Ending the compensation-planning doom loop in leadership
One of the most destructive forces in a growing company is the “Compensation-Planning Doom Loop.” This is when leaders are more focused on hitting bonus targets than driving long-term value. We found a way to avoid this at Amazon. When annual bonus targets are hard-coded into Operating Plan (OP) goals, the planning process stops being […]
by Bill Carr
Why Netflix’s Warner Bros. acquisition could fail long term
Netflix is planning to acquire Warner Bros. for $83 billion. Since they announced plans to do so, their stock price has declined by 15%—a drop of $66 billion in market cap. Short-term stock gyrations are a lousy indicator of long-term outcomes. However, large datasets from thousands of companies over many decades are an excellent predictor. […]
by Bill Carr
Reclaim leadership by prioritizing big strategic bets
There is a natural “gravity” in every organization that pulls leaders away from significant, complex decisions toward smaller, more manageable ones. As companies scale, they often stop making “big bets” and start optimizing for “minor wins.” Why? Because making a hundred small decisions is cognitively easier and emotionally safer than making one large, high-stakes choice. […]
by Bill Carr
Minimizing coordination tax to maximize team ownership
The biggest barrier to any company’s growth is people. More people mean more production, more customers, and more sales, right? In practice, this is usually not the case because each additional team member results in a marginal increase in coordination time and costs. Let’s call this the “Coordination Tax.” This tax is progressive— the tax […]
by Bill Carr
Scale without bureaucracy using single-threaded teams
As organizations get larger, the size of the org can become a liability rather than a strength. The coordination and communication costs exceed the marginal output of additional team members. Here are 4 signs your organization has reached the “Efficiency Tipping Point”: 1. You feel like no one in your company or organization is accountable […]
by Bill Carr
Separate innovation from core business to succeed effectively
The most significant barrier to innovation is that organizations are designed to protect their main business. This means they have many disincentives to invest in and nurture new ideas and business units that will define their future. An excellent book on this topic is ”Loonshots” by Safi Bahcall. He outlines the conditions required for innovation, […]
by Bill Carr
Start PR/FAQ with data-driven customer problems today
High-impact initiatives are almost always the result of rigorous analysis. When I coach leaders on the PR/FAQ method, the most common mistake I see is a “Customer Problem” section that is purely anecdotal. Done correctly, a PR/FAQ starts with a specific customer problem identified through a data-based, analysis-based insight. These insights typically fall into two […]
by Bill Carr
Balancing operators and inventors to sustain growth
Most companies are overwhelmingly populated with Operators, not Inventors. This is because the invention of new products, services, and processes is a less frequent occurrence than the daily, weekly, and monthly execution required to run the core business. Inventors are mostly found in early-stage companies where the entire focus is on product creation. The skills […]
by Bill Carr
Identifying atomic customer needs that drive growth
Jeff Bezos said, “Is there ever a day when someone says they want fewer options, slower delivery, and higher prices?” By asking that question, he defined the atomic-level needs of Amazon customers. What I mean by “atomic-level” is this: The needs are so deeply ingrained into the customer that they will exist today, tomorrow, next […]
by Bill Carr
Use customer insights to design always-connected Kindle
When designing the Kindle, Amazon capitalized on a known weakness of the biggest piece of consumer tech at the time: the iPod. The iPod was a global phenomenon with a huge point of user friction that taught us what NOT to do. Readers will remember that the iPod required “sideloading”—you bought or uploaded music into […]
by Bill Carr