Jeff Bezos discusses the drawbacks of PowerPoint presentations in Lex Fridman podcast, emphasizing the issue.
During a recent Lex Fridman podcast, Jeff Bezos, the creator of Amazon and Blue Origin, discussed his preferences for Amazon meetings. He provided valuable insights into the meeting process, emphasizing the significance of meeting goals. Bezos also delved into the specifics of his renowned 6-page memos and how Amazon ensures productive and informative meetings. Discover the methods employed by Amazon to make their meetings engaging, result-oriented, and tailored to Bezos’ preferences.
Jeff Bezos on Amazon’s unique meeting culture
In a podcast clip shared by fromprodmgmt.world, Bezos explains that his “perfect meeting” begins with “a sharp document and a messy meeting.” He adds that the document should be detailed and written so clearly that it should sound like “angels singing from on high.” The meeting itself should have people asking “questions no one knows the answers to.” Fridman asks him about the famous 6-page memo, and Bezos says they’ll hold a 30-minute workshop to give people in the meeting time to read the memo. After everyone has read the memo, the meeting agenda is discussed over the landline and as he said, “try and wander your way to a solution.”
He also said: “You could say you could read these memos beforehand, but the problem is people don’t have time to do that.” In the podcast, he emphasized their meaningful conversations and the insight he got from each member, which is why it’s worth investing in every meeting.
In addition, Bezos also talks about how PowerPoint presentations are not ideal for audiences. He explained, “That’s another problem with PowerPoint presentations. They’re often just bullet points. And you can hide a lot of sloppy thinking behind bullet points.”
He added: “It’s easy for the author and hard for the audience, and the memo is the other way around.”
He concludes, “It’s hard to write a six-page memo…but it’s much better for the public.”
However, he emphasizes the importance of the effort and time spent preparing these six-page memos. He said the task is daunting and requires various checks to ensure it is detailed and the public gets all the answers they are looking for from these memos.
