Before working at Amazon, I worked for Procter & Gamble. Creating impact at Amazon was much easier because it was a young, rapidly growing company. This meant there was a lot of low-hanging fruit to make changes and fuel my career.
At P&G, things ran well. The processes were mature, the systems had been optimized, and most of the major problems had already been solved. That environment required a lot of time and internal selling to move anything forward.
In contrast, At Amazon, I walked into a situation where many things were broken. Basic tools for every process, like buying, forecasting, and inventory management, were missing, and there were large gaps in efficiency and major opportunities for improvement. This was a gift to my career. There was so much low-hanging fruit that I could make an impact.
The ability to truly drive growth in the business translated into the ability to grow in my career.
That kind of environment is rare. High-growth companies are full of low-hanging fruit but operate with high standards, and that combination is what creates outsized opportunities. You are expected to deliver results, and you are held accountable for them, but you are also given the space to act.
Low-growth companies (often large, mature firms) usually have very little low-hanging fruit left. The work has already been done and growth is a game of inches rather than miles. Since results are harder to evaluate, people tend to focus on optics. Appearances become more important than real outcomes when it comes to being promoted.
In low-growth environments, you often need to “sell” your impact. Success becomes a function of how well you tell your story, not how much you actually moved the business.
I was very lucky to land at Amazon, but I also made the most out of that luck. Doing well in a high-growth company slingshotted my career. My advice here is to keep your eyes out for high-growth companies.
Finding them and getting a job there is easier said than done, of course, but if you are lucky enough to land at one, make sure you do your best to capitalize on the opportunity.
