Last Friday during week 5, Maragret shared Amazon’s leadership principals with us along with other valuable information. I believe the three principals I would have the hardest time with are be right a lot, invent and simplify (mostly the simplify part), and insisting on the highest standards. For starters, it is very hard to guarantee that most of the time, you will be correct. I’d imagine that to have the level of confidence and be able to back it up, you would need to have a lot of experience under your belt. Otherwise, it seems like it would be a lot of pressure or like being thrown into cold water and forced to swim for your life. Personally, the idea of everyone on a team depending on me to be the one who is correct makes me feel tense and under pressure, although later in life I may find myself in such a position. Now onto invent and simplify. Inventing something can be hard, but I’m more worried about the simplifying part of it. You can always invent something but sometimes simplifying it can be the hardest part. For example, trying to explain how your invention works while also trying to keep your explanation simple. Even if your ideas are clear in your head, it can be hard to make them clear in someone else’s since everyone think’s differently. Ironically, simplifying is not always simple. Sometimes depending on what you’re simplifying, it can be a rather complex part of the process. Onto the last one, which is insisting on the highest standards. For me, a struggle that came to mind here is burnout, which I tend to suffer from a lot. When you are burnt out, it is difficult to consistently stick to working at the highest standards and continue functioning that way. What happens when the burnout takes over? What do you do?
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