Jeff Bezos Works In Kentucky Distribution Center For A Week | Hacker News Reader

Jeff Bezos Works In Kentucky Distribution Center For A Week

businessinsider.com

81 pointsbrandonkm21 comments

Admirable, certainly. It's nice to see a CEO who is keen to experience his business from every angle.

From observing the workplace of my girlfriend, who has recently worked in retail for a large, national corporation, I can tell that the particular company she works for definitely doesn't. Very often they get instructions about how to rearrange the sales floor that anyone actually working there with the customers would never in a million years think was a good idea -- usually, a few weeks later, they're told to change back to what they were doing. My guess is that's how it goes in most big companies. Eventually, the suits don't touch the nitty gritty parts of the business, and they end up getting way out of touch.

That said, I doubt if Bezos, by virtue of the fact that everyone will know who he is, will run into the rumored "sweatshop" conditions at some Amazon distro centers (if those rumors are at all true, which is impossible for anyone who hasn't worked in one to say): http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10123835-93.html

EDIT: Also, does Jeff Bezos have a blog? His is one I would really love to read.

Yes! This is what more CEOs of large companies need to do. If you are a CEO, you need to understand what is going on in the company first hand, not by playing whisper down the lane with the chain of command. (This is my philosophy, hopefully reality one day.)

He's going to get a very sanitized version of the experience. What would be really amazing is if he disguised himself and went to work in the warehouse unannounced. Although I'm sure there would be plenty of self righteous outrage if he actually did.

The important thing is that he is going to be at the same level as those employees. He can ask them questions such as, "What needs improvement?" He's a bright guy so I would imagine he can figure out a way to make the employees feel comfortable enough to be dead honest with him. While you are right that there will be some cleansing, in general the employees can show him what they are talking about in a way that some feedback form just couldn't accomplish. (I must note that even dishing out a feedback form to employees once or twice a year is a giant step for many companies.)

I am biased, but David Neeleman (JetBlue, now starting Azul) is an amazing CEO. Just a few days ago he was flying around Brazil on his new Azul airline anonymously to verify his employees are implementing the level of customer service he is hoping for.

Edit: Compare that to the Washington DC Metro Board of Directors who don't even ride the Metro Trains they are overpaid to "direct".

A week might be long enough for the employees to get used to his presence and fall back to their normal behaviour.

I also expect Bezos to have thought of that and of the alternatives and to have made an informed decision.

Here's an interesting example of the insights and changes he's made as a result his time spent at the fulfillment centers.

http://www.shmula.com/987/jeff-bezos-5-why-exercise-root-cau...

From the stories I've read over the years on Jeff Bezos, this is perfectly in line with his management style and persona. If it was anyone else I would probably questions motives a bit more, but this seems to simply be wanting to experience the work and environment on the ground level. Its gaining valuable perspective that helps effective CEOs run their companies better.

All managers at Amazon above a certain level are required to work in a fulfillment center once a year.

I think this is a pretty interesting gesture. It is possible that Mr. Bezos will learn something that will help him improve working conditions and efficiency within the company. But who will be the CEO while he is busy working in the distribution center? It seems like an inefficient use of his time. Does this show a lack of faith in lower management?

Instead of downvoting, why not post why you disagree? I think this is a valid line of inquiry.

Wouldn't it be great if people had to provide a reason along with their downvote? Maybe via a little text box that slides out, jQuery style. It would help alleviate the "why am I getting downvoted?" syndrome we all occasionally suffer from.

A good CEO should be able to delegate day to day activities for a week - how else would he ever get to go on vacation? In fact, a good CEO should probably be able to delegate all day to day activities he might be involved in, in case of an emergency, in case he's hit by a bus, or just so he can spend a day thinking strategically.

Good point. I guess the question is: in the long run will Amazon be better of having Jeff Bezos performing his usual duties as CEO 3/23-3/27 or acquiring first hand the experience of working in a distribution center. The net difference is probably de minimis. Although it does make for good publicity and employee moral. So net-net I think this is a decent one-off gesture, but I don't think it belongs in every CEO's playbook.

I disagree strongly.

Just because he is moving boxes doesn't mean he isn't providing value as a CEO. Presumably he is learning things that will empower him to improve the company somehow, which seems like a valuable thing to have your CEO do. I'm sure Mr. Bezos is smart enough not to go AWOL for a week if there were more critical things to attend to.

Also don't underestimate the value of improved employee morale and good publicity. Your company is vastly more productive with happy employees, because they will work harder and go the extra mile for something they believe in.

I don't think this is a gesture. He's learning about the company and about how to improve it.

I attended a talk by a consultant on how they do these "best places to work" surveys. Setting aside the issue of how accurate these surveys are, one of the dominant traits of these organizations is that performance appraisals float up the chain of command as well as down.

This means that employees and junior managers get a chance to evaluate their bosses as much as the bosses evaluate them. I don't think Bezo's action shows a lack a faith in lower management but rather a "trust but verify" approach.

Of course it might be a more strategic approach to finding out how stuff really works on the front line. Given a big enough management structure the "on the floor" reality might not filter up to the board room correctly. Remember the game of gossip? That effect plagues large organizations.

Now, I am wondering how will those IT guys at Amazon can do a A/B test of how effective this move by Jeff Bezos will be.

I was expecting to hear what he learned from the experience.

The week isn't over yet.

I was wondering where Jeffy-B had gone to. I stopped getting personal emails from him a while back and I had started to get worried.

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