How I used a method that launches billion-dollar ideas to design my next role.
18 months into my role at Amazon, I was… complacent.
I’d blown past my goals.
But the day-to-day felt eerily familiar — the same responsibilities I’d had years earlier as a consulting partner.
I didn’t want to coast.
I wanted to grow.
So, I treated my career like Amazon approaches a new, innovative product launch.
Step 1: Think Like Amazon
Amazon’s “Working Backwards” method starts with the customer, then works back to the product.
In my case, I was the product.
My “customers” were my future stakeholders.
I asked myself:
• Who do I want to serve in 3–5 years?
• What can I deliver that no one else can?
• How will people feel after working with me?
Step 2: Write Your Future Press Release
I wrote a PR/FAQ (“Press Release (PR) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)”) — the same tool Amazon uses to greenlight billion-dollar ideas — but this time, it was to innovate for and bet on my career.
Why a PR/FAQ?
Because when you write an idea as a narrative, flaws surface fast:
→ Markets too small.
→ No clear advantage.
→ Too many unanswered questions.
The same should apply to your career.
My headline/PR?
Howard Steinman Named Chief Growth Officer for Amazon Professional Services Federal Civilian Practice.
The narrative spelled out:
• The transformation I led.
• Measurable results.
• Quotes from “future” leaders about my impact.
Step 3: Build the FAQ
I tackled the tough questions:
• Why now?
• Why me?
• What are the risks?
• What mechanisms ensure success?
Step 4: Prove It with “Leadership Principles”
I used Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles as proof points:
• Customer Obsession: How I’d drive new impact.
• Invent & Simplify: Growth models we’d never tried.
• Deliver Results: Data that proved I could deliver.
Step 5: Launch “Future Me”
I turned it into a six-page Amazon document — no slides, just a compelling narrative.
Then I pitched it to leadership.
Within weeks, they approved a brand-new role.
One I had literally written into existence.
Lesson:
You can wait for your next role to appear — or you can write it into existence using the same innovation tools Amazon uses to launch its biggest ideas.
💡 Pro Tip: Want to try it? Start with one page:
→ Write your future press release.
→ Add the FAQs.
→ See what feels missing — and start building toward it.