Amazon’s OP1 Process: The Most Underrated Performance Tool in Business

Quick question people 🙋‍♂️

If I asked your team to write down exactly what they’re aiming for this year, would you get 20 aligned answers or 20 different interpretations?

Amazon figured this out early and built a process to fix it.

It’s called OP1.

And while it might sound like another corporate acronym, it’s actually one of the most useful leadership tools out there, especially if you’re scaling fast or leading across functions.

Let’s unpack what makes it powerful and how to use it inside any business.

What is OP1?

OP1 stands for Operating Plan 1: Amazon’s annual planning process, usually kicked off mid-year and finalised by November.

Unlike typical corporate planning cycles that lean on decks, this is a written process that combines:

• 10× thinking

• Cross-functional alignment

• Ruthless prioritisation

It culminates in a written doc (usually 6 pages) that lays out not just what your team wants to do, but…

• How it will deliver 10x impact

• What support it needs

• What it will take cross-functionally to get there

It’s what makes Amazon… Amazon.

1) Start with 10× thinking (not 10% growth)

Before goals or metrics, Amazon asks each leader:

This breaks teams out of “optimise what we have” mode and pushes them into transformative thinking.

Example from Amazon:

When Amazon Web Services was launching a new service, teams weren’t allowed to pitch small updates.

They had to start with a press release from the future, describing the game-changing launch that would make customers switch instantly.

👉 How to use this:

Run a 10× offsite or internal session with your team. Ask:

• “If we had to 10× revenue / users / impact, what would we stop doing?”

• “What would a competitor build that would destroy us?”

2) Create clear cross-functional (S-2) goals

One of the best parts of OP1? It forces departments to align. Amazon calls these “S-2 goals”, shared priorities that sit above individual business unit targets.

Real-world example:

A cross-functional S-2 goal might be:

That would require:

• Product to scope features

• Engineering to optimise speed

• Marketing to handle rollout and messaging

• Data to define benchmarks and track real-world use

👉 How to apply this:

1. After teams write initial plans, gather leaders to share top-line goals.

2. Identify 1–2 that cut across silos.

3. Make those non-negotiable shared goals for Q3–Q4.

4. Assign dual-ownership (e.g. “Product + Ops” or “Marketing + Customer Service”).

3) Base every plan on 3 clear planning tracks

Amazon structures OP1 around three levels:

• Last year’s results

  What did we hit? Miss? Why?

• What can be achieved with the same resources

  What can we do if headcount + budget stay flat?

• What would we do with significantly more investment?

  What would we build/change to make a 10× leap?

Example:

A logistics team might say:

• With flat resources: “We’ll reduce package error rates from 1.2% to 0.8%.”

• With more budget: “We’d deploy robotics to halve error rates and speed up delivery windows in key regions.”

👉 How to apply this:

Build these three tiers into your annual team planning template. Force every team to quantify results and set stretch targets with investment options

4) Write, don’t slide.

Bezos banned PowerPoint for a reason. OP1 documents are written and then read silently by all meeting attendees before discussion.

Why?

• Forces clarity of thought

• Makes poor ideas obvious

• Sparks higher-quality debate

👉 Meeting format you can steal:

• 20 mins silent reading

• 40 mins of discussion focused ONLY on what’s written

• Debate logic, assumptions, trade-offs, not presentation skills

5) Include resourcing, risks, and decisions needed

The best OP1 docs don’t just present ideas, they surface bottlenecks.

Example:

This gives execs the info they need to actually make decisions, not just review slides.

👉 How to apply this:

Make it mandatory that every plan includes:

• 3–5 key assumptions

• 1–2 resource asks

• 1–2 known risks + mitigation plan

6) Treat it as a live document, not an event

OP1 isn’t just a one-off planning doc. Amazon revisits it at year-end with OP2 as a checkpoint to ask:

• What actually got delivered?

• What’s delayed or off-track?

• What should be cut or doubled-down?

Example:

A regional launch might get paused in OP2 if sales data showed early signals of failure, freeing up resource to go all-in on another opportunity.

👉 How to apply this:

Block a calendar slot each quarter to revisit team plans. Ask:

• “What’s not working?”

• “What do we need to stop, start, or adjust?”

• “Where are we overcommitted?”

Summary: Your OP1 checklist

✅ Run a 10× planning session

• Challenge current assumptions

• List stretch opportunities

✅ Ask teams to write a 3-part plan

• Baseline / Same Resources / Stretch

✅ Force cross-functional alignment

• Identify 1–2 goals that cut across orgs

• Assign shared ownership

✅ Review in silence. Debate in logic.

• Replace slides with writing

• 20 min read / 40 min discussion

✅ Close with clear asks + risks

• What needs a decision?

• What could break this plan?

✅ Review quarterly

• Use it as a living doc, not a museum piece

Most companies try to scale by doing more.

Amazon scales by thinking bigger and executing sharper.

OP1 is how they do both.

Want a copy of the OP1 template I use with exec teams?

Apply for a spot on the ScaleOS Accelerator as it will be included in the upcoming programme.

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