Does Jeff Bezos's success justify his behavior?
It's been commonly said — perhaps more so since Steve Jobs passed away — that for companies to become ridiculously successful, they need to have a tyrannical genius at the top. A new book, The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone of Bloomberg Businessweek, reinforces that narrative.
According to Mr. Stone, Mr. Bezos thrives on confrontation and puts employees through "fire drills" when addressing issues raised by customers in which he has taken a personal interest. All it takes is a question mark in the subject line of an e-mail forwarded by Mr. Bezos for all heck to break loose.
Mr. Stone writes that Mr. Bezos is not dissimilar to other technology executives, including Mr. Jobs, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Andy Grove, when it comes to making work difficult for employees. Mr. Bezos, Amazon employees say, sometimes explodes into what they call "nutters."
Most of his outbursts are a direct result of his total commitment to improving customer service and, in turn, his company's performance. That doesn't make them any less blistering. Here are a few of Mr. Bezos' greatest hits, according to the book:
"Are you lazy or just incompetent?"
"We need to apply some human intelligence to this problem."
"This document was clearly written by the B team. Can someone get me the A team document? I don't want to waste my time with the B team document."
In a recent RetailWire.com online discussion, some of the retailing experts on the BrainTrust panel talked about their own experiences with "visionary" bosses.
"My experience with the intimidating founder of an apparel giant here in Columbus, ahem, was life-changing for me," wrote Lee Peterson, EVP Creative Services, WD Partners. "It struck me that for someone like that, or Bezos, or Jobs, or Schultz, the right brand course is just so crystal clear — all the time. They know it. They live it. They are it. But for you, it's not always that clear, especially at first.
"Having said that, when (if) it does become as clear for you as it is for them, working for a person like that becomes the most rewarding job you'll ever have. The feeling becomes, 'We understand how the world works, and no one else sees it like we do.'"
"It's worth pointing out," said retail consultant Dick Seesel, "that the ten senior executives under Bezos have an average tenure of 11 years. How bad could it be, considering that these company leaders are probably among the most heavily recruited people in the industry?"
James Tenser, principal, VSN Strategies speculates that Mr. Bezos probably bristles at comparisons to Mr. Jobs and Mr. Gates. "I think Bezos would prefer to be perceived as an original jerk, not a derivative one," he wrote on RetailWire. "He began with a vision and gained affirmation from early successes. Now he justifies his management style on the basis of reach, frequency and monetary results."
As a senior director of technology strategy at Oracle, it's likely David Dorf knows of what he speaks.
"Big personalities, whether full of accolades or insults, seem to get more and better quality work from their employees. They truly set the tone for the company," he said in the RetailWire discussion. "Even temperaments don't seem to garner this level of productivity as the motivation just isn't as intense."
Of course, it's also important to consider the source when reading these reports of Mr. Bezos's behavior.
"If Bezos was a super nice guy who also liked unicorns and rainbows, there wouldn't be much of a book to sell," wrote retail customer experience consultant Doug Fleener. "He sounds like a passionate guy who sometimes gets upset."
