以下就是貝佐斯談話的歸納整理...
大組織創新的困難 (Innovation and Large Companies)
現在的時代，"改變"是成功企業一定要學會的功夫。然而，改變對於現任執行者或即得利者，是非常困難的。這個簡單的道理，就是為何創新對於所以大型組織都很困難的原因。大企業必須考慮足以延續的獲利能力，因此內部創新計畫通常都小的微不足道，長期便很容易不了了之。
"關於創新的想法，不管多麼渺小，內部一定要有鼓勵的文化，這意味著上位者必須打從心裡相信，並且帶頭示範"，貝佐斯說:"要讓小小的創新有豐碩的成果，最短的時間基礎是五年到七年，多數企業沒有這樣的認知，也不願意等這樣長的時間"
永遠照顧好你的客人 (In tough times, focus on the customers)
2000年網路泡沫後，所以網路公司股價一落千丈，亞馬遜當然也是其中之一。市場不看好，反映在股價上，但其實亞馬遜的業務仍然維持在成長狀態。憑著這點，亞馬遜決心只將心力和焦點放在顧客上。
"專心照顧你的客人，會讓一家公司迅速回復活力"，貝佐斯說:"我告訴亞馬遜員工，股價上升時，不應該覺得自己好像比較厲害或做對了什麼，就如同股價下滑時，不應該覺得自己變笨或做錯事情一樣。"
在艱難的時刻(像現在的金融海嘯)，另一個重要祕訣是"勤做內部溝通"。當外界沸沸揚揚，許多負面訊息開始在公司流竄時，應該花更多精力與員工溝通，舒緩內部因外在訊息產生的不安和疑慮。
策略可彈性，願景要堅持 (Be Stubborn)
創辦人與專業經理人最大的差異在於，創辦人對於企業的願景非常執著，而且願意捲起袖子從細節著手；專業經理人則不同當事情行不通時，他們會想改變願景。"當一個成功的創業家或創新企業家，最難的是知道何時該固執，何時該有彈性"，貝佐斯表示，"對於願景，一定要固執；對於策略和作法，可以保持彈性。"
舉例來說，對於降低成本可以有彈性，但對於"降低成本的願景"就一定要固執。關於這點，我認為貝佐斯詮釋的精闢入裡。許多熱情的創業家並非不重視願景，而是在策略上被困住後，便不自主地改變了當初創立的願景和經營方向。
犯錯的意願 (Prerequisites of innovation)
針對創新與創造，貝佐斯也列出幾項"先修學分"，其中最重要的就是"犯錯的意願"(willingness fo fail)。意思就是說，要為大局著想，必須忍受長期被誤解的壓力。談到以長期眼光著想的必要性，貝佐斯說創業家最需要的就是"說服自己"。如果總使以專業經理人角度，過度重視短期效益，就容易被困在細節中。
貝佐斯也提到，他極度厭惡"各人自掃門前雪" "看到機會不敢冒險"的概念，他表示亞馬遜總是以顧客的視野為起點，企業決策依然深思熟慮，但每件事都是倒過來，先從顧客角度談起。
可以失策，不能失職 (Errors of omission vs. errors of commission)
貝佐斯認為，人們通常太在意工作或任務的失敗。嘗試創新的飾物，本來就有風險，而我們老是拿放大鏡檢是失敗的可能性與後果。失敗，沒有什麼大不了，而且應該是工作一部份。如果某件事情失敗了，最壞就是終止它或斷尾求生，機會從你眼前溜走，你沒有採取行動，代價才是最高昂的。
簡單來說，貝佐斯認為"失策"不要緊，但絕對不能"失職"。貝佐斯曾嘗試帶領亞馬遜進入拍賣和搜尋市場(A9搜尋引擎)，結果都失敗了，但他並不引以為恥，反而常掛在嘴邊。畢竟兩個市場都是能讓亞馬遜一飛沖天的好機會，至少亞馬遜沒有錯過。(翻譯:謝哲豪)
以下就是原文:
Tips on Innovation & Entrepreneurship From Jeff Bezos
by Om Malik
Listening to Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon, is like going to startup school where you learn that failure is part of entrepreneurial growth. Whenever I have talked to Bezos in the past, the things that have stuck in my head have been his willingness to be wrong and his unflinching abhorrence of the status quo. At the Wired Business Conference in New York City, Bezos reiterated some of those points in a conversation with writer Steven Levy.
Unfortunately, my month-old MacBook died in the middle of writing that post and I lost much of it; it wasn’t until later tonight that I managed to borrow a ThinkPad from a friend. Of course, by now many have already written about Bezos’s comments on the Kindle, Google’s book efforts, and e-readers, so I’m going to skip those and instead focus on some of the comments about innovation and entrepreneurship. Many of his tips have helped me think clearly about our little startup as we grow older. Hopefully you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom from a man I like to call a constant gardener of innovation.
Innovation and large companies
In describing change, Bezos said that rapid change is always scary for incumbents, but if you’re not an incumbent, you have nothing to lose. Large incumbents have to worry about legacy revenues. Innovation is hard for large companies because you need to be long-term oriented. And since the innovative projects are such a tiny part of a large company, there is tendency to be dismissive of the innovation.
“You need a culture that high-fives small and innovative ideas and senior executives [that] encourage ideas,” he said. In order for innovative ideas to bear fruit, companies need to be willing to “wait for 5-7 years, and most companies don’t take that time horizon.”
In tough times, focus on the customer
In the aftermath of the dot-com bust, Amazon was one of the many Internet companies that saw its stock price dive faster than a flying seagull in search of food. “The stock price deflated but the business continued to grow,” he recalled. As a result, Amazon refocused its energies on the customer.
“Focusing on the customer makes a company more resilient,” he added. “We had to tell employees that they shouldn’t feel smarter because the stock went up 35 percent, because then they would feel 35 percent dumber if the stock price went down.” His tip on managing during tough times such as those faced by Amazon during the bust was to communicate more with its employees. With too many external inputs, Bezos thinks it’s important for companies to be talking with its people more often, easing their concerns.
Be stubborn
The difference between founders and professional managers is that founders are stubborn about the vision of the business, and keep working the details. Professional managers, when things don’t work, want to change the vision. The trick to being an entrepreneur is to know when to be stubborn and when to be flexible: Be stubborn about the vision, but flexible about tactics, Bezos said. For instance, you can be flexible about reducing costs, but you don’t change your vision to reduce costs. Great point, because more often than not, founders get caught up in the tactics and change their direction as a result.
Prerequisites of innovation
Bezos listed a few prerequisites for innovation and inventing, but the biggest one is willingness to fail. You need to think for the long term and be misunderstood for a long period of time. “If you can’t do those things, then you need to limit yourself to sustainable innovation.” In other words, seek incremental change to grow your business.
In talking about the need for thinking long term, Bezos said you need conviction. I totally agree — if you take a short-term approach, then you are constantly stuck with trying to deal with minutiae. He noted how much hated the idea of “sticking to one’s knitting” and not taking chances. That said, Bezos was clear in pointing out that his company looks at everything from a customer’s standpoint. “We do make business decisions in a very deliberate way,” he said. “We work backwards from customer needs.”
Errors of omission vs. errors of commission
Many people make too much about the errors of commission. People overemphasize their failures when trying something new. Actually failure is not that expensive and it’s part of work. If something fails, then you’re going to shut it down and cut your losses, Bezos said. The focus, he said, should be on errors of omission. These are the chances not taken. He is not ashamed of his failures — A9 search and Auctions are two examples he cites often. Both markets were big enough for Amazon to take a flyer.
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