In a revealing podcast, Visva Mohana-Krishnan, a Senior TPM at Amazon, shares her experiences during her first year at the tech giant. This article, inspired by her insights, delves into the unique aspects of being a Technical Program Manager (TPM) at Amazon, exploring the company’s culture, leadership principles, and the sheer scale of its operations. While Visva’s role is within consumer payments, the competencies and experiences she describes are highly relevant for program management roles across Amazon, potentially including programs like Amazon Care Program Manager positions, as the foundational principles and skills are broadly applicable.
Amazon’s Unique Scale and Agility: A Different Playing Field
Amazon’s scale is the first thing that strikes newcomers, and Visva confirms this. The sheer size of programs, the multitude of stakeholders, and the intricate web of dependencies are unlike anything she experienced before. What’s equally impressive is the speed and quality of delivery achieved at this scale.
This agility is a defining characteristic of tech organizations, often missed by those outside the industry. Imagine coordinating hundreds of teams to launch a feature in just weeks – this is the norm in nimble tech environments like Amazon. While methodologies like Scrum provide frameworks, the real magic lies in the organizational culture that empowers rapid response and execution.
The TPM Role at Amazon: A Different Breed?
Amazon is often considered a pioneer in the TPM discipline, setting best practices adopted across the industry. Correction of error, a key concept, and various TPM skillsets have been honed and disseminated from Amazon. However, the defining factor at Amazon, once again, is scale.
Managing programs that span numerous organizations and involve countless stakeholders demands exceptional clarity in goals, roadmaps, and communication. Large-scale programs must be meticulously broken down into manageable milestones. Throughout this complex process, the “voice of the customer” remains paramount, guiding decisions from inception to post-delivery. Amazon becomes a “school of learning by doing,” even for seasoned TPMs, fostering a “day one culture” that encourages continuous learning and adaptation.
Embracing the ‘Day One’ Culture: Innovation as a Daily Practice
The “day one” philosophy is a cornerstone of Amazon’s culture. It prioritizes results over process, ensuring that the focus remains on delivering customer value, not getting bogged down in bureaucracy. “Day two is stasis,” the philosophy suggests, urging constant reinvention and future-oriented thinking to best serve customers.
This mindset fosters a high degree of ownership, encouraging curiosity, scrappiness, and speed. It promotes an experimentation-driven approach, embracing new trends and enabling high-velocity decision-making, crucial for rapid progress. It’s about starting each day with the fresh perspective of “day one,” regardless of past successes, constantly striving for innovation and customer-centric solutions.
Amazon Leadership Principles: A Guiding Framework for Decision-Making
Amazon’s 14 Leadership Principles are more than just posters on the wall; they are deeply embedded in the decision-making fabric of the company. They act as a shared language and a practical guide for every Amazonian, influencing decisions both big and small. Visva even humorously notes their applicability to personal life, highlighting their universal wisdom.
These principles empower every individual to act as a leader, guiding their choices and actions. A key concept within this framework is the distinction between “one-way door” and “two-way door” decisions. One-way door decisions are irreversible and require careful consideration, while two-way door decisions are reversible, allowing for quicker action and iteration. This framework encourages a balance between thorough analysis and decisive action, crucial for maintaining speed and innovation.
For instance, during onboarding, the principle of “Earning Trust” can guide a TPM’s initial roadmap. Prioritizing stakeholder engagement, active listening, and identifying areas to add value becomes paramount. By anchoring decisions to these leadership principles, TPMs can navigate complex situations and ensure alignment with Amazon’s core values.
Visva highlights “Earning Trust,” “Ownership,” and “Bias for Action” as her favorite principles. She emphasizes “Ownership” as particularly central, arguing that it inherently drives customer obsession, sound judgment, trust-building, team development, and big-picture thinking – all essential qualities for effective program management and potentially for roles like Amazon Care program manager. The interconnectedness of these principles fosters critical thinking and a holistic approach to challenges.
Interestingly, some principles appear to be in conflict, such as “Are Right, A Lot” and “Learn and Be Curious,” or “Dive Deep” and “Bias for Action.” This apparent contradiction is by design, prompting individuals to exercise critical thinking and adapt their approach based on the specific context. Conflict, in this sense, becomes a catalyst for better solutions, arising from differing perspectives and a shared commitment to excellence.
Defining the TPM Role at Amazon: A Multifaceted Function
Defining the TPM role in a single sentence is nearly impossible, as it’s highly malleable, adapting to the needs of the team, organization, and specific situation. However, at its core, a TPM at Amazon owns a product or program end-to-end, from initial concept to delivery and beyond. They are the “glue” that ensures successful execution.
This broad description translates into a diverse set of tasks: stakeholder management, roadmap delivery, priority and risk management, status reporting to leadership, process improvement, technical design contribution, and championing the voice of the customer. A critical skill is developing “peripheral vision,” anticipating potential roadblocks and ensuring all ancillary tasks are addressed for program success.
The “T” in TPM is crucial, especially at a technology-driven company like Amazon. Technical aptitude enables TPMs to understand engineering challenges, foresee repercussions of design decisions, and effectively communicate with engineering teams. However, the role also demands business acumen, understanding product roadmaps and market context to guide technical decisions strategically.
While not every team at Amazon requires a dedicated TPM, the role becomes essential when programs span multiple teams and involve complex dependencies. In smaller, internally focused teams, an Engineering Manager (EM) may handle some TPM responsibilities. However, for large-scale, cross-functional programs, a TPM’s specialized skills in program execution, stakeholder alignment, and risk management are indispensable. They bridge the gap between technical teams, business stakeholders, and non-technical partners, driving programs forward with a holistic perspective.
Customer Obsession: The Heart of Amazon’s Approach
Being “customer-obsessed” is the paramount Leadership Principle at Amazon. TPMs embody this principle by constantly considering the customer impact of every decision. They are not just focused on technical execution but also on the broader customer experience and value delivery.
This customer-centric approach extends beyond immediate product features to encompass peripheral considerations such as regulatory compliance, security, and accessibility. TPMs must proactively identify and address these factors, even if they are not explicitly assigned, demonstrating a deep understanding of customer needs and potential risks.
Bringing these considerations to the team and influencing them to adopt a customer-centric perspective is crucial. TPMs often operate by “influencing without authority,” driving alignment and action through persuasion, data, and a shared vision of customer success. This ability to influence is vital for navigating complex organizational structures and ensuring that customer needs remain at the forefront of program execution, which is equally important for roles like Amazon Care program manager as customer satisfaction in healthcare services is paramount.
Key Learnings from a Year as a TPM at Amazon
Amazon is a “school of learning” for TPMs, particularly those passionate about large-scale impact. The first year is a steep learning curve, filled with new information and challenges. However, it’s also an incredibly rewarding experience, offering unparalleled opportunities to grow and contribute to industry-leading products and services. The emphasis on customer obsession, leadership principles, and a dynamic, agile environment creates a unique and enriching experience for TPMs at Amazon, preparing them for leadership roles in various domains, including specialized areas like Amazon Care program management.
