In a speech peppered with mentions of his own sports failings and achievements, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy offered up some advice for winning at life and work to graduates of the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.
“It’s a pretty amazing accomplishment to get into UW, and then to get into one of the very best engineering schools in the world, and then to actually graduate,” Jassy said in the opening remarks of his commencement speech last week in Seattle. “You may or may not realize that this is a remarkable feat, and it may take you until later in your life to appreciate it.”
He went on to share with grads some of the things that it took him the past 30 years to realize, and that he said he wished he’d known when he was 22.
- Career plans change: Jassy wanted to be a sportscaster out of college, got a couple nibbles on his resume reel and ultimately decided he “didn’t have the passion for that profession to pay the dues necessary to be successful.”
- You don’t have to have it all figured out: Some people know what they want to do from a very young age and go on to do just that. Others should realize that it’s OK if interests change over time, and that “life is an adventure” that takes “a lot of unpredictable twists and turns.”
- Don’t let others tell you who you are: A teacher once said a 5-year-old Jassy wasn’t very athletic, but he went on to become a two-sport all-section athlete in high school who later played intercollegiate sports. “Nobody writes your book for you. You write it. And in almost every imaginable case, whatever was initially written can be amended and rewritten.”
- Put yourself out there, take your shot: Jassy said he wasted a lot of energy early in life worrying about asking the wrong question or not knowing the answer to others’ questions. “In my life, my biggest regrets were not the occasions I failed. In fact, in some cases, they’re some of my proudest scars. Rather, my biggest regrets have been the times I didn’t take the risk and leave it all out there.”
- Be a willing and ravenous learner: The memorable people Jassy went to school with or worked with maintained an excitement about continuing to improve. “To me, the second you think there’s little left to learn is the moment you either realize you’re in the wrong situation or starting to unravel if you remain where you are.”
- Control your attitude: How successful people are in what they choose to do, especially early in life, has to do with attitude, Jassy said. “Do you work hard? Do you do what you said you were going to do? … Can you work in teams? Do you care more about the mission of the organization versus your own outcome? These seem pretty simple and obvious, but you’d be surprised by how infrequently people exhibit these characteristics.”
Watch Jassy’s full speech and read the transcript below:
I have been in this arena many hundreds of times as a basketball fan. I’ve always dreamed of being in the Dawg Pack. This is not quite the Dawg Pack, but it’s probably as close as I’ll get.
Thank you, and congratulations to all the 2024 Allen School UW graduates.
It’s a pretty amazing accomplishment to get into UW, and then to get into one of the very best engineering schools in the world, and then to actually graduate. You may or may not realize that this is a remarkable feat, and it may take you until later in your life to appreciate it, but I’m guessing most of your parents and family realize what it means and are proud of you.
When I thought about what I might share with you today, I thought it might be interesting to share what I’ve learned the last 30 years, that I wish I knew when I was 22.
First, I am not going to be a famous sportscaster. That’s what I wanted to do when I was graduating from college and spent three summers in between years of college interning and making a resume reel. I sent my reel to about 80 small-market stations, got two nibbles, couldn’t pull the trigger on either of them because I didn’t want to live in those cities, and then found that I didn’t have the passion for that profession to pay the dues necessary to be successful.
Second, I’m going to pursue a lot of different jobs. Some I simply interview for and don’t get an offer. Others, I try for some time and decide they’re not what I would want to spend my life doing. These include TV production, consulting, investment banking, sales, coaching a high school soccer team, working in a golf retail store and starting several new businesses. You don’t have to know definitively at 22 years old what you’re going to do long term. In fact, you don’t have to know at 25 or 30, or in my case, until I was about 40. Some people have known what they wanted to do from a very young age and done just that. Many of you, as engineering-focused graduates, may be in this group, and if so, that’s great. However, if you aren’t in that group, or if your interests change over over time, that’s also fine. Life is an adventure. It takes a lot of unpredictable twists and turns. You meet people who influence you along the way, you’ll find yourself surprised by what inspires you that you would not have guessed. There are more interesting opportunities to make a difference than you probably realize. Be open to what’s out there, and if you don’t find your groove right away, that’s OK. Life is long for most of us. Figuring out what you don’t want to do early in life is perhaps as important as figuring out what you do want to do.
Third, don’t let others tell you who you are. When I was in Pre-K, my teacher wrote in my report card that I was I was not going to be athletic because I struggled to hop on one leg. My parents were apparently pretty distraught about this, while I was blissfully ignorant of this assessment. It was, of course, a silly generalization, and I went on to be a two-sport all-section athlete in high school and played intercollegiate sports in college. I ignored this judgment because I was five years old and was never told. But as we get older, we’re no longer sheltered from many of the judgements people make of us. And I have experienced, first and secondhand, what it feels like to believe what uninformed people say about you. Remember, nobody writes your book for you. You write it. And in almost every imaginable case, whatever was initially written can be amended and rewritten. You will control what happens to you, not some teacher or boss or reporter or peer or even a family member. And whatever you are now, you can keep evolving, if you want.
Fourth, and somewhat related. I wished I’d understood that every presentation or meeting I was going to do was not a pass/fail referendum on my competence. I wasted so much angst and energy earlier in my life worrying people would think I was an idiot if I asked a dumb question or didn’t know the answer to somebody else’s question, or my hypothesis was flawed, or people just didn’t like my creative idea. There is no person in the world who performs perfectly, or has it right 100% of the time, or whose ideas are coherent or sensible every time. That’s not reality. It is, however, a sure bet that you will never do something needle-moving if you don’t put yourself out there and take a shot. In my life, my biggest regrets were not the occasions I failed. In fact, in some cases, they’re some of my proudest scars. Rather, my biggest regrets have been the times I didn’t take the risk and leave it all out there. In retrospect, you always wonder what would have happened if you had.
Fifth, be a willing and ravenous learner. If I look at the people I’ve gone to school with or started working with at various jobs, perhaps the single biggest factor in what all of us are doing now is the propensity we had to learn. To be a great learner, you have to be observant, self-reflective about what you’re doing well, how people are responding to you and what you could be doing better. You have to be excited about continuing to improve, versus frustrated that there’s more to do or threatened that you still don’t know at all. A lot of people get to a point in life where it’s disconcerting to them that they still don’t have it all figured out. To me, the second you think there’s little left to learn is the moment you either realize you’re in the wrong situation or starting to unravel if you remain where you are. And then to be a great learner, you can’t just assess and talk about what you need to change. You have to then put it into action and make it so. Believe me, life is much more fun and rewarding if you’re learning.
Finally, an embarrassing amount of how successful people are in whatever they do, particularly early in your life, has to do with attitude. Do you work hard? Do you do what you said you were going to do? Do you have a positive, can-do attitude versus a naysaying, energy-sucking approach? Can you work in teams? Do you care more about the mission of the organization versus your own outcome? These seem pretty simple and obvious, but you’d be surprised by how infrequently people exhibit these characteristics. There are so many things that you can’t control in your life, but you can control your attitude, and it makes a big difference.
One last thing about working hard. It seems a little less in vogue today. I also recall early in my career how much pressure I got from certain friends that wasn’t cool to be putting in the extra hours. But if you study those who you think are great at anything — programming, parenting, business, sports, art, writing, teaching, whatever — they’re almost always the hardest workers at their craft. They either love or just plain accept and embrace the process of what it takes to be excellent. You can’t cheat that process, it always catches up with you.
2024 graduates, you have so many options in front of you, and consider this chapter one of your options. They’re going to keep presenting themselves to you over time. Be curious. Be experimental. Control what you can control. Leave it all out there in whatever you go after, and then be kind to yourself when certain things don’t pan out, and many won’t. Remember that you write your own story. And I wish you the very best of luck on the adventure you’re about to embark on. Thank you. Congratulations.
