What distinguishes a high-performing company from the rest? A culture that puts truth first, according to Jeff Bezos, who built Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) into $1.97 trillion e-commerce giant it is today. In his view, organizations must make space for honest conversations, even if they are awkward and uncomfortable.

What Happened: Speaking to Lex Fridman in 2023, Bezos described truth-telling a learned skill, not a natural instinct. "We are social animals," he said. "Going along to get along is how we survive."

To change that pattern, Bezos implements meeting strategies such as speaking last and encouraging junior voices to go first. The goal is to make sure that anyone can question assumptions or critique outdated practices without fear of repercussion.

See Also: Jeff Bezos Says It’s ‘Easy To Have Ideas’ -- But Here’s Why Only The Relentlessly ‘Stubborn’ Can Turn Them Into Trillion-Dollar Businesses Like Amazon

Why It Matters: "Truths are often… uncomfortable. They can be awkward, they can be exhausting," Bezos said. "They can make people defensive even if that's not the intent." But without these hard-to-digest truths, businesses might stagnate. He warned against sticking to legacy metrics: "You're not really sure why they were invented in the first place, and you’re not sure they’re still as relevant as they used to be."

Bezos also advocated for listening to instinct when hard data is unavailable: "A lot of our most powerful truths turn out to be hunches… based on anecdotes… they may resonate with a set of anecdotes you have." That is why leaders must rely on both intuition and evidence, and be wary about optimism bias. "It's a little dangerous to jump to the conclusion that the happy interpretation is right," he said.

For Bezos, truth-telling is what keeps an organization in "Day 1" mode: curious, agile, and honest. "You have to remind people it's okay that it's uncomfortable," he said.

Bezos' instincts have led to immense success: Amazon shares have climbed 56.62% over the past five years, per Benzinga Pro.

Bezos now has a net worth of $209 billion, making him the world's third-richest person behind Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

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