World's second richest man prefers 'messy' meetings that disrupt schedules
What's the story
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has revealed his unique way of conducting business meetings.
He likes them to be "messy" and so full of discussions that they often run late, throwing schedules off.
The unconventional method was revealed during his recent appearance at The New York Times's DealBook Summit.
Bezos also disclosed he encourages everyone to speak in reverse order of seniority, with the most junior person starting first and him speaking last.
Strategy
Strategy to combat 'group think'
Bezos thinks his meeting style helps fight "group think" by ensuring the boss' thoughts don't sway opinions of others.
He rarely jumps in during meetings unless he feels strongly about an issue.
"I'm actually personally very easy to influence...but a couple percent of the time, no force in the world can move me, because I'm so sure of something," Bezos said.
Meeting approach
Bezos's productive conversations 'wander' around
Further, Bezos explained his most productive conversations "wander" around instead of being strictly on the agenda.
He said, "Most of the meetings that are useful — we [hand out] six-page memos, we do half-hour study hall [where] we read them, then we have a messy discussion."
He also admitted to being skeptical if a meeting is not messy.
Customer focus
Symbolic gesture for customer satisfaction
Earlier this year, Bezos revealed another unconventional management tactic: leaving an empty chair in every meeting to symbolize the most important entity - the customer.
The gesture serves as a constant reminder for Amazon's team to prioritize customer satisfaction.
"If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends," he warned.
Meeting dynamics
Bezos is punctual for 1st meeting of the day
Bezos also admitted that he is hardly ever on time for a meeting, except for the first one of the day. He explained, "The only meeting I'm ever on time [for] is my first meeting, because I won't finish a meeting until I'm really finished."