Amazon also likes to tout their way of doing things as Amazon's peculiar culture. Some practices like reading the design proposal doc before starting the discussion about it looks right in general sense, but it usually turns out that almost all people who are invited to these meetings don't actually read that doc (instead are busy working on their tasks) or don't really have the depth to understand what's written in the doc in 15-30 mins. So what ends up happening is a lot of these meetings end up being dominated by whoever is the top dog (usually the guy with higher level in the room) in that meeting and the rest of the attendees end up listening to his/her opinion without much challenge (because most are intent on just getting out of that meeting).
The whole 2+ years I was there (left because of 3-days RTO), I felt like it was a cult and some people seem to drink the kool-aid (or they are good at pretending to like the culture), but some like me, who are more skeptical, don't.
I actually think this is one of the few (only?) good Amazon practices.
Anyone who can't grok the doc in 30 mins is unlikely to ever open it, and if they do and spend a few hours on it, chances are they don't have much to add and it only served to educate themselves.
Instead, you give it your best shot, surrounded by others which helps to focus/eliminate distraction and then get to listen to someone with far more depth critique it - and you get to learn their framing and about a ton of nuance you would never have taken away otherwise.
The whole 2+ years I was there (left because of 3-days RTO), I felt like it was a cult and some people seem to drink the kool-aid (or they are good at pretending to like the culture), but some like me, who are more skeptical, don't.