> What's really happening is that people are afraid to think in the presence of the boss

Is it too much to ask they do the thinking before meeting him? It seems clear to me that the process that Bezos has institutionalized for meetings at Amazon aims to achieve exactly that.

A person that is senior enough to report or present to Bezos is probably involved in taking huge, high-pressure decisions. If one can handle those, one can handle a meeting with Bezos, and vice-versa.