppose and promise

Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.

For dissenting decisions , Even if it's uncomfortable ,Leader Have an obligation 【 Respectfully 】 Raise an objection .Leader Need to have faith .Leader Not because 【 convince the public 】 And make a compromise , Once a decision is made , They will devote themselves to .

Deliver Results - Delivery results

Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.

Leader Focus on key resource inputs , And guarantee the quality , Deliver results on time . Despite setbacks , They still stand up , Never compromise .

Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer - Strive to be the best employer in the world

Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what’s next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees’ personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.

Leader Try every day to create a safer 、 More efficient 、 More diverse and more just working environment . They are led by empathy , Have fun at work , And make it easier for others to have fun at work .Leader ask oneself ： Are my colleagues growing up ？ Do they have power ？ Are they ready for the next stage ？ Whether in Amazon or elsewhere ,Leader Have expectations and commitment to employees' personal success .

Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility - The stronger the ability , The greater the responsibility

We started in a garage, but we’re not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them.

We've come out of the original garage , Become big , And affect the world , But we are far from perfect . Our every move will attract attention , So we must be modest and cautious . Our surroundings make us better every day . We work for our customers every day 、 Our employees 、 Our partners and the whole world make efforts . The end of each day , We must make efforts for tomorrow's development .Leader With less consumption , Create greater value .

How to land ？

Next, let's look at how Amazon puts 【 Slogans on the wall 】 Landing on the desk .

If everything goes smoothly , In fact, these principles are not needed . like , On the football field , Everyone is courteous to each other , You don't need a referee .

Only 【 Have a problem 】 When , Only then can these principles work . You can even say that , Competitiveness of an enterprise , It's the ability to solve problems .

therefore , Amazon's leadership principles , Also born to solve problems .

Just read these principles , Still can't understand , Of course , The best way is to work in Amazon for a while . however , We can still understand it through the model .

This is based on Amazon's work experience , And personal understanding , The analyzed model . It's easy to use .

• First step ： Determine which core value of the enterprise the problem belongs to
• The second step ： Judge the principles related to core values
• The third step ： With 【 product 】->【 Customer 】->【 The team 】->【 cost 】 Make trade-offs in principle in the order of （ Of course , The order can be changed ）

When something goes wrong

In the work , There are problems every day , So does Amazon . The problem itself is not a bad thing .

Let's take the most common example ：【 Project launch time Delay】

Almost half of the projects will go online Delay, Because the way we're going , No one is flat .

When Amazon deals with this kind of problem ,【 Invisible 】, Also used. 16 A leadership principle .

• First step , The project naturally belongs to 【 product 】 and 【 Customer 】 The core category of .
• The second step , See which principles apply to solve Delay The scope of the problem .

Next, according to the characteristics of the project , Trade off in principle . For example , Projects that need to match a specific event date , Customer first . If it is caused by project quality problems Delay, Then use 【Insist on the Highest Standards】.

We often struggle with 【 Customer trust 】 And 【 product quality 】 In the trade-off between , I didn't deliver on time , Did you lose the customer's trust .

Of course , On time delivery is of course very important , But winning customers' trust is not just about delivering on time , It is more important for customers to obtain product value . If , Project delay can bring greater value to customers , It's only worth it .

As for the project delay , Subsequent optimization can be carried out through process improvement and other methods .

In case of dispute

Disputes are also problems that we encounter every day at work .

Let's take a common example ：【 This function , Do you want to 】

The solution to this problem , It also comes down to 【 product 】&【 Customer 】 In the core values of . Let's choose from the principles of leadership .

• Invent and Simplify
• Insist on the Highest Standards
• Bias for Action
• Deliver Results
• Think Big

Most of the time ,【Invent and Simplify】 And 【Bias for Action】 Will win . Of course , According to different projects , The result will be different , But there is one 【 Criteria of judgment 】, Our meeting won't be 【 Tearing at each other 】 A waste of time .

When distributing benefits

Promotion should be one of the most important moments for employees . Every company has an internal evaluation system for promotion , however , A lot of times , When employees get the evaluation report, they will be at a loss .

Amazon's evaluation of each employee , It's all based on leadership principles .Leader Will collect employees' work data for a whole year , And according to the principles of leadership , Evaluate each principle item .

Last , The results will also be intuitive . Employees can use past work processes , What is the deficiency of self-awareness , Led to the failure of promotion .

In a dilemma

In the field of Technology , There are often trade-offs .

for instance ：【 Which technology stack is better 】

If a senior engineer stepped on the pit , This problem will be well solved , however , Most of the time we see new things . Now , It's the old way , Select core values , And the principle of choice .

One of the most common principles in Amazon is 【Invent and Simplify】, They will choose a more concise way to solve this problem , Even during execution , We need more time , Simplicity of architecture is more important .

Amazon's corporate culture , Can you bring it here ？

Amazon is already a huge enterprise , Corporate culture is also the culture of large enterprises , Will cover all aspects of the work .

If it is a small and medium-sized enterprise , Can we just bring it over ？ My personal recommendation is ： So much doesn't work .

for instance ,【Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer】 and 【Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility】 These two principles are obviously not applicable to small and medium-sized enterprises .

Here is a recommended option for small and medium-sized enterprises . For SMEs , Trot is more suitable for , therefore , The following principle should be the most appropriate .

• 【Customer Obsession】
• 【Earn Trust】
• 【Ownership】
• 【Invent and Simplify】
• 【Frugality】
• 【Deliver Results】

summary

According to our own ideas , Creating cultural slogans is not particularly difficult . How to integrate culture into work is the most critical link .

To achieve this goal , Culture itself cannot be a 【 Die ambiguity 】 The sentence of , It should be a 【 The laws of 】 Same existence . That's the only way , On weekdays , Can be widely used . Corporate culture itself will also be in 【 Before you know it 】 Into everyone's mind , in the course of time , from 【 Culture 】 become 【 habit 】.