Jeff Bezos

They're a little more tactical than principles, but it's kind of the main ideas that we want this program to embody, whatever those are. And one of the things that we do is we put, these are the tenets for this program. And then in parentheses, we always put, unless you know a better way. Mm-hmm.

And that idea, unless you know a better way, is so important because you never want to get trapped by dogma. You never want to get trapped by history. It doesn't mean you discard history or ignore it. There's so much value in what has worked in the past, but you can't be blindly following what you've done. And that's the heart of day one. You're always starting fresh.

And that idea, unless you know a better way, is so important because you never want to get trapped by dogma. You never want to get trapped by history. It doesn't mean you discard history or ignore it. There's so much value in what has worked in the past, but you can't be blindly following what you've done. And that's the heart of day one. You're always starting fresh.

And that idea, unless you know a better way, is so important because you never want to get trapped by dogma. You never want to get trapped by history. It doesn't mean you discard history or ignore it. There's so much value in what has worked in the past, but you can't be blindly following what you've done. And that's the heart of day one. You're always starting fresh.

Well, you know, I'll talk about, because I think it's the one that is maybe in some ways the hardest to understand is the skeptical view of proxies. One of the things that happens in business, probably anything where you have an ongoing program and something is underway for a number of years, is you develop certain things that you're managing to.

Well, you know, I'll talk about, because I think it's the one that is maybe in some ways the hardest to understand is the skeptical view of proxies. One of the things that happens in business, probably anything where you have an ongoing program and something is underway for a number of years, is you develop certain things that you're managing to.

Well, you know, I'll talk about, because I think it's the one that is maybe in some ways the hardest to understand is the skeptical view of proxies. One of the things that happens in business, probably anything where you have an ongoing program and something is underway for a number of years, is you develop certain things that you're managing to.

Like, let's say, the typical case would be a metric. And that metric isn't the real underlying thing. And so maybe the metric is efficiency metric around customer contacts per unit sold or something. Like if you sell a million units, how many customer contacts do you get? Or how many returns do you get? And so on and so on. And so what happens is a little bit of a kind of inertia sets in.

Like, let's say, the typical case would be a metric. And that metric isn't the real underlying thing. And so maybe the metric is efficiency metric around customer contacts per unit sold or something. Like if you sell a million units, how many customer contacts do you get? Or how many returns do you get? And so on and so on. And so what happens is a little bit of a kind of inertia sets in.

Like, let's say, the typical case would be a metric. And that metric isn't the real underlying thing. And so maybe the metric is efficiency metric around customer contacts per unit sold or something. Like if you sell a million units, how many customer contacts do you get? Or how many returns do you get? And so on and so on. And so what happens is a little bit of a kind of inertia sets in.

where somebody a long time ago invented that metric. And they invented that metric. They decided we need to watch for customer returns per unit sold as an important metric. But they had a reason why they chose that metric, the person who invented that metric and decided it was worth watching. And then fast forward five years. That metric is the proxy. The proxy for truth, I guess.

where somebody a long time ago invented that metric. And they invented that metric. They decided we need to watch for customer returns per unit sold as an important metric. But they had a reason why they chose that metric, the person who invented that metric and decided it was worth watching. And then fast forward five years. That metric is the proxy. The proxy for truth, I guess.

where somebody a long time ago invented that metric. And they invented that metric. They decided we need to watch for customer returns per unit sold as an important metric. But they had a reason why they chose that metric, the person who invented that metric and decided it was worth watching. And then fast forward five years. That metric is the proxy. The proxy for truth, I guess.

The proxy for truth, the proxy for customer. Let's say in this case, it's a proxy for customer happiness. But that metric is not actually customer happiness. It's a proxy for customer happiness. The person who invented the metric understood that connection. Five years later, a kind of inertia can set in and you forget that the truth behind why you were watching that metric in the first place.

The proxy for truth, the proxy for customer. Let's say in this case, it's a proxy for customer happiness. But that metric is not actually customer happiness. It's a proxy for customer happiness. The person who invented the metric understood that connection. Five years later, a kind of inertia can set in and you forget that the truth behind why you were watching that metric in the first place.

The proxy for truth, the proxy for customer. Let's say in this case, it's a proxy for customer happiness. But that metric is not actually customer happiness. It's a proxy for customer happiness. The person who invented the metric understood that connection. Five years later, a kind of inertia can set in and you forget that the truth behind why you were watching that metric in the first place.

And the world shifts a little. And now that proxy isn't as valuable as it used to be, or it's missing something. And you have to be on alert for that. You have to know, okay, this is, I don't really care about this metric. I care about customer happiness. And this metric is worth,

And the world shifts a little. And now that proxy isn't as valuable as it used to be, or it's missing something. And you have to be on alert for that. You have to know, okay, this is, I don't really care about this metric. I care about customer happiness. And this metric is worth,

And the world shifts a little. And now that proxy isn't as valuable as it used to be, or it's missing something. And you have to be on alert for that. You have to know, okay, this is, I don't really care about this metric. I care about customer happiness. And this metric is worth,

putting energy into and following and improving and scrutinizing only in so much as it actually affects customer happiness. And so you've got to constantly be on guard. And it's very, very common. This is a nuanced problem. It's very common, especially in large companies.