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Working Backwards

Written by: Colin Bryar,Bill Carr
Narrated by: Bill Carr,Colin Bryar,Robert Petkoff
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Publisher's Summary

This program includes a preface read by the authors.

Working Backwards is an insider's breakdown of Amazon's approach to culture, leadership, and best practices from two longtime, top-level Amazon executives.

Colin started at Amazon in 1998; Bill joined in 1999. In Working Backwards, these two long-serving Amazon executives reveal and codify the principles and practices that drive the success of one of the most extraordinary companies the world has ever known. With 27 years of Amazon experience between them, much of it in the early aughts - a period of unmatched innovation that brought products and services including Kindle, Amazon Prime, Amazon Studios, and Amazon Web Services to life - Bryar and Carr offer unprecedented access to the Amazon way as it was refined, articulated, and proven to be repeatable, scalable, and adaptable.

With keen analysis and practical steps for applying it at your own company - no matter the size - the authors illuminate how Amazon’s 14 leadership principles inform decision-making at all levels and reveal how the company’s culture has been defined by four characteristics: customer obsession, long-term thinking, eagerness to invent, and operational excellence. Bryar and Carr explain the set of ground-level practices that ensure these are translated into action and flow through all aspects of the business.

Working Backwards is a practical guidebook and a corporate narrative, filled with the authors’ in-the-room recollections of what “Being Amazonian” is like and how it has affected their personal and professional lives. They demonstrate that success on Amazon’s scale is not achieved by the genius of any single leader, but rather through commitment to and execution of a set of well-defined, rigorously executed principles and practices - shared here for the very first time. 

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Colin Bryar and Bill Carr (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

What the critics say

"Jeff Bezos once told me that unlike Google or Apple, 'Amazon doesn't have one big advantage, so we have to braid a rope out of many small advantages'. Amazon has demonstrated again and again that success doesn't result from one big stroke of genius but from a set of clear business practices consistently and boldly applied. Colin Bryar and Bill Carr dive deep into how Amazon has become the company to study if you want to succeed in 21st-century business." (Tim O'Reilly, owner of O'Reilly Media)

"For those looking to change the world in ways (very) large and small via innovation and business, my strong recommendation is to dive deeply into Working Backwards. Bill and Colin have delivered a rarity of immense value, which is a powerful, high judgment dissection of the inputs to Amazon itself. I anticipate Working Backwards to quickly become required reading in board rooms and classrooms around the world." (Jason Kilar, chief executive officer of WarnerMedia)

“Colin Bryar and Bill Carr have operationalized the core management practices that lie behind Amazon's success. In particular, their insights into how any successful leader can focus on narrative and metrics to take a short-cut to the truth are essential for any leader in any industry. You'll want to have your highlighter ready and keep this book close at hand for quick reference." (Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor)

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What listeners say about Working Backwards

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inspiring story to read

loved it❤
as a product manager, Id die to work in such a company like Amazon with this level of innovation 💡and the experience which can be gained throughout the release of each feature/product
my sincere appreciation goes to the authors, you guys did a magnificent job writing this book👌

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  • JPLFC2002
  • 2021-03-19

Look elsewhere to learn about Amazon.

The book started strong with the bios and leadership principles. There are some informative chapters such as the narrative and PR chapters but throughout the book there is a pompous tone. This book is the epitome of your colleague taking all the credit saying they did all the work instead of saying we. Lots of boasting and unnecessary details on promotions, titles, and personal successes etc. The Everything Store is a better Amazon 101 book.

6 people found this helpful

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  • Scott Engstrom
  • 2021-05-23

Very good business book

This book is very good and you should read it/listen to it if you are looking for insights regarding new product introduction and unique hiring practices. There is no arguing with Amazon’s successes and so hearing about how they introduced some of the most successful product lines is incredibly interesting.

But, not all books can be 5 stars. This one is just below the best business books I’ve read.

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  • Jon
  • 2022-09-28

An uncritical love letter to an impressive company

Amazon is an undeniably impressive company. And while this decomposition of how Amazon works does surface some insights into how the magic happens, the book is also a sales pitch for the authors' consulting services that purport to make your company more "Amazonian". As such it often abandons nuanced analysis in favour of fawning adulation. In the end, I found it fairly interesting as an overview of how Amazon operates (very much like many other large organisations in many respects, very differently in a few)... but unconvincing as an instruction manual on how to run a successful business. A mixed bag.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2022-08-11

Boring

The authors have spent a lot of time and effort developing a fairly boring account Amazon’s approach to organize and motivate a vast employee base. Dont waste your credit or money.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Dustin
  • 2023-03-22

Excellent

Exceptional and authentic inside-out perspective of how the best companies either “win or learn” together. Very practical and actionable executive-level recommendations, including ditching PowerPoint, creating single-threaded autonomous teams, and thinking long-term. There is some ‘secret sauce’ that Bezos had to refine concepts, but they set up highly collaborative systems and aligned incentives to build one of the most successful companies in history.

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  • James Wroe
  • 2023-03-11

One of the best business books I have read

Inspiring, practical and interesting. Very good mix of things to apply told through stories from Amazon. I work for a traditional logistics business in a transformation leadership role and found many of points directly useful & useable.

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  • Joaquin Jackson
  • 2023-01-31

Phenomenal Book - Insights into an Innovative Culture

I’m in love with Working Backwards. It provides great insight into the decision making that formed some of the worlds greatest products. I’ve told many friends and co-workers about the book and how it’s changed my thinking.

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  • Jason Walker
  • 2023-01-18

Interesting

Now all will know why turn over is a challenge at Amazon. Full of egomaniacs.

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  • Justin
  • 2023-01-16

Typical Amazon

This is an ok book if you are looking to enter Amazon to give you a peak at the hotmess behind the curtain. It’s older therefore the ideas and approach has changed from a PTX point of view. The book content is typical drink from a fire hose Amazon style. #day1mentality.

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  • Jimmy
  • 2022-09-22

Excellent

Excellent insight on being an Amazonian. I hope other pick this up and provide the right steps to move forward.