Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon

by Colin Bryar

Jeff and I (Colin) once visited a Fortune 500 company to meet privately with the CEO in his office. During our meeting, an assistant dashed in and handed the boss a sheet of paper. The CEO glanced at it, waved it at us, and proudly said, “Our stock is up 30 cents this morning!” His mood brightened, as if he had personally caused the rise. As we drove to our next meeting, Jeff said, “There’s nothing that CEO did to cause that 30-cent blip in the stock price.” I agreed, and added that I wouldn’t be surprised if the assistant had thrown multiple printouts in the recycle bin that morning when the blip wasn’t so big. Would the same scene have played out if the share price had dropped 30 cents? The deeper lesson, one that we’ll explore in this chapter, is this: share price is what Amazon calls an “output metric.” The CEO, and companies in general, have very little ability to directly control output metrics. What’s really important is to focus on the “controllable input metrics,” the activities you directly control, which ultimately affect output metrics such as share price.