Jeff Bezos admits he’s rarely on time for meetings, Amazon founder prefers ‘messy’ discussions. Here's why

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos shared some of his productivity secrets at the recent New York Times Dealbook Summit. Bezos opened up about why he likes "messy" meetings and how he prevents senior staff from influencing other people's ideas.

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Speaking about how he conducts his meetings at the Dealbook Summit, Bezos said, “There are certain kinds of meetings that are like a weekly business review or something where it’s a set pattern and you’re going through it — that can have an agenda and it can be very crisp. That’s a different kind of meeting.”

“For most of the meetings that are useful, we do these six-page memos, we do a half-hour study hall, we read them. And then we have a messy discussion. So I like the memos to be like angels singing from on high, so clear and beautiful. And then the meeting can be messy.”

Bezos also admitted that he is almost never on time for a meeting, barring his first meeting of the day. 

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“The only meeting I’m ever on time [for] is my first meeting, because I won’t finish a meeting until I’m really finished,” the 64-year-old added

Jeff Bezos is very easy to influence: 

The veteran entrepreneur also shared that he is easily influenced by other people. To prevent the opinions of top executives from influencing others, the most junior person in the meeting speaks first, with Bezos giving his opinion last.

“I’ve realized I’m a very easy person to influence. I change my mind a lot, but a couple of a percent of the time, no force in the world can move me, because I’m so sure of something,” Bezos said at the Dealbook summit.