Operations and constraints
Working Backwards
Two former Amazon executives on the mechanisms behind Amazon: start from the customer and write the press release before building.
Key concepts
- PR/FAQ: write the press release and FAQ before building anything
- Six-page narratives instead of slide decks
- Single-threaded leaders own one thing end to end
- Input metrics (controllable) over output metrics
- The Bar Raiser hiring process
How I use it
I came to this book by accident. At Ocado I was trying to reinvent how we reported on operations: we needed a control tower, with the metrics that mattered most in one place. An article I found cited this book, and it introduced me to Amazon’s weekly business review. That changed how my team and I built the whole thing.
Two ideas stuck. The first is seeing one metric at two zooms in the same chart: the last six weeks and the last six months. Monthly numbers even out the spikes, so six good months can hide six bad weeks. Seeing both lets you correct course early. The second is treating the dashboard as modular and temporary. If a metric has been stable for a year and isn’t critical, take it out and put the attention where it’s needed.
I’m a good communicator rather than a natural writer, so the six-page memos didn’t become my habit. The weekly review did.
Connected books
Start with Why