Key Insights – Amazon and Google

While Amazon innovates in a more traditional way, with incremental and major initiatives being driven largely by the corner office, Google's approach is flatter, less hierarchical. Google's innovation model is more like a seesaw, balancing individuals' zest for freedom to experiment with an actuary's zeal for the numbers. Both approaches have delivered breakthrough results and changed their industries to benefit consumers and their business partners.

Amazon's approach requires a particular confidence to understand the mind of the customer, and place large bets – such as in the infrastructure build out – to become the basis for future growth. This confidence is evidenced by the focus and clarity of mission, and the way that a new skill set can be protected and developed if it comes with top- down blessing. It's easy to imagine there were plenty of book lovers at Amazon, though less likely that people pushing e-readers would have got much attention without support from the top.