PRESENTS

Business Narratives Mastery

Master Amazon-style narratives: why Amazon moved from slides to prose, how to write six-page narratives that force clarity and truth-seeking discussion, how to run narrative meetings that lead to better, faster decisions, and how to implement narratives in your organization.

Includes 1 Hour of Lessons and Powerful Resources!

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Our 30-Day Money Back Guarantee: If within 30 days, you are unsatisfied with your purchase for any reason, simply request a refund using the form at the bottom of this page and you’ll receive a full refund, no questions asked.

BY THE END OF THIS COURSE, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO:

  • Learn why Amazon replaced slides with narratives and when to use narratives vs. slides.
  • Write a disciplined six-page narrative that organizes complex, multi-causal thinking into clear goals, tenets, analysis and a recommended path forward.
  • Run a high-quality narrative meeting: create reading/ commenting norms, run the discussion, and leave with clear decisions.
  • Read narratives as a leader: evaluate facts, metrics, assumptions and achievability so you can give incisive feedback and make better resource decisions.
  • Implement a narrative process in your organization so you can maket better decisions.

HERE’S WHAT THE ON-DEMAND TRAINING WILL COVER:

  • Lesson 1: Introduction to the Course
    This lesson introduces the Narrative approach and explains why narrative documents matter for high-quality decision-making. It previews the course outcomes of writing and reading narratives, practicing the meeting ritual, and leaving with practical skills to implement the system.
  • Lesson 2: The Evolution of Communication
    A concise history traces writing from scriptio continua through spacing, punctuation, printing and grammar to show how reader-first conventions arose. The lesson draws the practical point that the conventions we take for granted like spaces, paragraphs, punctuation, were innovations that enabled silent reading and a high-bandwidth way of conveying complex ideas.
  • Lesson 3: Slides as Take Over
    This lesson explains how slide decks rapidly displaced earlier, reader- and idea-centered communication practices and became not only the dominant broadcast medium in business, but the de facto decision-making medium. While slides are effective for presenting to groups, they are a presenter-first, information-light detour that reduces an organization’s ability to make fast, high-quality decisions.
  • Lesson 4: Amazon’s Return to Narratives
    An insider’s view of Amazon’s switch to narratives as it happened in 2004. Experience how and why Amazon’s switch to narratives dramatically improved decision-making and became a competitive advantage.
  • Lesson 5: How to Effectively Write Narratives
    This lesson introduces the universal principles of narrative writing. It covers audience and accessibility, practical structure, concise and candid writing style, and process rules: draft alone first, solicit early feedback, then iterate so the main narrative remains focused and decision-ready.
  • Lesson 6: How to Effectively Read and Discuss Narratives
    Learn how to run effective meetings that surface insights, essential questions to be addressed, and engage in debate and discussion based on detailed plans.
  • Lesson 7: Implementing Narratives to Make Better Decisions in Your Organization
    This lesson covers practical rollout and cultural change: how to pilot narratives, and coach writers and reviewers.
  • Lesson 8: Various Types of Narratives
    Brief intro to specialized narratives commonly used at Amazon, including the Annual Operating Plan, Quarterly/Monthly Business Reviews, PR/FAQ, and Correction of Errors.

Our 30-Day Money Back Guarantee: If within 30 days, you are unsatisfied with your purchase for any reason, simply request a refund using the form at the bottom of this page and you’ll receive a full refund, no questions asked.

YOU’LL ALSO RECEIVE:

Questions for Readers:

A set of questions for readers to think about as they read and comment on narratives to improve the ensuing discussion and decision-making.

Sample Narrative:

A fictional narrative that is presented to an executive team.

Weak vs Good Narratives Cheatsheet:

Tips and examples for what make for strong and weak narrative documents.

Get Direct Guidance from Colin & Bill With Monthly Q&A Calls

Avoid getting stumped on how to utilize the narratives in your company and see results by asking Colin and Bill your most pressing questions each month. With monthly Q&A calls exclusively for participants of Narrative Mastery and other Working Backwards courses, you'll get the answers you need and gain a more thorough understanding through the questions of others going through the training.

These monthly calls offer two time slots to accommodate members in all countries, and recordings are available afterward.

For plans with more than 30 users, you can also request monthly Q&A calls for just your company to be added to your quote.

JOIN A COMMUNITY OF LIKE-MINDED
PROFESSIONALS

In addition to the direct access to Colin and Bill via the monthly Q&A calls, you can also interact with them and your peers who are also taking the Narrative Mastery course in the exclusive Working Backwards Forum. You can discuss the training, share your input metrics, discover what others are using, and get additional guidance between calls.

For plans with more than 10 users, you can also request your own private forum just for your company.

Why Learn About Business Narratives From Us?

Colin Bryar

Joined Amazon in 1998 — four years after its founding — and spent the next 12 years as part of Amazon’s senior leadership team as Amazon grew from a domestic (US-only) seller of books to a global, multi-dimensional powerhouse and innovator. For two of his years at Amazon, Colin was “Chief of Staff” to Jeff Bezos, AKA “Jeff’s shadow”, during which he spent each day attending meetings, traveling with, and discussing business and life with Jeff. After Amazon, he and his family relocated to Singapore for two years where Colin served as Chief Operating Officer of e-commerce company RedMart, which was subsequently sold to Alibaba. Colin is co-founder of Working Backwards LLC where he coaches executives at both large and early-stage companies on how to implement the management practices developed at Amazon.

Bill Carr

Joined Amazon in 1999 and spent more than 15 years with the company. As Vice President of Digital Media, Bill launched and managed the company’s global digital music and video businesses, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. After Amazon, Bill was an Executive In Residence with Maveron, LLC, an early-stage, consumer-only venture capital firm. Bill later served as the Chief Operating Officer of OfferUp, the largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers in the U.S. Today Bill is co-founder of Working Backwards LLC where he coaches executives at both large and early-stage companies on how to implement the management practices developed at Amazon.

The Value of Working Backwards and Business Narratives

As a former Amazon vice president for more than a decade, 40-year veteran in the tech industry, and tech strategy consultant, one might think I had no lessons to learn from Working Backwards’ “Input Metrics Master” video training series. Nothing could be further from the truth! Bill and Colin’s masterwork provides critical background on the importance of driving business results through input metrics, refinement, and team-based learning. The series provides excellent case studies, extremely useful frameworks, and hands-on tools (including usable source code!) for implementing the time-tested Weekly Business Review (WBR) approach Amazon mastered to become the 2nd largest company in the world based on revenue. I highly recommend the series for leaders at any ambitious company.
IAN FREEDStrategy and Product Consultant, Remitly
I started executing an Amazon-style Weekly Business Review in my company in 2023, after learning it from Colin Bryar. This course was a much-needed refresher and a good reminder of the level of excellence we should aspire towards. It covers everything you need to know about running a WBR for the first time, and pays special attention to the hardest bit: coming up with good controllable input metrics! I have found that — through trial and error — you do get better at selecting controllable input metrics over time. But in truth, the frameworks that Colin and Bill teach in this course will help you get there faster.
CEDRIC CHINFounder, Postcognito
The Working Backwards training, led by Bill and Colin, has been transformational for our team at Remitly. The 'Working Backwards' methodology — especially with newly added input metrics mastery focus with templates and tools — have provided clear frameworks and actionable techniques to build customer-centric products. Bill and Colin have uniquely democratized the proven management practices and strategic rigor that underpinned Amazon's extraordinary success, making these powerful tools accessible and effective for companies like ours. At Remitly, adopting these methods has sharpened our focus, improved decision-making, and elevated our ability to deliver exceptional value to our customers.
ANKUR SINHAChief Product and Technology Officer, Remitly
As a former Amazon vice president for more than a decade, 40-year veteran in the tech industry, and tech strategy consultant, one might think I had no lessons to learn from Working Backwards’ “Input Metrics Master” video training series. Nothing could be further from the truth! Bill and Colin’s masterwork provides critical background on the importance of driving business results through input metrics, refinement, and team-based learning. The series provides excellent case studies, extremely useful frameworks, and hands-on tools (including usable source code!) for implementing the time-tested Weekly Business Review (WBR) approach Amazon mastered to become the 2nd largest company in the world based on revenue. I highly recommend the series for leaders at any ambitious company.
IAN FREEDStrategy and Product Consultant, Remitly
I started executing an Amazon-style Weekly Business Review in my company in 2023, after learning it from Colin Bryar. This course was a much-needed refresher and a good reminder of the level of excellence we should aspire towards. It covers everything you need to know about running a WBR for the first time, and pays special attention to the hardest bit: coming up with good controllable input metrics! I have found that — through trial and error — you do get better at selecting controllable input metrics over time. But in truth, the frameworks that Colin and Bill teach in this course will help you get there faster.
CEDRIC CHINFounder, Postcognito
The Working Backwards training, led by Bill and Colin, has been transformational for our team at Remitly. The 'Working Backwards' methodology — especially with newly added input metrics mastery focus with templates and tools — have provided clear frameworks and actionable techniques to build customer-centric products. Bill and Colin have uniquely democratized the proven management practices and strategic rigor that underpinned Amazon's extraordinary success, making these powerful tools accessible and effective for companies like ours. At Remitly, adopting these methods has sharpened our focus, improved decision-making, and elevated our ability to deliver exceptional value to our customers.
ANKUR SINHAChief Product and Technology Officer, Remitly

Business Narratives Mastery PACKAGES:

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(INDIVIDUAL USER)

$99

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BUY FOR team

(Up to 30 Users)

BONUS: Get 2 Hours of Consulting With Colin AND/OR BILL

$1667

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BUY FOR company

(More Than 30 Users)

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Our 30-Day Money Back Guarantee:

If within 30 days, you are unsatisfied with your purchase for any reason, simply request a refund using the form at the bottom of this page and you’ll receive a full refund, no questions asked.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can my company reimburse this course?

Many companies support professional development. Check with your HR or finance department about tuition reimbursement or professional development budgets.

Yes, we accept payments via PO for corporate enrollments. Contact our support team for assistance with processing.

You’ll gain the skills and tools to:

  1. Write a narrative to help make high-quality decisions about complex topics.
  2. As a leader and decision-maker, learn to critically and constructively evaluate the narrative documents your team writes.
  3. Run effective narrative meetings.

Yes. The narrative framework has been applied to retail, e-commerce, finance, technology, media, HR, operations, and more. It is a decision-making tool that can help any organization.

Yes, we offer customization options for teams. Contact us to discuss your organization’s specific needs.

Yes, participants who complete the course will receive a certificate that can be added to LinkedIn.

The course contains approximately 1 hour of lessons and a few short exercises. You can go at your own pace.