Summary: <p>When the <em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?_r=0">New York Times</a></em> described Amazon as a cutthroat workplace with unkind leaders where employees cry at their desks, it apparently came as news to the CEO, Jeff Bezos. He <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/technology/amazon-bezos-workplace-management-practices.html">wrote</a> to employees, saying that's not the Amazon he knows, and he asked them to notify him directly if they experienced the harsh management style the <em>Times</em> described.</p> <p>The article has been <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/18/media/new-york-times-amazon-margaret-sullivan/">criticized</a> as loosely sourced and anecdotal, but some of the <em>Times </em>story, like the data-driven management style or the way employees can report on each other directly to higher-ups, is part of the workplace design. And while some see it as a grim place to work, others might call the challenges Amazon poses to its employees as the way of the future.</p> <p>Money Talking host Charlie Herman discusses what makes a good workplace with <a href="http://pattymccordconsulting.com/">Patty McCord</a>, the former Chief Talent Officer of Netflix, which has a reputation for being one of the <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/01/how-netflix-reinvented-hr">friendliest</a> places to work, and <a href="https://twitter.com/wallernikki">Nikki Waller</a>, management and careers editor at the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/">Wall Street Journal</a>.</p>
