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Re:Amazon's empire rests on its low-key approach to AI by waldohatesyou on Friday April 12, 2019 @03:36PM (#19648265)
Did you ever feel like it was a waste of time or do you feel it genuinely added value to the company to engage in that exercise?
Re:Amazon's empire rests on its low-key approach to AI by BrandonWatson on Friday April 12, 2019 @04:04PM (#19648502)
Genuinely added value. I was firmly in the "NO" camp when I got to AMZN. Writing was something that people who didn't understand hustle did. :)

What I found, over time, was that the exercise of writing forces critical thinking. PowerPoint is corporate theater. Very easy to convince with your voice instead of facts, logic, data, and insight.

There were certainly times where I felt that the doc process was used unnecessarily as a blunt cudgel, but for the big decisions, and the planning process, it was incredibly helpful. As I have transitioned to working with companies as an investor, advisor, and board member, I have continued to use the templated FAQ docs for driving decisions. I am starting to get my teams to use them for board meetings.

Re:Amazon's empire rests on its low-key approach to AI by waldohatesyou on Friday April 12, 2019 @03:37PM (#19648272)
Sorry for the double post, accidentally hit reply twice on mobile client.
Re:Amazon's empire rests on its low-key approach to AI by jessriedel on Friday April 12, 2019 @04:27PM (#19648645)
You can delete the comment within the first two hours, I think. Certainly can be edited.