Excellent article and analysis! First time I've ever appreciated a basketball analogy to the Amazon corporate philosophy, but I think it works. As a former full-on Cavs fan who (after moving to Chicago 30 years ago and waiting for everyone from the Jordan-era Bulls to retire) has been rooting for the Bulls for about 20 years now, the contrasting intensity between how the Cavs play and finish games and how the Bulls do it, is pretty stark. (The only exception being the unexpected Bulls victory over the Bucks last night without DeRosen and LaVine. I'm thinking their absence is not a coincidence, btw). Not only are the Bulls currently an utterly uninspiring team, but I'm struggling with the NBA game these days. That said, I am loving watching what the Cavs can do when they're clicking on all cylinders and your blog is helping lure me back into paying attention to the NBA (at least until MLB Spring Training and March Madness begin).
Yes, nice metaphorical spin, a behind-the-back pass of writing. To take the metaphor further -- and possibly to question the sustainability of Bezos-style late capitalism at the same time -- the cycle has to end somewhere. If you're eventually selling everything, you can't go any lower (and you can't perpetually improve customer service even if you have drones delivering things five minutes after we order them...or can you?). Isn't there a point at which pace of play undercuts the plan, when too much movement too quickly not only compromises the efficiency but also undermines defense? Like you, I'll be happy to see how far they can take it. The Warriors made it work a long time, after all.
This is all far afield for us Bulls fans. We're still playing a mid-'90s get it to the paint and make the shot over the half-a-step-slow defender.
On the additional metaphor of "mixing salt into pasta water," I have to note that your uncle Brian and I used to compete to see who could prepare boxed macaroni and cheese more quickly. Adding salt to the water slowed down the boiling process, so it was a no-go. For the record, I held the straight-noodle record of box-to-first-forkful in 4 minutes 15 seconds. (He was about 45 seconds slower with the elbow macaroni record.) What's a little crunchy pasta between friends?
Excellent article and analysis! First time I've ever appreciated a basketball analogy to the Amazon corporate philosophy, but I think it works. As a former full-on Cavs fan who (after moving to Chicago 30 years ago and waiting for everyone from the Jordan-era Bulls to retire) has been rooting for the Bulls for about 20 years now, the contrasting intensity between how the Cavs play and finish games and how the Bulls do it, is pretty stark. (The only exception being the unexpected Bulls victory over the Bucks last night without DeRosen and LaVine. I'm thinking their absence is not a coincidence, btw). Not only are the Bulls currently an utterly uninspiring team, but I'm struggling with the NBA game these days. That said, I am loving watching what the Cavs can do when they're clicking on all cylinders and your blog is helping lure me back into paying attention to the NBA (at least until MLB Spring Training and March Madness begin).
Yes, nice metaphorical spin, a behind-the-back pass of writing. To take the metaphor further -- and possibly to question the sustainability of Bezos-style late capitalism at the same time -- the cycle has to end somewhere. If you're eventually selling everything, you can't go any lower (and you can't perpetually improve customer service even if you have drones delivering things five minutes after we order them...or can you?). Isn't there a point at which pace of play undercuts the plan, when too much movement too quickly not only compromises the efficiency but also undermines defense? Like you, I'll be happy to see how far they can take it. The Warriors made it work a long time, after all.
This is all far afield for us Bulls fans. We're still playing a mid-'90s get it to the paint and make the shot over the half-a-step-slow defender.
On the additional metaphor of "mixing salt into pasta water," I have to note that your uncle Brian and I used to compete to see who could prepare boxed macaroni and cheese more quickly. Adding salt to the water slowed down the boiling process, so it was a no-go. For the record, I held the straight-noodle record of box-to-first-forkful in 4 minutes 15 seconds. (He was about 45 seconds slower with the elbow macaroni record.) What's a little crunchy pasta between friends?
This is a really good point. Perhaps an edit could to be swap in “positive play” for “transition play.”
I’ll take my pasta water salted, even if it’s a bit slower :)