The Problem with Change by Decree: Lessons from Andy Jassy’s Amazon RTO Letter

On September 16th, 2024, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sent a letter to employees outlining significant organizational changes designed to improve Amazon’s culture and business effectiveness. On the surface, the letter appears to focus on creating a leaner, faster-moving company. Jassy talks about reducing management layers, increasing the ratio of individual contributors to managers, and returning to the office to enhance collaboration and invention.

However, a closer look reveals a much deeper issue that many leaders should take note of: the lack of true process improvement thinking in Jassy’s proposed changes. His letter, while well-intentioned, reflects a “change by decree” mentality that lacks the kind of thoughtful, data-driven process improvements that genuinely drive sustainable growth and efficiency.

Let’s break down some of the key problems with the approach in Jassy’s letter, particularly the lack of process improvement around reducing management layers, the return-to-office (RTO) mandate without supporting data, and the absurdity of the “bureaucracy mailbox,” which in itself is a form of administrative muda (waste).?

Flattening the Organization Without Process Improvements

Jassy’s letter points out that Amazon has added a significant number of managers over the past several years, resulting in unnecessary layers, pre-meetings for decision meetings, and a slowdown in decision-making. To fix this, he proposes reducing the number of managers by increasing the ratio of individual contributors to managers by 15%.

On the surface, this seems like a good idea. Flattening the organization should, in theory, lead to faster decision-making and greater ownership at the front lines. But here’s the problem: simply cutting managers or layers without simultaneously improving processes is a recipe for failure.

Reduction in layers doesn’t automatically make an organization more efficient. Without process improvements, removing managers can actually increase the workload for the remaining managers and create even more bottlenecks. The work doesn’t just disappear when you cut headcount; it simply gets pushed down the line.

This is where a process improvement mindset is crucial. Instead of just removing layers, Amazon should be looking at how to improve the workflows and decision-making processes that lead to the inefficiencies Jassy describes. Are there clear decision-making frameworks in place? Are teams empowered with the right tools and data to make decisions quickly? Are there processes that could be automated or streamlined to reduce the need for management oversight?

Without addressing these process-related questions, cutting management layers is just a superficial fix that could lead to even more frustration and inefficiency down the road.

The Lack of Data to Support the RTO Mandate

Jassy’s return-to-office (RTO) mandate is another area where his approach lacks the kind of data-driven process thinking that Amazon is known for. In the letter, Jassy reiterates that Amazon employees will be expected to return to the office five days a week, starting January 2025. He mentions vague benefits like increased collaboration, learning, and connection, but where’s the data?

Amazon is a company built on data. They measure everything. Yet, when it comes to this significant decision affecting thousands of employees, there’s no mention of any data to support the claim that returning to the office will improve business outcomes.

Have they measured the productivity of remote employees versus those in the office? Have they surveyed employees to understand their concerns or preferences? Have they looked at turnover rates for remote versus in-office employees? These are the kinds of data points that should inform a decision of this magnitude.

Instead, Jassy relies on generalities about the benefits of being in the office, without any evidence to back it up. This lack of data-driven decision-making is concerning, especially for a company that prides itself on being customer-obsessed and fact-driven. It’s not enough to simply say that being in the office is better—you have to prove it, especially when the decision impacts thousands of employees’ work-life balance and overall satisfaction.

The Bureaucracy Mailbox: Administrative Muda at Its Worst

Perhaps the most glaring example of wasted effort in Jassy’s letter is the introduction of a “bureaucracy mailbox.” The idea is that employees can email Jassy directly with examples of unnecessary bureaucracy or processes that could be eliminated. While this may seem like an attempt to empower employees to identify inefficiencies, it’s actually a perfect example of muda—specifically, administrative waste.

First, it’s unclear how effective this mailbox will be. How many emails can one CEO realistically read and action? And how do you prioritize which ones are truly impactful versus those that are more minor annoyances? The idea that employees will take the time to identify inefficiencies, write them up in an email, and send them to the CEO for review is, in itself, an administrative burden.

Instead of relying on a mailbox to root out inefficiencies, Amazon should be focusing on building a culture where process improvement is everyone’s responsibility and part of the daily work. This means training employees to use lean tools like value stream mapping, problem-solving, and root cause analysis to identify and eliminate waste as part of their regular workflow, not as an afterthought sent to a mailbox.

A better approach would be to establish a formal continuous improvement process within each team, empowering employees at all levels to surface and fix inefficiencies in real-time. This would not only eliminate the need for a bureaucracy mailbox but also create a more sustainable and scalable approach to removing waste.

The Big Miss: Lack of Process Thinking

The common thread in Jassy’s letter is the absence of true process improvement thinking. Whether it’s flattening the organization, mandating a return to the office, or setting up a bureaucracy mailbox, the solutions Jassy proposes are all top-down decrees rather than thoughtful, data-driven improvements to the way Amazon operates.

In lean thinking, the focus is always on improving the process, not just the people or the structure. When you cut layers of management, you have to first understand the processes those managers were overseeing and find ways to make those processes more efficient. When you mandate a return to the office, you should have clear data that shows why that change will lead to better results. And when you want to eliminate bureaucracy, you need to build continuous improvement into the fabric of the organization, rather than relying on a mailbox for employees to air their grievances.

Jassy’s letter reflects a mindset of making change by decree rather than through thoughtful, data-backed process improvements. For Amazon to truly reduce waste, increase ownership, and improve efficiency, they need to go beyond cutting managers and mandating office time. They need to embrace a process-first approach that empowers employees to identify and solve problems at the source, using data and lean principles to guide their decisions.

Pulling it All Together

Andy Jassy’s letter to Amazon employees highlights a well-intentioned effort to address some real challenges within the organization. But without a focus on process improvement, the changes he proposes are unlikely to lead to the desired outcomes. Reducing layers of management, mandating a return to the office, and setting up a bureaucracy mailbox are all surface-level solutions that fail to address the deeper issues of inefficient processes and lack of data-driven decision-making.

To truly create a leaner, more efficient Amazon, Jassy and his leadership team need to shift their focus from top-down decrees to bottom-up process improvements. Only then can Amazon continue to grow and innovate at the scale it has become known for.

“Without data, you're just another person with an opinion.” – W. Edwards Deming

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