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Jeff Bezos' management rules are slowly unraveling inside Amazon

More than three years after Bezos passed the CEO baton to Jassy, and as Amazon marks its 30th birthday, there are signs that the company's unique work culture is starting to fray.

The customs and practices are widely imitated: More than a dozen books promise to teach managers the secrets to the principles and processes; consultants do brisk business helping firms import Amazon’s methods into their organizations; CEOs load their emails with Amazonian axioms. “Earns trust” has been especially problematic in this regard, according to some women of color, and a former Amazon VP has written about leadership principles being weaponized by leaders when “they lack the power to give orders” and thus resort to “a crude attempt to apply the LP not as intended, but as a way to ensure an outcome.” One key one: a strong culture and DNA, anchored in principles and practices that are talked about and lived out most working days, can help stabilize—even bolster—an organization during periods of significant change, whether CEO transitions or massive shifts in consumer or enterprise trends.

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