Think Like Amazon: The Blueprint Behind One of the World’s Most Successful Businesses 🚀🚀🚀

Welcome to the Think Like Amazon series – where every Monday I share insider insights from my time at Amazon and show you how to apply these leadership principles to accelerate growth in your own business. 📈

👉 Today’s principle (7/10): Think Big

If your goals don’t scare you, they’re not big enough.

At Amazon, leaders are taught to Think big and act boldly.

Here’s why it works:
💡 Ambitious vision inspires teams. Big goals attract big thinkers. When teams are challenged with an ambitious vision, they’re far more likely to explore unconventional solutions, test boundaries, and create breakthroughs. Trying many things is not a sign of failure at Amazon, but a signal that the team is Thinking Big.

💡 Think beyond today. Bold ideas aren’t about quick wins or incremental improvements. At Amazon, leaders are expected to “see around corners” – anticipating future markets, customer needs, and risks that others don’t yet see. Big thinking means building scalability into every solution and asking: will this still hold true in five or ten years? Will it stand up to disruption?

💡 Communicate clearly. Big thinking without clarity is chaos. At Amazon, clarity is non-negotiable. Leaders document their biggest ideas in simple, direct language, often in two or six-page narratives that anyone can understand. The rule of thumb: if your grandmother could read it and follow along, you’ve explained it well enough. This forces precision, alignment, and a shared understanding before execution begins.

💡 Customers are the starting point. Big thinking only matters if it solves a real customer problem. Amazon’s leaders work backwards from the customer experience, not forwards from what’s convenient internally. Every bold idea is tested against the question: what’s in it for the customer, and how will they benefit? This focus prevents “thinking big” from drifting into vanity projects that don’t move the needle.

💡 Work backwards with discipline. At Amazon, thinking big doesn’t stop at the vision stage. Mechanisms like the PR/FAQ process (writing a future press release and FAQ before the product even exists) translate ambitious visions into something tangible. This forces leaders to imagine what success looks like in the real world and then map out the hard steps to get there.

Big thinking, combined with disciplined execution, is what makes Amazon’s boldest ideas stick.

Now think about your own organisation:

❓ Is your team thinking big enough or playing safe?
❓ Are you rewarding them for generating bold, game-changing ideas?
❓ Do they feel empowered to think like owners and shape the future?

If you want your team to generate bold ideas and turn them into measurable results, I can help.

DM me 📩or visit my website to start the conversation. 💬