▲Takeaway07:30
You Can't Communicate Clearly Without Thinking Clearly
Ian credits Amazon's business-writing culture for sharpening him. Writing forces two tests at once: being a clear thinker and a clear communicator. Trying to organize thoughts for an external audience makes both muscles stronger.
- Business writing at Amazon is training for clear thinking
- Clear communication and clear thinking are two linked tests
- Writing to share externally forces you to be compact and non-rambling
“you've got to be a clear thinker to be a clear communicator”
#communication#writing#clarity
▲Takeaway14:30
The Three Skills Every New PM Should Focus On
Of the dozen-plus attributes on Ian's list, he tells new PMs to focus on just three: communicate, prioritize, and execute. The other skills (think big, technical trade-offs, design) grow in importance as you get more senior, so early-career PMs can worry less about them.
- New PMs should prioritize communicate, prioritize, execute
- These three matter no matter where you are in your product career
- Skills like think big and technical trade-offs become more important later
- It's often easier to know what NOT to stress about early on
“probably communicate you know prioritize and execute I think those are just the core building blocks”
#product-management#career#skills#prioritization
▲Takeaway16:00
Answer First, Then Explain (Or Just Shut Up)
Ian's most tactical communication tip, drawn from the 'Book of Kim' best practices he gathered at Amazon: when asked a question, give the answer first and then explain, rather than rambling through background. Answering a 'when' question with a date and using numbers are concrete habits that compound over a career.
- Lead with the answer, then explain (or sometimes just stop talking)
- Avoid weasel words; own your problems
- Answer a 'when' question with a date
- Grade yourself after each meeting, doc, or answer and try to improve
“avoid weasel Words Answer First and then explain own your problems”
“answer and then explain or sometimes answer and then shut up that actually is a tactical thing you can do to get better at communicating”
#communication#tactics#feedback
▲Takeaway24:00
Trust Is the Currency of a Product Leader
Ian added 'earn trust' to his list later in his career after realizing how central it is, especially for senior leaders. Trust is what lets you ask for and receive more resources. It's built by repeatedly setting and meeting expectations, telling the truth, and launching what you said you'd launch, and destroyed by evasion, missed launches, and ignored mistakes.
- Trust is the currency of a product manager and leader
- It compounds directly into your ability to secure more resources
- Built by repeatedly setting and meeting expectations
- Lost by lying, being evasive, missing launches, or repeating mistakes
“trust is just built by repeatedly setting and meeting expectations”
#trust#leadership#product-management#career
▲Takeaway25:30
Chase Impact, Not Promotion
Ian argues that if you forget politics and promotion and simply wake up trying to have the biggest impact you can, that becomes your best guiding light and the strongest predictor of promotion anyway. In his first decade at Amazon he never discussed promotion with his manager, just grew his book of business, and the promotions followed as a byproduct.
- Focus on impact, not promotion or org size
- Impact is the leading indicator of whether you'll be promoted
- Ian never raised promotion with his manager for years
- The net result of chasing impact was being promoted several times anyway
“if you simply wake up every day trying to have the biggest impact you can”
“I I was promoted several times and I did grow in my role but that wasn't what drove me”
#impact#career#promotion#motivation
▲Takeaway45:30
Teach the Why, Not Just the Decision
What Ian most admired in Jeff Wilkie was teaching: instead of just stating the right decision in a meeting, Wilkie would spend even ten seconds explaining the mental model behind it. Abstracting a decision into a transferable lesson has far more lasting effect, because the person can apply it to future situations and is more likely to disagree-and-commit.
- Wilkie taught the underlying mental model, not just the verdict
- Even a 10-second explanation of the 'why' has lasting effect
- Abstracting to a lesson lets people apply it to future situations
- Ian admits he forgot to do this as he became more experienced
“I think you'll have a lot more lasting effect if you could kind of abstract it to a degree and teach the lesson”
#leadership#teaching#mentorship#amazon
▲Takeaway56:00
Bezos's Three Tests for Investing in Something New
Over lunch around 2008, Ian asked Bezos his criteria for backing a new idea. Bezos named three: is it a big idea, is it something Amazon should be doing, and is there a legitimate plan to succeed. You need all three, and Ian maps the 'FAQ' portion of working backwards onto that third legitimacy test.
- Test 1: is it a big idea
- Test 2: is it something the company should be doing
- Test 3: is there a legitimate plan to succeed
- You need all three; extracting oil from shale might be big but isn't Amazon's to do
“one is it a big idea and then second is it something we should be doing”
“the third test is their legitimate plan to succeed and you gotta have all three of those things”
#amazon#bezos#strategy#decision-making