Amazon Leadership Principle - Are Right, a Lot

The Thought - “Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.”

What is “Are Right, a Lot” at Amazon

Leaders are right, a lot speaks about their guided instinct and business acumen that comes from experience. So, this leadership principle talks about one's ability to read and analyze the data to derive the judgment or solution. It is believed that data analysis driven judgments are more realistic. The employees who are closer to customers are the ones closer to information, if they can use the data to make sound judgment for the benefit of customers and organization, then things will move faster.

Are Right, a Lot Amazon interview questions

• Talk about a scenario when you made a decision without using enough data? What was the decision and what was the result of your decision ? 

• Talk about a difficult decision you took in the absence of sufficient inputs from others ? How did you evaluate if your decision was right ?

• Talk about a time you made a bad decision, how did it impact ? Share your learning and how will you approach this decision differently?

• Have you brought a different perspective to an idea ? What was the basis for your perspective, how did it help in bettering the idea in contention ?

Interviewers expectations from your answers on “Are Right, a Lot”

• Are you a data person, believe in analyzing the available information before jumping on to options and solutions

• Are you someone who can work in ambiguous situations, there may not always be a situation where you have all data points. How do you use your instincts and judgment to develop the best possible solution?

• Are you good listener, seeks inputs from all corners to make decisions

• Are you someone to acknowledge and accept that others solution is better than yours's because their data points are valid and can make larger impact than your idea.

Must have in your answers on “Are Right, a Lot”

• Even if you do not have complete information, you can leverage the information to the extent available and look for additional data points that can help you make a decision for customers benefit.

• You do not work in silos, you speak up and ask for information. Evaluate the inputs before making any decision that may impact the customers or organization.

• You need not be right always, mention about your failures and explain why do you think you failed (should have looked for more inputs, should have taken more time to analyze)

• You ask for information that is sufficient and not just focused on data gathering for the sake of getting more and more information. You avoid the pitfall of analysis paralysis. You are quick in using right amount of data to make faster decisions that benefit the customer.