Jeff Bezos has a strange two-pizza rule to stop Amazon workers from time-wasting

Jeff Bezos has a bizarre rule known as the “two pizza rule” that can be helpful for your career and financial success too.

The billionaire introduced this rule in the early days of Amazon.

“We try to create teams no bigger than two pizzas can feed. We call it the two-pizza team rule,” Bezos once said.

According to the founder, this ensures that a team is the right size to be efficient and focused, and does not get bogged down by having too many people aware of what needs to be done.

He also says that smaller teams can lead to higher productivity from individual employees.

“Ideally, this is a team of fewer than 10 people: smaller teams minimize lines of communication and reduce bureaucracy,” explains Daniel Slater, head of culture and innovation at Amazon Web Service.

“The two-pizza structure also promotes team accountability. Two-pizza teams don’t hand off something they’ve launched to another team to run,” Slater wrote of the structure.

He added: ‘That’s why the two-pizza teams need to stay on top of every aspect of their service delivery, with a clear charter and a tightly defined mission.’

Should the team grow beyond the two-pizza ideal, Amazon will assemble a new team to take on some of the responsibilities that come with that expansion.

This brings us to the two pillars of Amazon’s success: efficiency and scalability. These have helped make Amazon one of the largest companies in the world.

However, the ‘two pizza’ rule has also been criticized.

Johnny Warstrom, CEO of Mentimeter, argues that in the post-Covid era of remote working, meetings may need to involve more employees and find new ways to put individuals in the spotlight.

According to the rule, a team must be sufficiently fed by two pizzas and no more

“I think Jeff Bezos’ two-pizza rule is outdated and needs to be revised,” Warstrom wrote in Entrepreneur.

“Limiting the number of participants in a meeting does not increase productivity,” the CEO said.

‘It actually hinders it. Smaller teams limit the opportunity for a broad and diverse perspective.’

The two-pizza rule has become such a well-known business strategy that personal financial experts at GObankingrates have even encouraged people to use it to achieve their own career and financial goals.

View costs in terms of your time

Part of the two-pizza rule is to limit costs by not wasting staff time by having people sit in meetings they don’t need to be at.

One of these ways is to estimate how much a purchase will cost you in time.

For example, if you buy a cup of coffee for $7, that costs someone $15 per hour, half an hour of their time.

Viewing purchases as earning time helps you keep things in perspective and avoid unnecessary spending.

Stay focused

Another mentioned benefit of the two-pizza rule is that it allows you to stay focused and not get sidetracked by having too many cooks in the kitchen.

According to experts, focusing can help you keep your finances in order. For example, you can complete one task at a time. This can help you keep your finances in order.

Turn fast

Finally, Bezos’ rule ensures that small teams can pivot quickly when a new requirement or problem comes their way.

By remaining flexible in your own work environment, you can tackle tasks more efficiently, rather than putting them off until the last minute.