Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Jeff Bezos' Letter, Social Media, and Tamasha

Jeff Bezos recently put out his annual shareholder letter as the Chief Executive Officer of Amazon. He writes one every year talking about his vision for the company but this one is going to be his last as he is handing over the executive reins of his company to a new person from next year. There is always something to learn from his writing. In this letter, two things struck me that have implications not only for business but for life as well.

1) Create more than you consume: He writes, "If you want to be successful in business (in life, actually), you have to create more than you consume. Your goal should be to create value for everyone you interact with. Any business that doesn’t create value for those it touches, even if it appears successful on the surface, isn’t long for this world."
There are two aspects that he has clubbed here. The first is the aspect of creation. One has to continuously create more art than one consumes. This is not saying that consumption is not important; in fact, some of the best ideas come from consumption. When we can apply the learnings from one art form to another, it leads to the creation of new forms. That is how innovation also occurs. However, the point here is one does not have to consume all the time else there will be no time left for creation. It is only through creation that one generates a value which is the second aspect that he talks about. Value can have different meanings for people and is not calculated in monetary terms. Both the aforementioned aspects are applicable if one wants to build a social media following. One has to consistently create art over long periods of time. (I do not like the word content; it feels dehumanizing.) Not all of it will be turn out to be the best, but in the long run, it is consistency that triumphs over perfection. Secondly, having a social media account or a blog that does not really create value for its followers will stagnate. Outside of one's family and friend circle, why would anyone follow if they see no value coming out of it? Value is something that can be entertaining, inspiring, or informative. All the big social media accounts that we see usually fall in these three categories.

2) Pay a price for your distinctiveness: Quoting a passage from Richard Dawkins', Jeff writes, "For instance, in a dry country, animals and plants work to maintain the fluid content of their cells, work against a natural tendency for water to flow from them into the dry outside world. If they fail they die. More generally, if living things didn’t work actively to prevent it, they would eventually merge into their surroundings, and cease to exist as autonomous beings. That is what happens when they die."

I was thinking about Imtiaz Ali's Tamasha which also said something similar to what Jeff writes in the letter. Society's rules try to make everyone average. One has to follow a set path. Ved wanted to be a storyteller in his dil but was working as a product manager in the duniya. Ved becomes an average performer in his office job because he could not connect with it. Tamasha was not saying that one should leave their corporate job and follow their passion for art. The point it was trying to make that one must feel connected and happy in whatever job they are doing else it will stop them from reaching their full potential. And, this job can be anything. The world tries to make you normal, but one has to work hard to maintain their distinctiveness. And, again, using the learning in social media, one builds a following based on their distinct voice, or as it also called unique selling proposition (USP).
He further writes, "We all know that distinctiveness–originality–is valuable. We are all taught to "be yourself." What I’m really asking you to do is to embrace and be realistic about how much energy it takes to maintain that distinctiveness. The world wants you to be typical–in a thousand ways, it pulls at you. Don’t let it happen. You have to pay a price for your distinctiveness, and it’s worth it. The fairy tale version of “be yourself” is that all the pain stops as soon as you allow your distinctiveness to shine. That version is misleading. Being yourself is worth it, but don’t expect it to be easy or free. You’ll have to put energy into it continuously."

This is precisely the most important part of the letter that many people tend to forget. Even we did not see it fully in Tamasha. The path to be yourself is not going to be easy. There is a price to pay for it. Again, applying it on social media, having a big following comes with constant scrutiny and ridicule. Being unique has rewards but it also comes with a price.
I will be back soon as busy with some other projects that I am working to finish and also trying to push away this crazy Covid anxiety. 

Other Reading:
1) 2020 Letter to Shareholders—Link
2) The post on TamashaLink

Dialogue of the Day:
"Andar se kuch aur hi hum, aur bahar se mazboor."
—Autorickshaw Driver, Tamasha

No comments:

Post a Comment

Post a comment