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April 15, 2009
Amazon and the hero's journey
Strategic moments don't happen often but when they do, they're an opportunity for transformation.
Amazon's big strategic moment was with the AmazonFAIL controversy. With thousands of Twitter messages, blog posts and media stories creating a white-hot spotlight of attention, the next step was how Amazon would lead itself out from a mess of what was being called censorship, the worst form of paternalism, etc.. Practically leaping from the pages of a Joseph Campbell book, it was a hero's moment ready for the making.
And Amazon flubbed it.
Amazon was a flinty Dirty Harry when it should have been an introspective Luke Skywalker. Amazon's curt "ham-fisted cataloging error" explanation for how it miscategorized thousands of gay- and lesbian-themed books may explain why opinions about the company's intentions are raw. Silence feeds suspicion. The pervasive disappointment and anger at a company that people generally respect, even love, is surprising, but that'll happen if what's considered paternalism isn't neutralized with pathos. Really, could it have been so emasculating for an Amazon spokesperson to have said, "Wow, we really screwed up. This may be too much detail for some of you, but here's exactly what happened..."
Amazon's bad buzz is the penalty of unfulfilled expectations. Amazon became the category leader in online retailing because it has created so many new expecations for online experiences, and it almost always meets or exceeds them; its Net Promoter Score ranking is 36 points above the median in its category. Category leaders are cultural leaders in business, sports, non-profits and government. Strategies, behaviors and some lives are modeled on category leaders. It's a perk and a responsibility. It's heady and scary. The cost of reticence is goodwill.
Fifteen years ago, a problem like this might have lingered in a company for months, but the tools we shape are now shaping us. We're increasingly becoming an instant-feedback society, and that's changing expectations for nearly everything that everyone does.
For Amazon and anyone who finds themselves suddenly under fire with a problem, the audience knows continuous perfection is a lie. No need to lie to yourself. That's part of the hero's journey.
(Image: National Coalition Against Censorship)
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I have been doing some reading about this and I still can't figure what the motivation was for amazon to relabel the search tags in the first place.
I agree they then seemed to stammer about it, but it seems more cover up than crime.
PS - amazon is incapable of being guilty of censorship in the true sense of the word, they are a company not a government. Restricted access, yes, censorship, no.
Ed -- And if people in government have taught us anything, it's always the cover-up, not the crime, that is the cause of most problems.
Two companies have recently taken some major flack over supposed flubs this week. I'd say Amazon was able to handle the disaster faster then Dominoes. But there was still a major problem with how they responded. Just say you screwed up...it's a lot easier.
To me, the story here is as much about how iconic Amazon has become. For a company on the scale of Amazon to get some coding wrong is not so surprising, even such highly sensitive coding. they write/rewrite thousands upon thousands of lines of code every day. And I don't quarrel with the fact that their response is the story. What is striking to me, however, is how significant a touchstone Amazon has become, far beyond their economic impact.
You missed the news story that it was a hacker using an exploit.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/163024/hacker_claims_credit_for_amazons_gaythemed_book_glitch.html
Ben, I agree the cover up is always worse, but the more I read, the more I think, maybe it just took them that long to find the problem. Two days is an era with Internet time, but finding the actual problem can't be done in Internet time.
I guess, they could have said, "Holy crap, something is wrong with our system, but honestly we don't know what it is."
Here's the thing: The actual error was an engineering one, not a political/corporate one. The mindset of engineers is such that the proper response to a bug being identified is "this is the bug, and it has been fixed now". They dont think politically. Seems like the response was crafted by engineers.
From a business perspective, Amazon should have made an earlier response letting everyone know that they had been heard, and the matter was being investigated. If they did, please correct me, but I haven't seen mention of that anywhere. This may have slowed the quickly spreading upset, until Amazon was ready to respond with an answer. Granted most of the damage was done on Sunday, and, sadly, may not have been noticed by them until Monday, but the sooner you show recognition of a problem, the better.
BURN THEM! SEND THE PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES! SHOOT FIRST ASK QUESTIONS LATER!
:)
My guess is that the pitchforks came out in full force because of Amazon's response to an author that his work had been reclassified as an adult title, something akin to pornography. Probably not the best thing to say to anyone, much less an author.
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