CHAPTER 3

Examining the Principle of Character

The Botany of Your Company

Approximately 17 million people visit Amazon.com’s website every day.1 On May 10, 2012, visitors experienced something unexpected. Unlike most other days, when the Amazon home page contains shopping recommendations based on a customer’s browsing and purchasing habits or the latest bestselling books, on this day it displayed a handwritten letter on a parchment scroll. It almost looked as if the home page had been taken over by a group of cyberhackers. But it hadn’t been hacked. Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, had written it.

“Dear Muggles!” the letter began. Bezos was announcing to Kindle owners, Amazon shoppers, and Harry Potter fans everywhere that the Harry Potter series of ...

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