Aiming for a job at Amazon? All you need to know about its culture

Amazon has 14 guiding principles like 'Customer Obsession,' 'Ownership,' and Disagree and Commit

I’ve worked in many organizations where the company culture was spelled out in a few high-level statements emblazoned on ID badges. I can’t remember any of them.

The exception is Amazon. They don’t just have a few statements (and they aren’t on a badge). They have 14 guiding principles like “Customer Obsession,” “Ownership,” and “Disagree and Commit,” which are baked into every aspect of the company.

A strong, dynamic culture is the cornerstone of a successful organization. While at Amazon Web Services (AWS), I saw how culture can drive a collective understanding of who you are as a company and help propel you forward. I see this thinking mirrored across Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem, where a growing number of young companies are defining and articulating their culture early on to serve as an engine for growth.

Here’s what I learned

Create leadership principles to live by and die for

Amazon’s success largely lies in its “rituals” or way of doing things—its ability to do away with process and instead leverage its leadership principles to guide employees in their day-to-day work.

Hire right, from day one

Hiring right is core to culture building. When I joined AWS, I was pretty surprised to be put into a full-day workshop on “Making Great Hiring Decisions” on my second day. I quickly saw why this was such a big priority. Amazon knows that you can only be a legendary company if you hire well.

Create an internal startup ecosystem that iterates fast
 

As Jeff Bezos said, “Successful invention requires you to increase your rate of experimentation.”

I’m always excited to meet entrepreneurs who make culture a priority. It can tell the difference between a company with a cool idea and a company built for growth.

This is an excerpt of the article published on Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.