Good afternoon  ,

Whenever we get the opportunity to learn from someone who's been successful at something, it's best to pay attention - we might just learn something!

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, is arguably one of the most successful business leaders ever. So let's see what's to learn from him this week.

Justin Bariso, long time contributor to Inc. magazine, describes some of Bezos' principles from a recent interview with the Economic Club of Washington, DC. Bezos discusses how he handles a "flubbed" order from Amazon.

Does Amazon ever Mess up an Order for its Founder?

Yes, occasionally they do, and here's how Bezos handles it.

Whenever a mistake is made (Who doesn't make mistakes? Only those who do nothing!) Bezos launches an analytical process to find the fault deep in the system which resulted in the mistake. 

(My comment: In finding such a fault, it's important to focus on the action, or inaction, rather than the person.)

This way, he's not just fixing the "surface" error, (the symptom of the cause) that resulted in the wrong item shipped, or the wrong price charged, or whatever. He digs deep to find the faulty procedure (the root cause) that, when corrected, will prevent the error being repeated.

The minute-and-a-half video at the end of the article identifies some of Bezos' other broad rules for competing, relating to customers and suppliers, and holding efficient meetings. Great basic advice that can apply to pretty much any business!

These are the kinds of simple, common-sense approaches that are the hallmarks of smart business leaders. Skip the fluff - address the real basics of your business. it's not rocket science (unless you're building rockets). It just requires constant, relentless focus on what really makes your business succeed and improve.

Enjoy reading ! If you'd like to explore more ideas from Jeff Bezos, see what we discussed in The Unity Community  almost a year ago.