#101 Amazon's Six Pager
In this week's post we provide details on Amazon's six page narrative. Amazon employees use this method to evaluate progress, describe, review, or propose any type of idea, process or business.
Amazon banned the use of PowerPoint presentations at Amazon in June of 2004.
What's Wrong with Using PowerPoint?
Amazon wanted to avoid making high stakes decisions based on a presentation, as PowerPoint has the below limitations:
They were not conducive for deep dives or any analysis that is causal, multivariate, comparative, evidence based and resolution intense
Not suitable for discussions that are complex, interconnected, requiring plenty of information to explore. PowerPoint presentations tend to flatten out any sense of relative importance of ideas, and ignore the interconnectedness of ideas
Slide format limits the amount of information that can be conveyed
Questions from the audience can be premature, lead the focus away from the main argument, and can throw the presenter off balance
A charismatic and dynamic presenter backed by snappy phrases, cool slide transitions could lead a group to approve a dismal idea
A nervous presenter with a poorly organized presentation could confuse people, produce discussion that was rambling and unfocused and rob good ideas of serious consideration
Advantages of the Narrative Format
Amazon based their decision to do away with PowerPoint on the tenet that ideas not presenters matter the most. The advantages of a narrative:
Team's ideas and reasoning are center stage (not speaking skills and graphic design expertise)
Entire team can contribute to crafting a strong narrative, reviewing and refining it until it's at its best
Information density of a six page narrative is seven to nine times of that of a typical PowerPoint presentation. This results in higher quality decisions and more detailed feedback
Allows for nonlinear, interconnected arguments to unfold naturally
Writing will force the writer to think and synthesize more deeply than they would in the act of crafting a presentation. The format acts as a forcing function that shapes sharper, more complete analysis
Likely objections, concerns, alternate points of view, and common misunderstandings can be proactively addressed
Structure and Content of a Six Pager
The old essay writing adage "State, support, conclude" forms the basis of the six pager. The six-page narrative does not have a definite structure, sections are included based on what the narrative is about. A quarterly business review might have:
Introduction
Tenets
Accomplishments
Misses
Proposals for Next Period
Headcount
P&L
FAQ
Appendices (supporting data, mock-ups)
Tenets are foundational elements of reasoning that led to make this recommendation. Tenets give the reader an anchor point from which to evaluate the rest of the document. If the tenet itself is in dispute, it's easier to address that directly.
FAQs gives the reader a useful focal point for checking the thoroughness of the author's thinking - as FAQs anticipate counterarguments, points of contention, or statements that might be easily misinterpreted.
How to Conduct a Meeting in This New Format
The six pager is distributed at the start of each meeting and attendees use the first 20 minutes of the meeting to read the narrative. Once everyone has read the document, the remaining 40 minutes is used seek clarifications and provide feedback.
One person is designated to capture and record the salient points of the ensuring discussions and feedback.
The goal of the feedback to shape and improve the ideas presented and thereby become a key team member for that business. The attendees become integrally linked to the subsequent success or failure of the initiative, or the correctness or incorrectness of a team's business analysis.
Conclusion
The six pager is designed to increase the quality and quantity of effective communication - by an order of magnitude over traditional methods. The focuses the team on improving ideas and providing constructive feedback.
This post is a summary from a chapter in the book - Working Backwards written byColin Bryar, and Bill Carr