The Productivity Battleground

Every leadership meeting at Amazon starts the same way: complete and utter silence for up to 30 minutes. You walk in, say hello, and then sit in silence while you consume an in-depth, six-page memo. Only when everyone is finished does the meeting begin in earnest. It’s a strange approach to meetings, but like many other things in Amazon founder, CEO, and president Jeff Bezos’s meteorically successful empire, it’s superbly effective.