Should you’ve acquired that nagging itch about changing roles, it’s possible you’ll be onto one thing.
AWS senior vice president of applied AI solutions Colleen Aubrey has spent over 20 years at Amazon, constructing its promoting enterprise from the bottom up. She’s additionally a member of the corporate’s elite S-Team.
She instructed Enterprise Insider that all through her profession, she’s confronted quite a few challenges — and as she places it, “just about each six months, one thing important adjustments.”
“We’ve a brand new product thought; there is a new downside to go after; there is a new buyer to get to grasp,” Aubrey stated.
That “fixed change” is the explanation she’s stayed at Amazon for so long as she has, and stays engaged in her work. For anybody questioning whether or not they’re in the precise function or prepared for a brand new problem, Aubrey stated there are usually three bins to verify off.
“Are you in a spot which ticks these bins? And for those who aren’t, then possibly it is price taking a look at altering the combination, to be able to get that,” Aubrey stated. “As a result of I believe when you could have these parts, then work is invigorating.”
Here is what you need to contemplate, she stated:
No. 1: The best boss
Aubrey instructed Enterprise Insider that you need to first ask your self whether or not you are working for a frontrunner with whom you could have mutual respect.
“Are you working for a frontrunner that you just respect, that you just’re impressed by, that you just’re studying from, and vice versa?” Aubrey stated.
Aubrey stated that folks usually want their leaders to assist with the issues solely they will present: resourcing, exhausting choices, trade-offs, judgment calls, prioritization, advocacy, and big-picture considering.
Typically, folks find yourself with a supervisor who is not the precise match, even when that individual is attempting their finest. The manager stated it might turn into difficult to work in an area the place you’re feeling “disenchanted,” and in that case, it could be time to maneuver on to one thing new.
“You may select to stay by means of it and be dissatisfied. I believe that is difficult,” Aubrey stated.
No. 2: The best staff
Aubrey stated you must also ask your self for those who’re engaged on the precise staff. The manager has labored on numerous groups all through her roughly twenty years on the retail large. The best staff contains folks you are actually studying from, she stated.
“Are they difficult you, or is it a artistic and revolutionary setting that works for you?” Aubrey stated.
Amazon’s notorious “two-pizza teams” describes the best staff to advertise innovation. The concept is that no staff must be sufficiently big that it might take greater than two pizzas to feed them. The perfect dimension is someplace round six to eight folks, and the aim is for these groups to personal one thing from end-to-end.
No. 3: The best a part of the enterprise
The third query you need to ask your self is what stage of the enterprise you wish to work in, Aubrey stated.
“It is necessary to assume by means of what’s the kind of product and enterprise and downside that you just like fixing,” Aubrey stated. “Are you in a spot that has that kind of traits?”
For instance, Aubrey stated she had a colleague who labored on the retail facet, which could be a sophisticated and demanding space, however he beloved discovering enhancements in value optimization and within the provide chain. Personally, she stated she loves “X-factor progress,” or engaged on part of the enterprise ripe for exponential progress.
“I just like the clean sheet of paper,” Aubrey stated.

