Working Backwards
Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.21
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Bill Carr
-
Colin Bryar
-
Robert Petkoff
-
Written by:
-
Colin Bryar
-
Bill Carr
About this listen
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 AudioYou may also enjoy...
-
No Rules Rules
- Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
- Written by: Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer
- Narrated by: Jason Culp, Allyson Ryan
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here for the first time, Hastings and Erin Meyer, best-selling author of The Culture Map and one of the world's most influential business thinkers, dive deep into the controversial philosophies at the heart of the Netflix psyche, which have generated results that are the envy of the business world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with current and past Netflix employees from around the globe and never-before-told stories of trial and error from his own career, No Rules Rules is the full, fascinating, and untold story of a unique company making its mark on the world.
-
-
Too good for a headline. Please read my review.
- By Ryan Taylor on 2021-04-15
Written by: Reed Hastings, and others
-
Transformed
- Moving to the Product Operating Model
- Written by: Marty Cagan
- Narrated by: Marty Cagan
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model was written to bridge the gap between where most companies are right now and where they need to be. The leaders of these companies know they must transform to compete in an era of rapidly changing enabling technology, but most of them have never operated this way before.
Written by: Marty Cagan
-
Invent and Wander
- The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, with an Introduction by Walter Isaacson
- Written by: Jeff Bezos, Walter Isaacson - introduction
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this collection of Jeff Bezos' writings - his unique and strikingly original annual shareholder letters, plus numerous speeches and interviews that provide insight into his background, his work, and the evolution of his ideas - you'll gain an insider's view of the why and how of his success. Spanning a range of topics across business and public policy, from innovation and customer obsession to climate change and outer space, this book provides a rare glimpse into how Bezos thinks about the world and where the future might take us.
-
-
Nothing
- By Scott B. on 2023-12-22
Written by: Jeff Bezos, and others
-
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy
- The Difference and Why It Matters
- Written by: Richard Rumelt
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader. A good strategy is a specific and coherent response to - and approach for - overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect. Yet, Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with “strategy”.
-
-
This is already one of my favourite business books
- By smaclell on 2022-03-15
Written by: Richard Rumelt
-
The Amazon Way: Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles
- Written by: John Rossman, Tom Alberg - foreword
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 3rd edition of The Amazon Way is one of the rare business leadership books giving actionable insights for innovation and business growth to be the basis for your digital transformation gameplan. The Amazon Way translates Amazon's unique culture and management practices into insights and opportunities, as only an Amazon executive and expert advisor could do for the Amazon Leadership Principles giving listeners one of the essential business leadership books for the digital era.
Written by: John Rossman, and others
-
High Output Management
- Written by: Andrew S. Grove
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The essential skill of creating and maintaining new businesses - the art of the entrepreneur - can be summed up in a single word: managing. In High Output Management, Andrew S. Grove, former chairman and CEO (and employee number three) of Intel, shares his perspective on how to build and run a company. Born of Grove’s experiences at one of America’s leading technology companies, this legendary management book is a Silicon Valley staple, equally appropriate for sales managers, accountants, consultants, and teachers, as well as CEOs and start-up founders.
-
-
targeted to large beurocratic orgs
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-04-24
Written by: Andrew S. Grove
-
No Rules Rules
- Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
- Written by: Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer
- Narrated by: Jason Culp, Allyson Ryan
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here for the first time, Hastings and Erin Meyer, best-selling author of The Culture Map and one of the world's most influential business thinkers, dive deep into the controversial philosophies at the heart of the Netflix psyche, which have generated results that are the envy of the business world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with current and past Netflix employees from around the globe and never-before-told stories of trial and error from his own career, No Rules Rules is the full, fascinating, and untold story of a unique company making its mark on the world.
-
-
Too good for a headline. Please read my review.
- By Ryan Taylor on 2021-04-15
Written by: Reed Hastings, and others
-
Transformed
- Moving to the Product Operating Model
- Written by: Marty Cagan
- Narrated by: Marty Cagan
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model was written to bridge the gap between where most companies are right now and where they need to be. The leaders of these companies know they must transform to compete in an era of rapidly changing enabling technology, but most of them have never operated this way before.
Written by: Marty Cagan
-
Invent and Wander
- The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, with an Introduction by Walter Isaacson
- Written by: Jeff Bezos, Walter Isaacson - introduction
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this collection of Jeff Bezos' writings - his unique and strikingly original annual shareholder letters, plus numerous speeches and interviews that provide insight into his background, his work, and the evolution of his ideas - you'll gain an insider's view of the why and how of his success. Spanning a range of topics across business and public policy, from innovation and customer obsession to climate change and outer space, this book provides a rare glimpse into how Bezos thinks about the world and where the future might take us.
-
-
Nothing
- By Scott B. on 2023-12-22
Written by: Jeff Bezos, and others
-
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy
- The Difference and Why It Matters
- Written by: Richard Rumelt
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader. A good strategy is a specific and coherent response to - and approach for - overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect. Yet, Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with “strategy”.
-
-
This is already one of my favourite business books
- By smaclell on 2022-03-15
Written by: Richard Rumelt
-
The Amazon Way: Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles
- Written by: John Rossman, Tom Alberg - foreword
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 3rd edition of The Amazon Way is one of the rare business leadership books giving actionable insights for innovation and business growth to be the basis for your digital transformation gameplan. The Amazon Way translates Amazon's unique culture and management practices into insights and opportunities, as only an Amazon executive and expert advisor could do for the Amazon Leadership Principles giving listeners one of the essential business leadership books for the digital era.
Written by: John Rossman, and others
-
High Output Management
- Written by: Andrew S. Grove
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The essential skill of creating and maintaining new businesses - the art of the entrepreneur - can be summed up in a single word: managing. In High Output Management, Andrew S. Grove, former chairman and CEO (and employee number three) of Intel, shares his perspective on how to build and run a company. Born of Grove’s experiences at one of America’s leading technology companies, this legendary management book is a Silicon Valley staple, equally appropriate for sales managers, accountants, consultants, and teachers, as well as CEOs and start-up founders.
-
-
targeted to large beurocratic orgs
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-04-24
Written by: Andrew S. Grove
-
Empowered
- Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products
- Written by: Marty Cagan, Chris Jones
- Narrated by: Marty Cagan
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is it about the top tech product companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Netflix, and Tesla that enables their record of consistent innovation? Most people think it's because these companies are somehow able to find and attract a level of talent that makes this innovation possible. But the real advantage these companies have is not so much who they hire, but rather how they enable their people to work together to solve hard problems and create extraordinary products.
-
-
Wonderful Listen
- By Thomas Harris on 2024-07-23
Written by: Marty Cagan, and others
-
Amazon Unbound
- Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire
- Written by: Brad Stone
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Almost 10 years ago, Bloomberg journalist Brad Stone captured the rise of Amazon in his best seller The Everything Store. Since then, Amazon has expanded exponentially, inventing novel products like Alexa and disrupting countless industries, while its workforce has quintupled in size and its valuation has soared to nearly two trillion dollars.
-
-
Incredible story
- By Anonymous User on 2023-08-19
Written by: Brad Stone
-
Accelerate: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations
- Written by: Nicole Forsgren PhD, Jez Humble, Gene Kim
- Narrated by: Nicole Forsgren
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How can we apply technology to drive business value? For years we've been told that the performance of software delivery teams doesn't matter - that it can't provide a competitive advantage to our companies. Through four years of groundbreaking research to include data collected from the State of DevOps reports conducted with Puppet, Dr. Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim set out to find a way to measure software delivery performance - and what drives it - using rigorous statistical methods. This book presents both the findings and the science behind that research, making the information accessible for listeners to apply in their own organizations.
-
-
Eyes opening research results about IT industry
- By Pablo de Oliveira Castro on 2021-10-16
Written by: Nicole Forsgren PhD, and others
-
The Lean Product Playbook
- How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback
- Written by: Dan Olsen
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Lean Product Playbook is a practical guide to building products that customers love. Whether you work at a start-up or a large, established company, we all know that building great products is hard. Most new products fail. This book helps improve your chances of building successful products through clear, step-by-step guidance and advice.
Written by: Dan Olsen
-
Continuous Discovery Habits
- Discover Products That Create Customer Value and Business Value
- Written by: Teresa Torres
- Narrated by: Teresa Torres
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this audiobook, you'll learn a structured and sustainable approach to continuous discovery that will help you answer each of these questions, giving you the confidence to act while also preparing you to be wrong. You'll learn to balance action with doubt so that you can get started without being blindsided by what you don't get right. If you want to discover products that customers love—that also deliver business results—this audiobook is for you.
-
-
How to develop sustainable discovery habits
- By Anonymous User on 2023-03-18
Written by: Teresa Torres
-
The Everything Store
- Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
- Written by: Brad Stone
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amazon.com started off delivering books through the mail. But its visionary founder, Jeff Bezos, wasn't content with being a bookseller. He wanted Amazon to become the everything store, offering limitless selection and seductive convenience at disruptively low prices. To do so, he developed a corporate culture of relentless ambition and secrecy that's never been cracked. Until now.
-
-
Principals
- By Anonymous User on 2020-07-24
Written by: Brad Stone
What the critics say
"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)
What listeners say about Working Backwards
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kambiz
- 2023-11-11
Great inside look into a great company
Many creative ideas put into practice and described in tangible details in this book. A must read for anyone at a tech company.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shabnam sharif
- 2021-02-22
inspiring story to read
loved it❤
as a product manager, Id die to work in such a company like Amazon with this level of innovation 💡and the experience which can be gained throughout the release of each feature/product
my sincere appreciation goes to the authors, you guys did a magnificent job writing this book👌
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!