Culture is key to successful scaling, and companies like Disney and Amazon prioritize values and principles through mechanisms like Disney University and the "Just Do It" award.

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  00:00

  Culture is key to successful scaling, and it's about how you act when no one is looking.

  • Jason discusses his observations on culture and how to efficiently scale it based on his professional experiences at Disney, Amazon, Hulu, and Vessel.
  • Culture is about how you act when no one is looking, and it is important for companies that want to scale successfully.
  • Growing up in Pittsburgh, Kennywood Park and its iconic ride, the Jackrabbit, were a big part of the speaker's childhood memories, and their first family vacation outside of Pennsylvania required a 12 passenger van to accommodate their family of eight.
  • Seeing the design, force perspective, narrative, and storytelling of Disney's Magic Kingdom changed the speaker's world and sparked an adventure to learn about and work for the Walt Disney Company.
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  04:32

  A comic-strip landed a guy an internship at Disney, and the company's success is due to their culture defined by Walt Disney's values and principles.

  • The speaker got an internship at Disney by sending a comic-strip of himself to Michael Eisner demonstrating his unique capabilities.
  • Disney's success at creating something at scale is due in part to their culture, which was explicitly defined by Walt Disney.
  • Walt Disney was explicit and backed up his values and principles through his actions, emphasizing the importance of attention to detail and quality, as demonstrated by his habit of picking up litter in the theme park.
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  06:52

  Disney University teaches the values and principles of the company to all employees, while Amazon's "just do it" award helps scale values and principles across a large organization.

  • Disney University is a mechanism created by Walt Disney to teach the values and principles of the company to all employees, which is crucial for maintaining a culture of attention to detail and quality as the company scales.
  • The speaker worked at Amazon for nine years, overseeing the books, music, and video businesses and later running worldwide application software.
  • Jeff Bezos wrote 14 explicit leadership principles for Amazon that are inspirational and precise.
  • Scaling values and principles across a large organization requires more than good intentions, and Amazon's "just do it" award was an effective mechanism for achieving this.
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  10:50

  Amazon's "Just Do It" award rewards employees who exhibit good judgment and take action consistent with the company's principles, as demonstrated by an employee who suggested turning off vending machine lights to save electricity and lower prices for consumers.

  • The "Just Do It" award at Amazon was given to anyone in the company and consisted of an old smelly Nike shoe.
  • Amazon values and rewards employees who exhibit good judgment and take action consistent with the company's principles and values, as demonstrated by the example of an employee who took initiative to move the company forward without asking permission.
  • An employee in a fulfillment center was rewarded for suggesting to turn off the fluorescent light bulbs in vending machines to save electricity and use the savings to lower prices for consumers.
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  13:37

  A well-intentioned sign-in process for dogs at the PEC Med Building was deemed ridiculous and abolished.

  • Dogs were important in the office at the PEC Med Building, but a well-intentioned person started a process of having the owners sign in instead of the dogs, which was deemed ridiculous and abolished.
  • Celebrating the destruction of bureaucracy is just as important as celebrating frugality when scaling a company, as demonstrated by the effectiveness of the "Just Do It" award at Amazon and Hulu.
  • Hulu's cultural document was intentionally challenging to act as a magnet for the right people and a repellent for those who wouldn't be a good fit.
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  16:27

  Amazon's culture of healthy debate and commitment to values is a key reason for its success.

  • Amazon has a special culture that attracts and retains employees for long periods of time, as evidenced by the tenure of some of its employees.
  • Leaders should respectfully challenge decisions they disagree with and not compromise for social cohesion, but once a decision is made, they should commit wholly.
  • Amazon's culture of healthy debate and not seeking social cohesion is a key reason for its success, but it may not be comfortable for everyone.
  • Creating a great culture is a challenge that requires consistent adherence to values and principles, but it increases the chances of creating a successful company.
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  20:52

  Inventing authentic mechanisms is crucial for successful scaling, as advised by Michael Dell to Amazon's founders.

  • Inventing authentic and genuine mechanisms is crucial for companies to scale successfully, as advised by Michael Dell to Amazon's founders.
  • The speaker discussed the balance between empowering employees and disagreeing with their decisions, using Amazon's principles as an example.
  • Great leaders write a lot and trust their team's judgment to make the best decisions.
  • At Amazon, situations where a team's work is completely overturned are rare and should not happen often, and if it does, it may indicate a problem with the person in the role, according to the speaker's experience.
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  24:57

  Jeff believes leaders can learn from Walt Disney and Amazon, Hulu focuses on unique aesthetics, and being thoughtfully stubborn means sticking with what works and experimenting with mechanisms.

  • Jeff has been inspired by Walt Disney and believes that leaders can learn a lot from him, as well as being influenced by Amazon.
  • Hulu's design is focused on aesthetics and creating a unique culture, differentiating itself from utilitarian designs like Amazon.
  • Be thoughtfully stubborn by sticking with what works and dropping what doesn't, while spending time on defining values and being experimental with mechanisms.