Bezos Bullshit?
“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 a passage* from Bezos’s last letter as the CEO of Amazon, which is being circulated around in the media. What shocks me is not the extraordinary banality of the message but the way senior executives and self appointed business gurus are projecting it as a mantra for perpetual success.
Another peddler of endless platitudes is Warren Buffet who has acquired such a cult status in the investment community that it is deemed blasphemous to comment on his annual letters (to shareholders).
His investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, the source of his personal fortune, owns large stock in Coca Cola; responsible for widespread obesity in the world and number of quasi-monopolies and too-big-to-fail businesses that have often been bailed out using public funds.
Amazon — in making Bezos the richest man on earth, on the other hand, has destroyed millions of jobs and converted human beings into soul-less van drivers, handlers and delivery boys. Yet, his 6 page long letters are a hit. Looks like most people are praising them unthinkingly, and forwarding them without even reading.
To me, such acute need for distinction on part of Mr Bezos, itself, is a sign of mental illness. It does not indicate wisdom, maturity or strength of character — just a maddening quest for unending domination, power and wealth.
And it is fine if Mr Bezos suffers from such mental anomalies — he has the resources to deal with them. The problem is he promotes them as the necessities for successful life — influencing millions of impressionable minds in the process.
Such a wise man, Mr Bezos, unfortunately, confuses “being yourself” with “being something” ie. being successful.
Interestingly “being yourself” does not require validation from Mr Bezos or millions of Gurus who are out there constantly trying to judge you. “Being something” does: often from those very people you despise and those who despise you.
For if he indeed did. He would not be writing such pointless letters.
* quoting from “The Blind Watchmaker” by Richard Dawkins
