This is the Key to Exceeding Every Expectation (or at least this is how Amazon.com does it)
How do you stay ahead after you get ahead of the competition?
“How do you stay ahead of ever-rising customer expectations? There’s no single way to do it — it’s a combination of many things. But high standards (widely deployed and at all levels of detail) are certainly a big part of it.”
— Jeff Bezos, from the 2018 Letter to Amazon.com Shareholders
Most people feel like they try as hard as they can. They feel like they give the most effort that is possible.
Most people put their best effort into a project and then think that is the best they can do.
But the truth is that in nearly all cases, we can do better.
Years ago, I heard a speaker start a presentation by asking everyone in the audience to reach their hand in the air as high as possible. Immediately, you had thousands of people thrusting their hands into the air — this was seemingly as high as each person could reach.
Then the speaker asked the audience, “Is that as high as you can reach?”
Nods of yes could be seen across the stadium.
“Now I want you to reach just a little higher.”
And just with one comment, everyone summoned the ability to reach just a little higher.
“Are you now reaching as high as you possibly can?”
Again, the audience admitted that this was not as high as everyone could reach in the air. And then the speaker noticed something that made his point.
“If this is as high as you all can reach, why are none of you standing up?”
Virtually every single person in the place was painfully stretching one hand into the air. But not a single person was standing up. Every single person in the stadium was still sitting down.
Sometimes, we believe we are doing our best, but the truth is that we can do better.
. . .
The Letter
“One thing I love about our customers is that they are divinely discontent. Their expectations are never static — they go up. … People have a voracious appetite for a better way, and yesterday’s ‘wow’ quickly becomes today’s ‘ordinary’. … You cannot rest on your laurels in this world. Customers won’t have it.”
— Jeff Bezos
The standards in every industry are going up right now. In no area is the required quality to satisfy customers decreasing.
I recently read Jeff Bezos’ letter to Amazon.com shareholders from 2018. This letter is the best articulation of how to create and maintain high standards that I have read.
As Jeff asks in the letter, “How do you stay ahead of ever-rising customer expectations?”
“There’s no single way to do it — it’s a combination of many things. But high standards (widely deployed and at all levels of detail) are certainly a big part of it. We’ve had some successes over the years in our quest to meet the high expectations of customers. We’ve also had billions of dollars’ worth of failures along the way. With those experiences as backdrop, I’d like to share with you the essentials of what we’ve learned (so far) about high standards inside an organization.”
Let’s dig into what Jeff Bezos has learned about high standards.
. . .
Intrinsic or Teachable?
“High standards are contagious.”
— Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos’ letter first asks the question: are high standards intrinsic or teachable?
Obviously, some things cannot be taught. You can’t teach being tall if you want to play basketball.
And if you can’t learn high standards, then you have to hire for them or find those people somehow.
Jeff believes that high standards are teachable.
And how do you teach high standards?
Through exposure.
“High standards are contagious.”
But unfortunately, so are low standards.
So one of the best ways to teach high standards is to be exposed to people who have high standards.
But exposure is not enough. You must articulate the core principles of high standards.
. . .
Universal or Domain Specific?
“I believe that high standards are domain specific, and that you have to learn high standards separately in every arena of interest.”
— Jeff Bezos
If you have high standards in one area of life, does that mean that you have high standards in every area of life?
No.
You must learn high standards in each area of life that you care about.
Jeff Bezos states that understanding this “keeps you humble.”
You might have high standards in one area but have what Jeff calls debilitating blind spots.
You might not even know that your standards are low.
This is exactly why you need exposure to high standards in each specific area that you want to be the best in.
. . .
Recognition and Scope
“Unrealistic beliefs on scope — often hidden and undiscussed — kill high standards.”
— Jeff Bezos
What do you need to develop high standards in a certain area?
Jeff Bezos mentions two specific steps: (1) Recognition, and (2) Scope.
Recognition. Recognize what excellence looks like.
Scope. Understand how much work it will take (or how hard it will be) to achieve excellence.
Jeff writes about a close friend of his who wanted to perform a perfect free-standing handstand.
For the Recognition step, it is relatively easy to learn what an excellent handstand looks like.
But most people mess up the Scope step, as they think it will take a few weeks and then end up quitting well before excellence is achieved.
Jeff writes:
“Unrealistic beliefs on scope — often hidden and undiscussed — kill high standards. To achieve high standards yourself or as part of a team, you need to form and proactively communicate realistic beliefs about how hard something is going to be.”
Ultimately, most of us can recognize what excellence looks like. But many of us fail when we do not understand how much work it will take reach excellence.
. . .
Skill
“Someone on the team needs to have the skill, but it doesn’t have to be you.”
— Jeff Bezos
So do you just need skill in order to reach excellence?
Jeff says “no.”
A football coach does not need to be able to throw. A film director does not need to be able to act. But they do need to recognize high standards in those areas and then teach — realistically — what it actually takes to reach the highest levels.
If you personally do not have the necessary skill in an area, then you can find someone on your team who does have the skill.
But you still need recognition (of what excellence looks like) and a clear understanding of scope (how hard it is going to be).
. . .
The Benefits
“Insist on the Highest Standards: Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people think these standards are unreasonably high.”
— from the Amazon Leadership Principles
Having high standards has clear benefits:
Better. You will have better products and services.
Recruiting and Retention. People will be drawn to your high standards.
Dirty Work. Having high standards keeps people performing the work that no one notices but is crucial in order to have success.
Fun. Believe it or not, having high standards can be extremely fun — probably because you are winning!
. . .
Why High Standards?
“Once you’ve tasted high standards, there’s no going back.”
— Jeff Bezos
Most people don’t have high standards. Most people hit a point that is “good enough” and then they stop improving.
And people don’t necessarily get better just by doing something over and over again. If they did, everyone would have insane typing speeds!
Jeff Bezos’ letter to his shareholders inspired me. I probably have high standards in some areas. But certainly not in every area. And not in some areas where I really need to have them.
Here’s the truth: it only takes one person who has high standards to affect millions of people.
Most people know the story of the British runner, Roger Bannister. He was the first person in recorded history to run a mile in under four minutes.
Bannister’s record run was an amazing feat. But what impresses me the most was the number of people who ran a mile in under four minutes not long after Roger Bannister did.
All it took was for one person to believe it could be done — and then to do it.
Then dozens did.
And then hundreds.
And then thousands.
Someone has to raise the bar.
Thank you, Jeff Bezos, for having high standards.
Now it is time for all of us to do the same. In not just one area — but all of them.
. . .
Call To Action
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