Amazon Leadership Principles in Practice (Part 1)
Customer Obsession
A company in South Korea was seeking a GIS solution, but many businesses there prefer local service providers due to factors like taxation, language barriers, and cultural differences. Fortunately, my company, based in Hong Kong, had a connection with this company and was invited to submit a quotation alongside several local GIS vendors.
Despite lacking a GIS background and having never developed such a solution before, we understood the importance of customer engagement. When we asked their IT team about their specific requirements and pain points, we received no concrete answers. All we knew was that this was a customer with whom we had an ongoing project at their Hong Kong branch, they were a global leader in elevator sales, and they wanted the GIS solution implemented in their call center.
Over the two weeks leading up to the quotation deadline, I brainstormed potential use cases for a GIS in a call center setting. I considered possible pain points, ways to boost employee productivity and efficiency, and the best tools and technologies available in GIS. Most importantly, I focused on crafting a tailor-made solution that would meet the customer’s needs and enhance their experience.
Just before the deadline, we submitted our quotation, which included a detailed proposal, screenshots of a prototype I had developed, and a request for a demonstration session. To demonstrate our commitment, I flew to their head office in South Korea to present our proposal and conduct a prototype demo at our own expense. We were awarded the tender, and our solution was implemented across all their call centers in Asia.
Ownership
In my role advising project leaders and product owners, the company board directed me to join a new project team tasked with delivering a cloud-based solution as an architect. I had a passion for architecture, having embraced that role in my previous company. However, I believed I could contribute more significantly to the project by taking on additional ownership, especially since a project technical director was already in place.
领英推荐
The company was attempting to adopt agile practices but lacked a role dedicated to optimizing those practices. In Scrum, the Scrum Master plays a crucial role in facilitating the process without conflicting with existing positions. Recognizing this, I approached the technical director and requested to be assigned as the Scrum Master for the team. I had previously collaborated with the team members and had written articles on improving Scrum practices.
What I appreciate about Scrum is its customer-centric focus. Unlike traditional development teams that consist only of project managers, designers, and developers, Scrum introduces the Product Owner role, which emphasizes that software should serve customers and users, not just developers.
As the project commenced, I insisted that the Product Owner join the Scrum team. Unfortunately, the Product Owner was absent at the start, so I assumed that responsibility to manage the backlog. I did this to demonstrate to the prospective Product Owner how to create user stories and engage the Scrum team in questioning those stories. Even though I wasn’t officially the project owner, I actively engaged with the potential Product Owner, asking how the product would assist customers in their daily workflows, what problems we aimed to solve, and which users or roles would benefit from the solution.
Primary References: Amazon Leadership Principles
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