Netflix Culture: An Amazing Slideshow

This slideshow was on a number of blogs over the summer (see here) , but I wanted to make sure that everyone saw it and, frankly, to get a post here so I have a record of it.  Apparently, Reed Hastings, the amazing CEO of Netflix, put-up a set of 128 slides that is a "reference guide to our freedom and responsibility culture."  I realize that most 128 page slide decks are deadly dull, but this is an exception.  You may not agree with all their values and approaches, but on the whole I think you will be fascinated by the detail and thought.  Now, I have no inside knowledge of what it is like to work at Netflix, but if this is accurate, it is a pretty impressive company -- frankly far more enlightened than most in Silicon Valley. 

They also don't pull any punches, the second slide says that these principles only for salaried employees not hourly. Before laying out their values, they acknowledge that most companies are unaffected by their written values. After laying out their values, they end by saying that a related core value is to question actions that clash with the values. Indeed, that is the real test of any social norm, what happens when someone breaks it?  Are they applauded, do people look the other way, and when people speak-up against the violation do they get slammed?  Or do bosses actually listen and try to make repairs?  Indeed, if you are or were at Netflix insiders, I would love to know if this is hollow rhetoric or a real living and breathing social norm.

 I could go on and on, but this is such an impressive document, you will find many things to get you thinking.  I doubt you will agree with everything -- I didn't, as there was a bit too much emphasis on superstars. Indeed, there was a lot of debate in the comments about that.  Of course, I did love the assertion that, unlike many companies, they would not tolerate brilliant jerks. So it is nice to see another company with an (albeit polite version) of The No Asshole Rule.

Tell me what you think about the deck. I am probably going to assign it next year in my introduction to organizational behavior class and ask the students to write a little on essay on it.

P.S. Thanks to Whitney and Yosem for telling me about this slideshow.

Comments

[Ergoboy]

Bob,

I looked through the slide deck and thought "Wow! What a neat company to work for!" I then went to Glassdoor.com as another commenter, Dan suggested. It is interesting to compare the sales pitch to the actual data. Based on a sampling of the data, these slides seem like just another recruiting sales pitch. Damn that data!

[Joe M]

I'm a big believer in management systems, which often take the form of discrete components such as leadership, strategy, customer focus, learning, people, and processes. Putting these into practice in an integrated way is essential for most organizations to succeed. But I also believe that the most powerful management system is in place when an organization works to instill a compelling culture, and works hard at walking-the-talk. Thanx to Netflix for providing a great example, and to Bob for pointing it out to us.

[dblwyo]

Marvelous slideshow - obviously a lot of thought, care, experience and pain went into. In my experience few if any organizations comes close and they deserve a Bravo. Properly implemented it'd be a great blueprint for a high-performance HR system. It might also be stunning how closely this matches Drucker's '73 guidance for designing the workplace of the knowledge worker. Which points to another problem - not everybody is a star. The job of a coach is to decide how many '9's they can afford for how many '5's and what kind of strategies, tactics and operations to pursue. As Drucker goes on to point out beyond a certain minimal level of complexity structure and process are mandatory; wherein lies the rub with this and why the internal feedback is challenging it. The trick is to create a flexible management system that supports this kind of behavior and doesn't lock you into defending history. My prognostication - wonderful nirvana that would be fun while it lasted (think People Express) but needs to mature in the cold,hard world of sausage-making.

[deb]

I have no knowledge of Netflix at all, but I had somewhat the opposite reaction to the slides -- I read them a while back and came away with the impression that it would be a pretty hostile and cutthroat place to work. I'm interested what the day to day reality actually looks like.

[Dan]

I read the slides and was impressed enough to apply for a position. Went two rounds on the interviews but ultimately they decided to take the position internal :-/ If you're interested in how well Netflix is doing from an inside perspective, you should go check out the reviews on glassdoor.com - many are saying that there are struggles with making real the statements in this slide deck...

[Brian]

Great Find Bob!

I feel like the 1000 pound gorilla in the back of my mind is that NetFlix largely rents DVDs, which is a dying technology. I wish they would explicitly say this, but it so obvious when you read their slide show.

They are obsessive with innovation and not getting fixated on processes, because their delivery mechanism (DVDs via USPS) will largely disintegrate over time. They are being very shrewd to lay the groundwork for flexibility and change to a new business.

Most technology companies know that their market will change. I think Netflix is just crystal clear on what is bound to change (DVDs) so they are investing in flexible operating structure now.

[Zack Grossbart]

There are enough good points here to make me think of sending my resume to NetFlix, but I wonder why they made this a slide show and not an article. The first slide says they are meant for reading rather than presenting. They would be easier to read in a different format. There are also a few diagrams (the ones with the single lines between slides 40 and 50) that don't really add anything.

They also use way too many bullet points. Speaking from a strictly typography and design point of view there are more effective solutions to the problems they are trying to solve with the bullets.

There are many great ideas here. I just wish the presentation was a little better.