Working Backwards

Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon

By: Colin Bryar, Bill Carr

Narrated by: Bill Carr, Colin Bryar, Robert Petkoff

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

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

Critic reviews

"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)

Must read

If you are an ex, current, or future business owner, this book is a must read.

Informative and stories that can be implemented

As a small business owner, I wasn't sure if stories and secrets from one of the largest and most successful companies could be implemented into my business. But I was tuned in and listening closely from the start. I was constantly writing notes and going back to certain sections listening again to make sure I understood completely what they said worked, and what didn't work for them. There are so many secrets and tips that any size business could incorporate into their operation...both short and long term. It's easy to follow along and gives great perspectives from two people who experienced some principles that Amazon still uses these days.

Interesting to hear from insiders

The book has a serious structure to the content with plenty of examples of how the organization built it's culture and created an amazing business. While that was interesting, I was disappointed the authors were not more courageous in giving their opinion on the current state of the business in terms of creating a somewhat challenging environment for employees. They took credit for it's creation, and not the responsibility for it's impact.

Great book

You can easily rely the content of this book to your individual situation. Really good .

Insightful

As an Amazonian I found this book incredibly insightful and inspiring. These stories reflect on how todays Amazon was built and how you can achieve it for your own company.

Bible for decoding Amazon’s repeated success

I’ve read a bunch of books on Amazon (everything store, invent & wander) and this book gets to the soul of why Amazon continues to out innovate its competitors. The focus on a few of its breakout successes (Digital, Prime and AWS) provides the listener with depth through a few examples. Must read for anyone who wants to help his/her business get better.

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.

good because not written by CEO

many detail operation insights from operation guys not CEO , a lot of staff can be implemented in other companies

Enjoyed every second of this book...

As a long time Amazon admirer, getting this detailed and well written/read summary of their corporate culture, and some of their biggest successes was fascinating indeed.

Excellent business audiobook, better value than a MBA

As a former Amazon employee I was familiar with most of the concepts and enjoyed the high level of detail in each subject. I learned some new anecdotes that I haven’t heard before and improved my understanding of some concepts.
I highly recommend for anyone interested in product development to listen to it.