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Bezos liked to say that “good intentions don’t work, but mechanisms do.”
“You can write down your corporate culture, but when you do so, you’re discovering it, uncovering it—not creating it,” he wrote. “It is created slowly over time by the people and by events—by the stories of past success and failure that become a deep part of the company lore.”
At the same time as he issued the directive, he also ordered S-team members to watch a nineteen-minute video on YouTube, produced by Bain & Company, called “Founder’s Mentality.” It was all about eliminating bureaucracy, maintaining the voice of customers in everyday decision-making, and preserving the mindset and motivation of an insurgent startup. “One of the paradoxes of growth is that growth creates complexity and complexity is the silent killer of growth,” said Bain director James Allen in the video.
