This document outlines Netflix's culture of freedom and responsibility. Some key aspects include:
- Netflix values high performance over loyalty or hard work. Underperforming employees are let go with severance.
- The company focuses on attracting "stunning colleagues" through top compensation and freedom to have high impact.
- As Netflix grows, it aims to increase employee talent density rather than limiting freedom through excessive rules. This allows creativity and flexibility to thrive.
- Managers provide appropriate context rather than trying to control employees. This enables high-performing staff to make sound decisions.
I often refer to The Netflix Culture Deck in presentations to companies when I speak about alignment and line of sight between departmental or branch goal with the overall wildly important strategic goals, mission, vision, and values.
Building A Strong Engineering Culture - my talk from BBC Develop 2013Kevin Goldsmith
This is the keynote talk I gave at the BBC Develop conference in London, UK in November of 2013. In it I talk about what I believe makes a strong engineering culture, how to protect it if you have it, and how to fix it if you don't. I use a lot of examples from Spotify (where I am a Director of Engineering). As usual, I go a bit light on the bullets, since I prefer to talk, but I think you can still get the gist of my points.
I often refer to The Netflix Culture Deck in presentations to companies when I speak about alignment and line of sight between departmental or branch goal with the overall wildly important strategic goals, mission, vision, and values.
Building A Strong Engineering Culture - my talk from BBC Develop 2013Kevin Goldsmith
This is the keynote talk I gave at the BBC Develop conference in London, UK in November of 2013. In it I talk about what I believe makes a strong engineering culture, how to protect it if you have it, and how to fix it if you don't. I use a lot of examples from Spotify (where I am a Director of Engineering). As usual, I go a bit light on the bullets, since I prefer to talk, but I think you can still get the gist of my points.
Building and Delivering High Stakes Executive PresentationsMatt Baker
Making reference to the tongue-in-cheek nickname for the Executive office area at Dell Technologies, the God Pod, Matt Baker shares his thoughts on how to prepare for and present to your organizations senior leader.
War Stories from the God Pod: Strategies for killing high stakes Executive presentations by Matt Baker - @mattwbaker - Senior Vice President, Dell Technologies Corporate Strategy
Culture is something we take pride in at LinkedIn. As the collective personality of our organization, it sets us apart, defines who we are and shapes what we aspire to be.
Hundreds of companies have defined their unique cultures on SlideShare as part of the Culture Code campaign. We thought it was important for LinkedIn to join in this effort; we want everyone, including our current and our future employees, to know exactly what it’s like to work here.
Our core behaviors
Most companies have core values. Few companies have cultures that reflect them. That’s why Patreon has core behaviors — things you can do to ensure a thriving workplace for you and your teammates.
Our core behaviors were crafted by our first two dozen employees. To this day, we use them as our guiding light toward maintaining the culture we’ve built and love.
At Asana, we put a lot of time, energy, money, and most importantly, heart, into our company culture. That's why we recently updated our 2014 Culture Code deck.
Buffer culture 0.6 (With a change to Be a No Ego Doer)Buffer
This is the 6th evolution of the cultural values we try to live to at Buffer. Read more about our values and approach to business at http://open.bufferapp.com
The Netflix Culture document. A template for Culture in your company.Brent Spilkin
Sheryl Sandberg has called it one of the most important documents ever to come out of Silicon Valley. It’s been viewed more than 5 million times on the web. But when Reed Hastings and I (along with some colleagues) wrote a PowerPoint deck explaining how we shaped the culture and motivated performance at Netflix, where Hastings is CEO and I was chief talent officer from 1998 to 2012, we had no idea it would go viral. We realized that some of the talent management ideas we’d pioneered, such as the concept that workers should be allowed to take whatever vacation time they feel is appropriate, had been seen as a little crazy (at least until other companies started adopting them). But we were surprised that an unadorned set of 127 slides—no music, no animation—would become so influential.
AES helps you believe in better. This presentation is part manifesto and part employee handbook. It’s about who we are, and what we aspire to become (and we continue to work hard to get there).
This is the 4th evolution of the cultural values we try to live to at Buffer.
Read more about our values and approach to business at http://open.bufferapp.com
Our culture is much more than we could ever put into a group of slides, but we did our best to pack as much of it into this Culture Code. Flip through to get a glimpse into what our agency is all about.
Why our executive team didn't write our culture deck, on Harvard Business Review: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/06/why_executive_teams_shouldnt_write.html
Is corporate culture really about organizational structure and incentives? What the company’s founders and executive team is on a mission to accomplish? How those same people ideally want their culture projected to investors? Or is company culture more about who people are and how they interact – what commonalities they share, and how they work and play?
Genuine culture is organic, not imposed. It’s why our executive team did not write our culture deck. Culture is what keeps people at Nanigans – not our mission statement or how our teams are structured. Our culture deck is a guide for company hiring and fit, as much as it is a signature of what’s made us so successful to date.
Manifesto Netflix: o documento que pode mudar o formato das empresas
Antes de começar a falar do conteúdo desse manifesto, vale destacar o tom visionário que ele tem (publicado em 01 de agosto de 2009) e que antevê muitas coisas que até hoje não vemos em multinacionais/marcas globais estruturadas, mas ainda engessadas.
Outro ponto que vale destaque é o que o "número 2 do Facebook", Sheryl Sandberg disse: “Provavelmente este é o documento mais importante que já saiu do Vale do Silício.”
Do que se trata o manifesto Netflix:
É um documento meio código de conduta meio manual de cultura organizacional, que traz os valores da empresa e a forma como ela enxerga que seus colaboradores precisam se comportar. Esse manifesto possui 124 telas, mas trouxe aqui os tópicos que mais me chamaram atenção pela ousadia e originalidade:
Criatividade é o mais importante: no trabalho processual boas ideias são 2x melhores que a média. Na indústria da criatividade as melhores são até 10x mais;
Priorize descobertas ao invés de segurança para os funcionários: empresas de internet geralmente não têm órgãos trabalhistas com leis bem definidas para seus colaboradores (e mesmo assim sempre figuram entre as melhores para se trabalhar) por isso, mostre pra ele que ele pode realizar grandes descobertas;
Decisões são tomadas em consenso coletivo: o manifesto prega que geralmente erros ou mal entendidos são problemas de comunicação. Pronto, problema resolvido;
Férias ilimitadas: você decide quando volta a trabalhar. E esse empoderamento passado para o colaborador trouxe autonomia e melhores resultados para a empresa. O Netflix orgulhosamente também substituiu todo o aparato burocrático relacionado a custos de viagens com algumas palavras “Haja com as melhores intenções aos interesses do Netflix.”
"Somos um time, e não uma família": a ideia é ser um time desportivo profissional e não um monte de crianças na recreação.
Entendeu por que o manifesto pode mudar a forma como as empresas são construídas hoje? A contracultura de empresa engessada, que prioriza o invariável e o que rentabiliza deve ser mexido levemente pra trazer ainda mais rentabilidade (isso quando se pode mexer), enquanto que o Netflix prioriza a incerteza, o poder da criatividade e da chance de correção no meio do caminho, e principalmente prioriza a confiança no colaborador, no valor percebido por ele de trabalhar numa empresa que faz a diferença na sociedade e que seu propósito vai de encontro com o dele. Ainda, valoriza o espaço concedido para sua vida pessoal, apesar do trabalho intenso.
Claro que pensar que esse modelo de liberdade aplicado para todas as empresas é utopia - e até errado - já que para uma empresa que precisa da criatividade o manifesto é mesmo ideal. Claro que o gesso e o balizamento são essenciais em determinados ramos de atividade mas, até empresas assim podem aprender um pouco com o manifesto.
.
Redigida por
Ivan Alves Nogueira
Building and Delivering High Stakes Executive PresentationsMatt Baker
Making reference to the tongue-in-cheek nickname for the Executive office area at Dell Technologies, the God Pod, Matt Baker shares his thoughts on how to prepare for and present to your organizations senior leader.
War Stories from the God Pod: Strategies for killing high stakes Executive presentations by Matt Baker - @mattwbaker - Senior Vice President, Dell Technologies Corporate Strategy
Culture is something we take pride in at LinkedIn. As the collective personality of our organization, it sets us apart, defines who we are and shapes what we aspire to be.
Hundreds of companies have defined their unique cultures on SlideShare as part of the Culture Code campaign. We thought it was important for LinkedIn to join in this effort; we want everyone, including our current and our future employees, to know exactly what it’s like to work here.
Our core behaviors
Most companies have core values. Few companies have cultures that reflect them. That’s why Patreon has core behaviors — things you can do to ensure a thriving workplace for you and your teammates.
Our core behaviors were crafted by our first two dozen employees. To this day, we use them as our guiding light toward maintaining the culture we’ve built and love.
At Asana, we put a lot of time, energy, money, and most importantly, heart, into our company culture. That's why we recently updated our 2014 Culture Code deck.
Buffer culture 0.6 (With a change to Be a No Ego Doer)Buffer
This is the 6th evolution of the cultural values we try to live to at Buffer. Read more about our values and approach to business at http://open.bufferapp.com
The Netflix Culture document. A template for Culture in your company.Brent Spilkin
Sheryl Sandberg has called it one of the most important documents ever to come out of Silicon Valley. It’s been viewed more than 5 million times on the web. But when Reed Hastings and I (along with some colleagues) wrote a PowerPoint deck explaining how we shaped the culture and motivated performance at Netflix, where Hastings is CEO and I was chief talent officer from 1998 to 2012, we had no idea it would go viral. We realized that some of the talent management ideas we’d pioneered, such as the concept that workers should be allowed to take whatever vacation time they feel is appropriate, had been seen as a little crazy (at least until other companies started adopting them). But we were surprised that an unadorned set of 127 slides—no music, no animation—would become so influential.
AES helps you believe in better. This presentation is part manifesto and part employee handbook. It’s about who we are, and what we aspire to become (and we continue to work hard to get there).
This is the 4th evolution of the cultural values we try to live to at Buffer.
Read more about our values and approach to business at http://open.bufferapp.com
Our culture is much more than we could ever put into a group of slides, but we did our best to pack as much of it into this Culture Code. Flip through to get a glimpse into what our agency is all about.
Why our executive team didn't write our culture deck, on Harvard Business Review: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/06/why_executive_teams_shouldnt_write.html
Is corporate culture really about organizational structure and incentives? What the company’s founders and executive team is on a mission to accomplish? How those same people ideally want their culture projected to investors? Or is company culture more about who people are and how they interact – what commonalities they share, and how they work and play?
Genuine culture is organic, not imposed. It’s why our executive team did not write our culture deck. Culture is what keeps people at Nanigans – not our mission statement or how our teams are structured. Our culture deck is a guide for company hiring and fit, as much as it is a signature of what’s made us so successful to date.
Manifesto Netflix: o documento que pode mudar o formato das empresas
Antes de começar a falar do conteúdo desse manifesto, vale destacar o tom visionário que ele tem (publicado em 01 de agosto de 2009) e que antevê muitas coisas que até hoje não vemos em multinacionais/marcas globais estruturadas, mas ainda engessadas.
Outro ponto que vale destaque é o que o "número 2 do Facebook", Sheryl Sandberg disse: “Provavelmente este é o documento mais importante que já saiu do Vale do Silício.”
Do que se trata o manifesto Netflix:
É um documento meio código de conduta meio manual de cultura organizacional, que traz os valores da empresa e a forma como ela enxerga que seus colaboradores precisam se comportar. Esse manifesto possui 124 telas, mas trouxe aqui os tópicos que mais me chamaram atenção pela ousadia e originalidade:
Criatividade é o mais importante: no trabalho processual boas ideias são 2x melhores que a média. Na indústria da criatividade as melhores são até 10x mais;
Priorize descobertas ao invés de segurança para os funcionários: empresas de internet geralmente não têm órgãos trabalhistas com leis bem definidas para seus colaboradores (e mesmo assim sempre figuram entre as melhores para se trabalhar) por isso, mostre pra ele que ele pode realizar grandes descobertas;
Decisões são tomadas em consenso coletivo: o manifesto prega que geralmente erros ou mal entendidos são problemas de comunicação. Pronto, problema resolvido;
Férias ilimitadas: você decide quando volta a trabalhar. E esse empoderamento passado para o colaborador trouxe autonomia e melhores resultados para a empresa. O Netflix orgulhosamente também substituiu todo o aparato burocrático relacionado a custos de viagens com algumas palavras “Haja com as melhores intenções aos interesses do Netflix.”
"Somos um time, e não uma família": a ideia é ser um time desportivo profissional e não um monte de crianças na recreação.
Entendeu por que o manifesto pode mudar a forma como as empresas são construídas hoje? A contracultura de empresa engessada, que prioriza o invariável e o que rentabiliza deve ser mexido levemente pra trazer ainda mais rentabilidade (isso quando se pode mexer), enquanto que o Netflix prioriza a incerteza, o poder da criatividade e da chance de correção no meio do caminho, e principalmente prioriza a confiança no colaborador, no valor percebido por ele de trabalhar numa empresa que faz a diferença na sociedade e que seu propósito vai de encontro com o dele. Ainda, valoriza o espaço concedido para sua vida pessoal, apesar do trabalho intenso.
Claro que pensar que esse modelo de liberdade aplicado para todas as empresas é utopia - e até errado - já que para uma empresa que precisa da criatividade o manifesto é mesmo ideal. Claro que o gesso e o balizamento são essenciais em determinados ramos de atividade mas, até empresas assim podem aprender um pouco com o manifesto.
.
Redigida por
Ivan Alves Nogueira
For your final project you are helping prepare Sharon Slade, theSusanaFurman449
For your final project you are helping prepare Sharon Slade, the chief human resources officer of Netflix, for a serious performance discussion with Alice Jones, who may be at risk of being terminated. One key component of your preparation is evaluating the organizational culture at Netflix and assisting Sharon Slade in demonstrating the skills that will help get the negotiation process off to a good start. She can accomplish this by taking into account the hygiene factors and intrinsic motivators as discussed in the Herzberg video clips (located in the Module Three Readings and Resources folder).
One description of the espoused Netflix organizational culture is stated in Slide 6 of the slide deck
Netflix Culture: Freedom and Responsibility
that you viewed in Module One. Slide 6 states: "The actual company values, as opposed to the nice-sounding values, are shown by who gets rewarded, promoted, or let go."
For this discussion post, craft a response which addresses the following question:
Consider the seven aspects of the Netflix culture, which are listed below:
Values are what we value [Judgment, Communication, Impact, Curiosity, Innovation, Courage, Passion, Honesty, & Selflessness]
High Performance
Freedom & Responsibility
Context, not Control
Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
Pay Top of Market
Promotions & Development
Indicate whether or not you agree with the seven values, explaining why or why not. Add two intrinsic values that you believe would improve the organizational culture at Netflix. Provide reasons that justify your choice.
Culture
This is an archive of
prior version New version is at: jobs.netflix.com/culture 1
Netflix Culture: Freedom & Responsibility
2
We Seek Excellence Our culture
focuses on helping us achieve excellence 3
Seven Aspects of our Culture
• Values are what we Value • High Performance • Freedom & Responsibility • Context, not Control • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Pay Top of Market • Promotions & Development 4
Many companies have nice sounding
value statements displayed in the lobby, such as: 5 Integrity Communication Respect Excellence
Enron, whose leaders went to
jail, and which went bankrupt from fraud, had these values displayed in their lobby: Integrity Communication Respect Excellence 6 (These values were not, however, what was really valued at Enron)
The actual company values, as
opposed to the nice-sounding values, are shown by who gets rewarded, promoted, or let go 7
Actual company values are the
behaviors and skills that are valued in fellow employees 8
At Netflix, we particularly value
the following nine behaviors and skills in our colleagues… …meaning we hire and promote people who demonstrate these nine 9
You make wise decisions (people,
technical, business, and creative) despite ambiguity You identify root causes, and get beyond treating symptoms You think strategically, and can articulate what you are, and are not, trying to do You smartly separate what ...
In Module One you developed the ZOPA (zone of possible agreementrafbolet0
In Module One you developed the ZOPA (zone of possible agreement) and BATNA (best alternative for a negotiated agreement) for Sharon Slade, Netflix's chief human resources officer, for use in the upcoming negotiations.
In this assignment, put yourself in the shoes of Alice Jones, the executive facing possible severance in our case study.
Develop a ZOPA and BATNA position for Alice, based on your review of her biography and the background information in the case study (located in the Final Project Guidelines and Rubric document in the Assignment Guidelines and Rubrics section of the course). As you develop your response, consider the following:
If Alice were fired, what would be unacceptable options for her in a severance agreement?
What options could Alice offer that could move severance negotiations toward her goal of keeping her position at Netflix?
Then, determine Alice Jones' best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA), i.e., her "Plan B." It is important to do this before entering into negotiations to ensure that she does not agree to unfavorable conditions. Questions that can help formulate Alice Jones' BATNA include:
What do you believe are the interests of the other party, i.e., Sharon Slade and Netflix?
What actions and alternatives are you prepared to consider if you (Alice Jones) cannot reach a negotiated agreement within your Zone of Possible Agreement?
What creative alternatives can be considered based on the interests of the other party (Sharon Slade & Netflix)?
What trade-offs on the standard ZOPA exist that could result in a creative, successful agreement?
Culture
This is an archive of
prior version New version is at: jobs.netflix.com/culture 1
Netflix Culture: Freedom & Responsibility
2
We Seek Excellence Our culture
focuses on helping us achieve excellence 3
Seven Aspects of our Culture
• Values are what we Value • High Performance • Freedom & Responsibility • Context, not Control • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Pay Top of Market • Promotions & Development 4
Many companies have nice sounding
value statements displayed in the lobby, such as: 5 Integrity Communication Respect Excellence
Enron, whose leaders went to
jail, and which went bankrupt from fraud, had these values displayed in their lobby: Integrity Communication Respect Excellence 6 (These values were not, however, what was really valued at Enron)
The actual company values, as
opposed to the nice-sounding values, are shown by who gets rewarded, promoted, or let go 7
Actual company values are the
behaviors and skills that are valued in fellow employees 8
At Netflix, we particularly value
the following nine behaviors and skills in our colleagues… …meaning we hire and promote people who demonstrate these nine 9
You make wise decisions (people,
technical, business, and creative) despite ambiguity You identify root causes, and get beyond treating symptoms You think strategically, and can articulate what you are, and are n ...
Keynote presentation by Margaret Sumption at the American Hospital Association marketing executives covference in New York City on April 4,2013. "The Reluctant Customer" focuses on how marketing and PR executives serving member hospitals and their representatives can improve success and increase satisfaction. Three steps are discussed: "Stop Begging," "Frame Your Argument," and "Execute, Evaluate, and Proclaim."
Building a Human Resources Program for VeterinariansOculus Insights
Dr Mike Pownall and Katie Ardeline presented a full day session during the Oculus Insights 2017 EU Summits in Amsterdam on creating a Human Resource Program for any type of veterinary practice.
Similar to Netflixorganizationalculture 131001173045-phpapp02 (20)
3. Seven Aspects of our Culture
• Values are what we Value
• High Performance
• Freedom & Responsibility
• Context, not Control
• Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
• Pay Top of Market
• Promotions & Development
4. Many companies have nice sounding value
statements displayed in the lobby, such as:
Integrity
Communication
Respect
Excellence
5. Enron, whose leaders went to jail,
and which went bankrupt from fraud,
had these values displayed in their lobby:
Integrity
Communication
Respect
Excellence
(These values were not, however, what was really valued at Enron)
6. The actual company values,
as opposed to the
nice-sounding values,
are shown by who gets
rewarded, promoted, or let go
7. Actual company values are the
behaviors and skills
that are valued
in fellow employees
8. At Netflix, we particularly value the following nine behaviors and
skills
in our colleagues…
…meaning we hire and promote
people who demonstrate these nine
9. You make wise decisions
(people, technical, business, and
creative) despite ambiguity
You identify root causes, and get
beyond treating symptoms
You think strategically, and can
articulate what you are, and are
not, trying to do
You smartly separate what must
be done well now, and what can
be improved later
Judgment
10. Communication
You listen well, instead of
reacting fast, so you can better
understand
You are concise and articulate in
speech and writing
You treat people with respect
independent of their status or
disagreement with you
You maintain calm poise in
stressful situations
11. Impact
You accomplish amazing
amounts of important work
You demonstrate consistently
strong performance so
colleagues can rely upon you
You focus on great results rather
than on process
You exhibit bias-to-action, and
avoid analysis-paralysis
12. Curiosity
You learn rapidly and eagerly
You seek to understand our
strategy, market, customers,
and suppliers
You are broadly knowledgeable
about business, technology and
entertainment
You contribute effectively
outside of your specialty
13. Innovation
You re-conceptualize issues to
discover practical solutions to
hard problems
You challenge prevailing
assumptions when warranted,
and suggest better approaches
You create new ideas that prove
useful
You keep us nimble by
minimizing complexity and
finding time to simplify
14. Courage
You say what you think even if it
is controversial
You make tough decisions
without agonizing
You take smart risks
You question actions
inconsistent with our values
15. Passion
You inspire others with your
thirst for excellence
You care intensely about
Netflix‘s success
You celebrate wins
You are tenacious
16. Honesty
You are known for candor and
directness
You are non-political when you
disagree with others
You only say things about fellow
employees you will say to their
face
You are quick to admit mistakes
17. Selflessness
You seek what is best for Netflix,
rather than best for yourself or
your group
You are ego-less when searching
for the best ideas
You make time to help
colleagues
You share information openly
and proactively
18. Seven Aspects of our Culture
• Values are what we Value
• High Performance
• Freedom & Responsibility
• Context, not Control
• Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
• Pay Top of Market
• Promotions & Development
19. Imagine if every person at Netflix
is someone you
respect and learn from…
20. Great Workplace is
Stunning Colleagues
Great workplace is not espresso, lush benefits, sushi lunches,
grand parties, or nice offices
We do some of these things, but only if they are efficient at
attracting and retaining
stunning colleagues
23. We’re a team, not a family
We’re like a pro sports team,
not a kid’s recreational team
Netflix leaders
hire, develop and cut smartly,
so we have stars in every position
24. The Keeper Test Managers Use:
Which of my people,
if they told me they were leaving,
for a similar job at a peer company,
would I fight hard to keep at Netflix?
25. The Keeper Test Managers Use:
Which of my people,
if they told me they were leaving,
for a similar job at a peer company,
would I fight hard to keep at Netflix?
The other people should get a generous severance now,
so we can open a slot to try to find a star for that role
26. Honesty Always
As a leader, no one in your group
should be materially surprised of
your views
27. Honesty Always
Candor is not just a leader’s responsibility, and you should
periodically ask your manager: “If I told you I were leaving, how
hard would you work to change my mind?”
28. All of Us are Responsible
for Ensuring We Live our Values
“You question actions inconsistent with our values” is part
of the Courage value
Akin to the honor code pledge:
“I will not lie, nor cheat, nor steal,
nor tolerate those who do”
29. Pro Sports Team Metaphor is
Good, but Imperfect
Athletic teams have a fixed number of
positions, so team members are always
competing with each other for one of the
precious slots
30. Corporate Team
The more talent we have,
the more we can accomplish,
so our people assist each other all the time
Internal “cutthroat” or “sink or swim”
behavior is rare and not tolerated
33. Loyalty is Good
• Loyalty is good as a stabilizer
• People who have been stars for us, and hit a bad
patch, get a near term pass because we think they are
likely to become stars for us again
• We want the same: if Netflix hits a temporary bad
patch, we want people to stick with us
• But unlimited loyalty to a shrinking firm, or to an
ineffective employee, is not what we are about
34. Hard Work – Not Relevant
• We don’t measure people by how many hours
they work or how much they are in the office
• We do care about accomplishing great work
• Sustained B-level performance, despite “A for
effort”, generates a generous severance
package, with respect
• Sustained A-level performance, despite minimal
effort, is rewarded with more responsibility and
great pay
35. Brilliant Jerks
• Some companies tolerate them
• For us, cost to effective teamwork is too high
• Diverse styles are fine – as long as person
embodies the 9 values
36. Why are we so insistent on
high performance?
In procedural work, the best are 2x
better than the average.
In creative/inventive work, the best are 10x
better than the average, so huge premium on
creating effective teams of the best
37. Why are we so insistent on
high performance?
Great Workplace is
Stunning Colleagues
38. Our High Performance Culture
Not Right for Everyone
• Many people love our culture, and stay a long time
– They thrive on excellence and candor and change
– They would be disappointed if given a severance package, but
lots of mutual warmth and respect
• Some people, however, value job security and stability
over performance, and don’t like our culture
– They feel fearful at Netflix
– They are sometimes bitter if let go, and feel that we are
political place to work
• We’re getting better at attracting only the former, and
helping the latter realize we are not right for them
39. Seven Aspects of our Culture
• Values are what we Value
• High Performance
• Freedom & Responsibility
• Context, not Control
• Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
• Pay Top of Market
• Promotions & Development
40. The Rare Responsible Person
• Self motivating
• Self aware
• Self disciplined
• Self improving
• Acts like a leader
• Doesn’t wait to be told what to do
• Picks up the trash lying on the floor
42. Our model is to increase
employee freedom as we grow,
rather than limit it,
to continue to attract and nourish innovative people,
so we have better chance of
sustained success
47. Growth Also Often Shrinks Talent Density
% High Performance Employees
Complexity
48. Chaos Emerges
% High Performance Employees
Chaos and errors spike here – business
has become too complex to run
informally with this talent level Complexity
49. Process Emerges to Stop the Chaos
Procedures
No one loves process, but
feels good compared to the
pain of chaos
“Time to grow up” becomes
the professional management’s
mantra
51. Process Brings Seductively Strong
Near-Term Outcome
• A highly-successful process-driven company
– With leading share in its market
– Minimal thinking required
– Few mistakes made – very efficient
– Few curious innovator-mavericks remain
– Very optimized processes for its existing market
– Efficiency has trumped flexibility
52. Then the Market Shifts…
• Market shifts due to new technology or
competitors or business models
• Company is unable to adapt quickly
– because the employees are extremely good at
following the existing processes, and process
adherence is the value system
• Company generally grinds painfully into
irrelevance
53. Seems Like Three Bad Options
1. Stay creative by staying small, but therefore
have less impact
2. Avoid rules as you grow, and suffer chaos
3. Use process as you grow to drive efficient
execution of current model, but cripple
creativity, flexibility, and ability to thrive
when your market eventually changes
54. A Fourth Option
• Avoid Chaos as you grow with Ever More High
Performance People – not with Rules
– Then you can continue to mostly run informally
with self-discipline, and avoid chaos
– The run informally part is what enables and
attracts creativity
55. The Key: Increase Talent Density faster than
Complexity Grows
% High Performance Employees
Business Complexity
56. Increase Talent Density
• Top of market compensation
• Attract high-value people through
freedom to make big impact
• Be demanding about high
performance culture
% High Performance Employees
57. Minimize Complexity Growth
Business Complexity
• Few big products vs many small ones
• Eliminate distracting complexity (barnacles)
• Be wary of efficiency optimizations that
increase complexity and rigidity
Note: sometimes long-term simplicity is
achieved only through bursts of complexity to
rework current systems
58. With the Right People,
Instead of a
Culture of Process Adherence,
We have a Culture of
Creativity and Self-Discipline,
Freedom and Responsibility
60. Freedom is not absolute
Like “free speech”
there are some
limited exceptions to
“freedom at work”
61. Two Types of Necessary Rules
1. Prevent irrevocable disaster
– Financials produced are wrong
– Hackers steal our customers’ credit card info
2. Moral, ethical, legal issues
– Dishonesty, harassment are intolerable
62. Mostly, though, Rapid Recovery is
the Right Model
• Just fix problems quickly
– High performers make very few errors
• We’re in a creative-inventive market, not a
safety-critical market like medicine or nuclear
power
• You may have heard preventing error is cheaper
than fixing it
– Yes, in manufacturing or medicine, but…
– Not so in creative environments
63. “Good” versus “Bad” Process
• “Good” process helps talented people get more done
– Letting others know when you are updating code
– Spend within budget each quarter so don’t have to coordinate
every spending decision across departments
– Regularly scheduled strategy and context meetings
• “Bad” process tries to prevent recoverable mistakes
– Get pre-approvals for $5k spending
– 3 people to sign off on banner ad creative
– Permission needed to hang a poster on a wall
– Multi-level approval process for projects
– Get 10 people to interview each candidate
64. Rule Creep
• “Bad” processes tend to creep in
– Preventing errors just sounds so good
• We try to get rid of rules when we can, to
reinforce the point
65. Example: Netflix Vacation Policy
and Tracking
Until 2004 we had the standard
model of N days per year
66. Meanwhile…
We’re all working online some nights and
weekends, responding to emails at odd
hours, spending some afternoons on
personal time, and taking good vacations
67. An employee pointed out…
We don’t track hours worked per day
or per week, so why are we tracking
days of vacation per year?
68. We realized…
We should focus on what people get done, not on how
many days worked
Just as we don’t have an 9am-5pm workday policy, we
don’t need a vacation policy
70. Netflix Vacation Policy
and Tracking
“there is no policy or tracking”
There is also no clothing policy at Netflix,
but no one comes to work naked
Lesson: you don’t need policies for everything
71. No Vacation Policy Doesn’t Mean
No Vacation
Netflix leaders set good examples by
taking big vacations – and coming
back inspired to find big ideas
73. Most companies have complex policies around what you can expense, how you
travel, what gifts you can accept, etc.
Plus they have whole departments to verify compliance
with these policies
75. “Act in Netflix’s Best Interest”
Generally Means…
1. Expense only what you would otherwise not spend, and
is worthwhile for work
2. Travel as you would if it were your own money
3. Disclose non-trivial vendor gifts
4. Take from Netflix only when it is inefficient to not take,
and inconsequential
– “taking” means, for example, printing personal documents at
work or making personal calls on work phone:
inconsequential and inefficient to avoid
76. Freedom and Responsibility
• Many people say one can’t do it at scale
• But since going public in 2002, which is
traditionally the end of freedom, we’ve
substantially increased talent density and
employee freedom
77. Summary of
Freedom & Responsibility:
As We Grow, Minimize Rules
Inhibit Chaos with Ever More
High Performance People
Flexibility is More Important
than Efficiency in the Long Term
78. Seven Aspects of our Culture
• Values are what we Value
• High Performance
• Freedom & Responsibility
• Context, not Control
• Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
• Pay Top of Market
• Promotions & Development
79. If you want to build a ship,
don't drum up the people
to gather wood, divide the
work, and give orders.
Instead, teach them to yearn
for the vast and endless sea.
-Antoine De Saint-Exupery,
Author of The Little Prince
80. The best managers figure out how to get great outcomes by setting the
appropriate context, rather than by trying to control their people
81. Context, not Control
Context (embrace)
• Strategy
• Metrics
• Assumptions
• Objectives
• Clearly-defined roles
• Knowledge of the stakes
• Transparency around
decision-making
Control (avoid)
• Top-down decision-making
• Management approval
• Committees
• Planning and process valued
more than results
Provide the insight and understanding to enable sound decisions
82. Good Context
• Link to company/functional goals
• Relative priority (how important/how time sensitive)
– Critical (needs to happen now), or…
– Nice to have (when you can get to it)
• Level of precision & refinement
– No errors (credit cards handling, etc…), or…
– Pretty good / can correct errors (website), or…
– Rough (experimental)
• Key stakeholders
• Key metrics / definition of success
83. Managers: When one of your talented people
does something dumb,
don’t blame them
Instead,
ask yourself what context
you failed to set
84. Managers: When you are tempted to “control” your people, ask
yourself what context you could set instead
Are you articulate and inspiring
enough about goals and strategies?
86. Investing in Context
This is why we do new employee college, frequent
department meetings, and why we are so open
internally about strategies and results
87. Exceptions to “Context, not Control”
• Control can be important in emergency
– No time to take long-term capacity-building view
• Control can be important when someone is
still learning their area
– Takes time to pick up the necessary context
• Control can be important when you have the
wrong person in a role
– Temporarily, no doubt
88. Seven Aspects of our Culture
• Values are what we Value
• High Performance
• Freedom & Responsibility
• Context, not Control
• Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
• Pay Top of Market
• Promotions & Development
89. Three Models of Corporate Teamwork
1. Tightly Coupled Monolith
2. Independent Silos
3. Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
90. Tightly Coupled Monolith
• Senior management reviews nearly all tactics
– e.g., CEO reviews all job offers or advertising
• Lots of x-departmental buy-in meetings
• Keeping other internal groups happy has
equal precedence with pleasing customers
• Mavericks get exhausted trying to innovate
• Highly coordinated through centralization, but
very slow, and slowness increases with size
91. Independent Silos
• Each group executes on their objectives with
little coordination
– Everyone does their own thing
• Work that requires coordination suffers
• Alienation and suspicion between
departments
• Only works well when areas are independent
– e.g., aircraft engines and blenders for GE
92. #3 is the Netflix Choice
1. Tightly Coupled Monolith
2. Independent Silos
3. Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
93. Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
• Highly Aligned
– Strategy and goals are clear, specific, broadly understood
– Team interactions focused on strategy and goals, rather than tactics
– Requires large investment in management time to be transparent and
articulate and perceptive
• Loosely Coupled
– Minimal cross-functional meetings except to get aligned on goals and strategy
– Trust between groups on tactics without previewing/approving each one – so
groups can move fast
– Leaders reaching out proactively for ad-hoc coordination and perspective as
appropriate
– Occasional post-mortems on tactics necessary to increase alignment
94. Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled teamwork effectiveness
depends on
high performance people
and good context
Goal is to be
Big and Fast and Flexible
95. Seven Aspects of our Culture
• Values are what we Value
• High Performance
• Freedom & Responsibility
• Context, not Control
• Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
• Pay Top of Market
• Promotions & Development
96. Pay Top of Market
is Core to
High Performance Culture
One outstanding employee gets more done
and costs less than two adequate employees
We endeavor to have only
outstanding employees
97. Three Tests for Top of Market
for a Person
1. What could person get elsewhere?
2. What would we pay for replacement?
3. What would we pay to keep that person?
– If they had a bigger offer elsewhere
98. Takes Great Judgment
• Goal is to keep each employee at top of
market for that person
– Pay them more than anyone else likely would
– Pay them as much as a replacement would cost
– Pay them as much as we would pay to keep them
if they had higher offer from elsewhere
99. Titles Not Very Helpful
• Lots of people have the title “Major League
Pitcher” but they are not all equally effective
• Similarly, all people with the title “Senior
Marketing Manager” or “Director of
Engineering” are not equally effective
• So the art of compensation is answering the
Three Tests for each employee
100. Annual Comp Review
• At many firms, when employees are hired,
market compensation applies
• But at comp review time, it no longer applies!
• At Netflix, market comp always applies:
– Essentially, top of market comp is re-established
each year for high performing employees
– At annual comp review, manager has to answer
the Three Tests for the personal market for each
of their employees
101. No Fixed Budgets
• There are no centrally administered “raise
pools” each year
• Instead, each manager aligns their people to
top of market each year – the market will be
different in different areas
102. Compensation Over Time
• Some people will move up in comp very
quickly because their value in the marketplace
is moving up quickly, driven by increasing skills
and/or great demand for their area
• Some people will stay flat because their value
in the marketplace has done that
– Depends in part on inflation and economy
– Always top of market, though, for that person
103. Compensation Not Dependent
on Netflix Success
• Whether Netflix is prospering or floundering,
we pay at the top of the market
– i.e., sports teams with losing records still pay
talent the market rate
• Employees can choose how much they want
to link their economic destiny to Netflix by
deciding how many Netflix stock options they
want to hold
104. Bad Comp Practices
• Manager sets pay at Nth percentile of title-
linked compensation data
– The “Major League Pitcher” problem
• Manager cares about internal parity instead of
external market value
– Fairness in comp is being true to the market
• Manager gives everyone a 4% raise
– Very unlikely to reflect the market
105. When Top of Market Comp
Done Right...
• We will rarely counter with higher comp when
someone is voluntarily leaving because we
have already moved comp to our max for that
person
• Employees will feel they are getting paid well
relative to their other options in the market
106. Versus Traditional Model
• Traditional model is good prior year earns a raise,
independent of market
– Problem is employees can get materially under- or
over-paid relative to the market, over time
– When materially under-paid, employees switch firms
to take advantage of market-based pay on hiring
– When materially over-paid, employees are trapped in
current firm
• Consistent market-based pay is better model
107. Employee Success
• It’s pretty ingrained in our society that the size
of one’s raise is the indicator of how well one
did the prior year
– but for us the other factor is the outside market
• Employee success is still a big factor in comp
because it influences market value
– In particular, how much we would pay to keep the
person
108. Good For Each Employee to Understand
Their Market Value
• It’s a healthy idea, not a traitorous one, to
understand what other firms would pay you,
by interviewing and talking to peers at other
companies
– Talk with your manager about what you find in
terms of comp
– Stay mindful of company confidential information
109. Efficiency
• Big salary is the most efficient form of comp
– Most motivating for any given expense level
– No bonuses, no free stock options, no philanthropic match
– Instead, put all that expense into big salaries, and give people freedom to
spend their salaries as they think best
• Health benefits: employees get $10k per year
– If they choose Netflix plans that are less than $10k, they keep the difference
– If they don’t need benefits from us, they keep all $10k
– CEO or receptionist: everyone gets $10k for benefits
110. Optional Options
• Employees get top of market salary, and then
can request to trade salary for stock options
• Some people take all cash, some people
request half their comp in options
– Both are OK
• This is consistent with freedom and
responsibility, and lets employees decide how
much risk/reward is comfortable for them
111. Details on Stock Options
• The options are fully vested and are 10-years-to-exercise options, independent of
how long one stays at Netflix
• These fully vested options are granted monthly at the then current stock price, so
employees get price averaging on their exercise price
• These options cost employees less than half of what such options would cost in
the open market, and are from pre-tax salary, so are a great deal
• Employees can change their option request annually
• Options become valuable only if Netflix stock climbs
112. No Vesting or Deferred Comp
• We don’t want managers to “own” their people with
vesting – all comp is fully vested
• We want managers to be responsible for creating a
great place to work, and paying at the top of market
• Employees are free to leave us anytime, without
penalty, but nearly everyone stays
• Employees stay because they are passionate about
their work, and well paid, not because of a deferred
compensation system
113. No Ranking Against Other Employees
• We avoid “top 30%” and “bottom 10%”
rankings amongst employees
• We don’t want employees to feel competitive
with each other
• We want all of our employees to be “top 10%”
relative to the pool of global candidates
• We want employees to help each other, and
they do
114. Seven Aspects of our Culture
• High Performance
• Values are what we Value
• Freedom & Responsibility
• Context, not Control
• Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
• Pay Top of Market
• Promotions & Development
115. In some time periods, in some groups, there will be lots of
opportunity and growth at Netflix
Some people, through both luck and
talent, will have extraordinary career
growth
116. Baseball Analogy: Minors to
Majors
• Very talented people usually get to move up, but only
true for the very talented
• Some luck in terms of what positions open up and
what the competition is
• Some people move to other teams to get the
opportunity they want
• Great teams keep their best talent
• Some minor league players keep playing even though
they don’t move up because they love the game
117. Netflix Doesn’t Have to Be for Life
• In some times, in some groups, there may not
be enough growth opportunity for everyone
• In which case we should celebrate someone
leaving Netflix for a bigger job that we didn’t
have available to offer them
– If that is what the person prefers
118. Two Necessary Conditions
for Promotion
1. Job has to be big enough
– We might have an incredible manager of something, but
we don’t need a director of it because job isn’t big enough
– If the incredible manager left, we would replace with a manager, not
with a director
2. Person has to be a superstar in current role
– Could get the next level job here if applying from outside
and we knew their talents well
– Could get the next level job at peer firm that knew their
talents well
119. Timing
• If a manager would promote to prevent an
employee from leaving, the manager should
promote now instead of waiting
• Both tests still have to be passed
1. Job big enough
2. Superstar in current role
120. Development
• We develop people by giving them the
opportunity to develop themselves, by
surrounding them with stunning colleagues
and giving them big challenges to work on
– Mediocre colleagues or unchallenging work is
what kills progress of a person’s skills
121. Career “Planning” Not for Us
• Formalized development is rarely effective,
and we don’t try to do it
– e.g., Mentor assignment, rotation around a firm,
multi-year career paths, etc.
122. We Support Self-Improvement
• High performance people are generally self-
improving through experience, observation,
introspection, reading, and discussion
– As long as they have stunning colleagues and big
challenges to work on
– We all try to help each other grow
– We are very honest with each other
123. We want people to manage
their own career growth,
and not rely on a corporation
for “planning” their careers
124. Your Economic Security is based
on your Skills and Reputation
We try hard to consistently provide
opportunity to grow both by
surrounding you with great talent
125. Seven Aspects of our Culture
• Values are what we Value
• High Performance
• Freedom & Responsibility
• Context, not Control
• Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
• Pay Top of Market
• Promotions & Development
126. We keep improving
our culture as we grow
We try to get better
at seeking excellence