Issue 723 - "Jeff Bezos and Prime: Seventh-Level Collaboration at Its Best"


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 13	Issue 723
Craig Impelman Speaking \| Championship Coaches \| Champion's Leadership Library Login
"JEFF BEZOS AND PRIME: SEVENTH-LEVEL COLLABORATION AT ITS BEST" John Wooden Video Clip (2 min. 11 sec.): Coach Wooden is asked: "Tell us about the special things you kept in your pocket during games." In John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success, cooperation is one of the foundational blocks. Coach defined it this way: "With all levels of your coworkers. Listen if you want to be heard. Be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way." That definition comes to life in one of the most famous business stories of our time — the creation of Amazon Prime. When Jeff Bezos was asked who came up with the idea, his answer revealed not only how Prime was born, but how collaboration works at its highest level. "Like many inventions inside of a team—and I love team inventing, it’s my favorite thing—I dance into the office. I love Amazon… Most of the invention we do there is: somebody has an idea, and then other people improve the idea. Other people come up with objections for why it can never work, and then we solve those objections. It’s a very fun process." That’s collaboration in motion — not talk, not theory, but practice. Bezos described how a junior software engineer came up with the original idea — not as a loyalty program, but as an "all-you-can-eat buffet of fast, free shipping." The idea didn’t come from the top. It came from the floor. When the finance team modeled the proposal, Bezos said the results were "horrifying." Unlimited free shipping looked like financial suicide. But instead of shutting the idea down, they kept talking, questioning, and debating. Bezos said, "There has to be risk-taking. You have to have instinct. All the good decisions are made that way. You do it with a group, with great humility." That single sentence — "You do it with a group, with great humility" — is a textbook description of what I call Level 7 Collaboration. Let’s look at what that process looked like in action, and how it naturally passed through the earlier levels of collaboration: The Collaborative Climb of Amazon Prime Level 4: The Sincere Collaborator A junior engineer shares a wild idea. Nobody dismisses it. Leadership listens — sincerely — and begins to explore what might be possible. (Lesson: Every great innovation starts when someone feels safe to speak up.) Level 5: The Proactive Collaborator The team doesn’t stop at listening. They’re required to contribute — to improve, test, and challenge the concept. (Lesson: Bezos expected everyone to engage, not just observe.) Level 6: The Debate-Maker Collaborator The finance team models the idea and finds terrifying numbers. Instead of ending the conversation, Bezos invites more questions, dissent, and argument. (Lesson: Objections aren’t obstacles — they’re fuel for refinement.) Level 7: The Non-Recrimination Collaborator Bezos and his team know that mistakes are not only acceptable — they’re necessary. "When we make mistakes—and we’ve made doozies like the Fire Phone—it just didn’t work out… But the big winners pay for thousands of failed experiments." No one gets blamed. No one gets singled out. Failure isn’t personal — it’s part of progress. (Lesson: Without recrimination, there’s room for courage.) How Level 7 Collaboration Feels When Bezos laughs about "the heavy eaters showing up first at the buffet," you can hear the calm confidence of a culture that isn’t afraid to fail. That’s what happens when teams reach Level 7 — fear is replaced by curiosity, blame by analysis, and ego by purpose. Prime was expensive and risky at first. But within months, the trend lines turned. Customers loved it. Today, Amazon Prime has over 200 million members and has reshaped consumer behavior across the world. And it started because a company built an environment where: Anyone could propose an idea. Everyone was expected to question it. No one was punished when it almost failed. That’s Seventh-Level Collaboration at Its Best. As Coach Wooden said, "What is right is more important than who is right." When that mindset becomes part of the culture — whether it’s in a basketball program, a classroom, or a global company — innovation and trust go hand in hand. Click here for personal development exercise: Issue 723. Click here for Printable Poetry: Issue 723. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Follow @woodenswisdom	COACH'S FAVORITE POETRY AND PROSE Courage Courage isn't a brilliant dash, A daring deed in a moment's flash; It isn't an instantaneous thing Born of despair with a sudden spring It isn't a creature of flickered hope Or the final tug at a slipping rope; But it's something deep in the soul of man That is working always to serve some plan. Courage isn't the last resort In the work of life or the game of sport; It isn't a thing that a man can call At some future time when he's apt to fall; If he hasn't it now, he will have it not When the strain is great and the pace is hot. For who would strive for a distant goal Must always have courage within his soul. Courage isn't a dazzling light That flashes and passes away from sight; It's a slow, unwavering, ingrained trait With the patience to work and the strength to wait. It's part of a man when his skies are blue, It's part of him when he has work to do. The brave man never is freed of it. He has it when there is no need of it. Courage was never designed for show; It isn't a thing that can come and go; It's written in victory and defeat And every trial a man may meet. It's part of his hours, his days and his years, Back of his smiles and behind his tears. Courage is more than a daring deed: It's the breath of life and a strong man's creed. Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)
For more information visit www.woodenswisdom.com

Issue 723 - "Jeff Bezos and Prime: Seventh-Level Collaboration at Its Best"

The Collaborative Climb of Amazon Prime

How Level 7 Collaboration Feels