Amazon has published a set of leadership principles. Great! Many organizations do that. But they have people, long-term managers, whose job is to see that new hires understand those principles and that the organization actually follows them.

The principles are easy to read but harder to apply. They are contrary to practices in many, if not most organizations.  For example, the customer comes before profitability.  Most companies follow the dictum of Milton Friedman that the sole purpose of a corporation is to increase profits.

Obviously, Amazon understands that the higher purpose of a corporation is to add value. Then profits come as a fallout of that value.

Another principle is ownership. Leaders are owners. They think long-term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They take ownership of issues and results.

Most of the other principles flow from these.

Dave Anderson, one of those Amazon leaders, has written an article, both humorous and sad, about outrageous responses to interview questions about these principles. Then he demonstrates an answer he loves. He posted it both on Scarlet Ink and on Linkedin. Go read it. You will be glad you did.