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Working Backwards
Colin Bryar & Bill Carr
The TL;DR
Two longtime Amazon execs reveal the operating mechanisms that produced AWS, Kindle, and Prime. The PR/FAQ process forces teams to write the customer announcement and internal FAQ before a single line of code is written, ensuring customer obsession and clarity. Six-page narratives replace slide decks in meetings; attendees read silently for the first twenty minutes. Single-threaded leadership assigns one owner per initiative with no shared responsibility, eliminating coordination tax. Input metrics (leading indicators you control) matter more than output metrics (lagging results). Bar-raiser hiring ensures the talent bar rises as the company scales. The central lesson: good intentions don't work. Mechanisms do.
Core ideas
- 1Start from the press release: write the launch announcement before you build.
- 2Replace slide decks with 6-page narratives. Read silently at the start of meetings.
- 3Single-threaded leadership — one owner per initiative, no shared responsibility.
- 4Input metrics over output metrics. Move what you control.
- 5Bar-raiser hiring keeps the talent bar rising as you scale.
Key quotes
"Working backwards from the customer is the most important thing we do."
"Good intentions don't work. Mechanisms do."
"If you can't write it in a narrative, you don't yet understand it."
Apply it this week
- →Draft a PR/FAQ before any new initiative gets resourced.
- →Replace your next slide-based review with a 6-pager.
- →Assign one single-threaded owner to each top-priority bet.
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