The last two weeks at Amazon have gone by very quickly. I presented my research to 12 technical managers last week and delivered two reports this week. I am certainly kept on my toes and love it. Working with supervisors is interesting, because I have been given so much freedom to run my project. I chat with my manager once or twice a week to bounce my ideas off him. I work closely with two other managers, and I took up a tiny side project for one of them. I also meet weekly with my mentor, who is incredibly helpful when I am stuck on an issue.
My summer project evolved quite a bit in the first two weeks. It was quite exciting to turn a broad business idea and problem into a structured 3-month plan. My MAP project really helped with that. My manager had presented me with a set of projects/issues I could help with, and I thought through them to pick the ones I would work on this Summer. My decision was based on my potential impact on the project, my interests, skills and learning objectives. I communicated these with my manager, and together we came up with a set of goals for me. I broke down those goals into actionable items, and talked to my mentor about what was achievable.
I also learned that setting hard deadlines for myself, and communicating those with the rest of the team helps me focus and push forward on my work. I try to deliver a document every week, so that I time-box myself. Documenting my findings also helps me when a question is asked of me, or when I am trying to drive towards solutions. So it’s a tactic I recommend to everyone. Besides, it improves writing and presentation skills.
Here’s yet another video of Jeff Bezos, this one is more current, from the Princeton graduation:
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