My Experience at an Amazon Recruiting Trip
From scheduling chaos to final offers, a firsthand account of high-volume hiring at Amazon.
Latest
The Cheese Pizza Problem: Consensus Is Killing Your Best Decisions
When everyone has a voice, the outcome gets safer, slower, and more boring. This is exactly the opposite of what great companies need.
Diversity Metrics Are Easy to Fix. Real Diversity Means Hiring People You Disagree With.
Diversity isn't about checking the box on hiring people who look different. It's about having true differences of opinions on teams.
Relying on Your Manager Isn’t a Career Plan
The steps to take to grow your skills and career without your manager helping.
The AI Gold Rush Looks a Lot Like the Dot-Com Bubble. Let's Remember 1999.
A walk down memory lane from 1999, and what that might tell us about today's boom.
Finishing Your Tasks Doesn’t Mean You’re Doing Your Job
Helping gets tasks done. That's nice. Ownership removes problems entirely, and that’s the only way teams and leaders can scale.
If You're Busy All Day, Your Approach to Work is Probably Wrong.
Creating an impact doesn't always make you feel accomplished, and feeling accomplished doesn't necessarily mean you're creating an impact. This is about the dopamine trap of getting things done.
Anyone Can Have a Big Idea. Thinking Big is About Charting a Path.
The concept of Thinking Big is not about having big ideas. It's about charting a path to accomplish great and challenging things.
Big Companies Don’t Get Slower Because They Become Stupid
Designing processes and software to scale is expensive but necessary. I'll walk through why scaling by definition (basically always) leads to a loss of agility.
A Simple Framework for Giving (and Receiving) Feedback at Work
Upward feedback is a gift from an employee to a manager. How to politely give the gift of feedback to anyone, but particularly your manager.
I Wrote a 90,000-Word Novel With AI in 2 Days. You Probably Shouldn’t.
AI is great for some things. Not all things. Join me as I take on this experiment.
A Complete Guide to the Amazon Bar Raiser Interview Process
All interview processes are imperfect. But I think the Amazon Bar Raiser program is a brilliant differentiator.
Interviewing
Interview Mistake: Trash Talking Co-Workers
Complaining about co-workers is an immature and dangerous temptation.
Newsletter
9 Hard Lessons You Learn as a Director at Amazon
What unexpected things happen when your scope increases, almost everything is ambiguous, and results (not effort) are all that matter.
Late Career
Keep Calm and Carry On - Calm Beats Chaos Every Time
Staying calm in a crisis is a necessary component of leadership.
Organizations
Why do the Amazon Leadership Principles Work? How Do They Change Behaviors?
The Amazon Leadership Principles are awesome in driving behaviors within Amazon. Why don't other companies manage this type of behavior influence?
Organizations
You’re Not “Letting People Go”—You're Firing Them
Getting past the euphemisms - this is what “performance management” looks like from the manager chair.
Personal Dave Posts
What's On My Mind After 4.5 Years of Writing a Newsletter
A bit of this and that.
Managing Up
The Easiest Way to Get a Yes at Work
Why most career asks fail (if you even ask) and how making your requests smaller, clearer, and time-bound dramatically increases your odds of getting a good response.
Late Career
Your Strength Got You Here, but Doing The Opposite Will Take You Farther
Your natural tendencies work brilliantly in the right context, but real growth comes from learning when to flip them.
Career Growth
Twelve Career Lessons They Don’t Put in Onboarding
A few hard-earned lessons about people, politics, consistency, and the parts of work we pretend aren’t part of the job. But really are.
Late Career
Confidence: A Legal Performance-Enhancing Drug for the Office. 7 Manipulation Tips for Winners.
You don’t need permission to lead. You just need to look, sound, and act like a person others instinctively follow. Because, yes, we're all sheep.
Managing Up
Please, for the Love of All That’s Holy in Corporate America, Stop Saying These 8 Things at Work
Doing your work absolutely matters. But you can easily sabotage yourself by saying the wrong thing. These are a few phrases that quietly sabotage your reputation.
Managing Up
Think Your Skip-Level Is for "Visibility"? That’s Cute. It’s Not.
Levels in an organization garble communication. A skip-level meeting is an opportunity to communicate clearly. Most importantly, it helps low-level employees see past their blinders.