The Guide to the Freedom and Responsibility Culture at Netflix

http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664

by male_salmon • 17 years ago

144 46 17 years ago

rg• 17 years ago

Inspiring, and also serves as a reference example of a presentation that explicitly says "These slides are meant for reading, rather than presenting". That's a very common document form, but seldom acknowledged.

mojombo• 17 years ago

I found these ideas very refreshing, coming from a business of NetFlix' size and maturity. If these slides resonate with you, you may enjoy Maverick by Ricardo Semler, an auto-biographical account of how he transformed SemCo (a brazilian company) from a rigid, process oriented organization into a business that values freedom and good judgment. As we start to grow GitHub, these kinds of stories are truly invaluable. I've worked for the kind of high complexity, high process companies that this slide deck rails against, and I have no desire to ever be part of that world again.

mrduncan• 17 years ago

I'll echo the recommendation for Maverick, I believe that it was (maybe still is) the top selling book in Brazil. http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Success-Behind-Unusual-Workpl...

kqr22• 17 years ago

If any Netflix employees are reading this, it would be great to hear your comments on how well those slides reflect the actual culture.

elq7• 17 years ago

they're 100% accurate. This deck is very similar (if not identical, it's been a while) to the one you're expected to read at the "meet with Reed" meeting one month or so after you're hired. Netflix is, without a doubt, the single best company I have ever worked for (even better than my own company).

I put away a start-up idea to work there. It was worth it.

fallentimes• 17 years ago

Care to share any stories?

brg• 17 years ago

Wow.

I don't know if I've ever been so impressed by a corporate document.

brown9-22• 17 years ago

That's the brilliance of this document - it's an excellent and free recruitment tool for the very high-performance/talent people Netflix is trying to attract.

cookiecaper• 17 years ago

Pretty good, and happy I read it because it reaffirms the no-vacation-policy policy, which some contacts have recently been trying to talk me out of.

pg• 17 years ago

Most large companies don't want what they call "brilliant jerks." The problem is, not all these people are really jerks. Some just don't like being told what to do. That subset tend to make particularly good startup founders.

elq7• 17 years ago

At netflix, when they say they don't want "brilliant jerks", what they mean is they don't want "constant ass holes".

Context vs. Control.

plinkplonk• 17 years ago

"At Netflix, when they say they don't want "brilliant jerks", what they mean is they don't want "constant ass holes" ".

"constant ass holes" equates to "jerks". How does the "brilliant" part come in to play?

pg said "The problem is, not all these people are really jerks. Some just don't like being told what to do."

This interpretation makes sense. I've seen this happen in large companies. "He is brilliant and very good at his job, BUT he doesn't take orders (blindly)".

madair2• 17 years ago

I'm not sure whether this is inspiring, or frightening.

To paraphrase: "I pledge my allegiance to the Borg and will always give of myself and care for it above all else including my own needs."

male_salmon4• 17 years ago

Actually this is the opposite of what you're suggesting. Working for Netflix doesn't require that you sacrifice a work/life balance. Implicit is the agreement that you'll perform up to the standard that is expected of you, but from what I've seen, most people here can handle it admirably.

CamperBob3• 17 years ago

Working for Netflix doesn't require that you sacrifice a work/life balance.

Well, yeah, it pretty much does, if the company actually follows the personnel-retention guidelines in that slide deck. Your work at such a company is graded on a curve, whether you like it or not, and if you don't outperform your peers, you end up looking "only adequate." Meanwhile, your peers are talented twenty-something kids who cheerfully work 60-hour weeks, and you're not going to be able to keep up for long since there's going to be (again, presumably, under the stated guidelines) fresh meat coming in all the time.

As my other comment to elq pointed out, this seems a bit OTT for a company whose mission is, at the end of the day, to mail out a bunch of DVDs without screwing up too much. It's more like selling sugar water than changing the world, and I'm not sure I see the point in killing yourself for it.

madair2• 17 years ago

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0804-netflix...

Sounds like a factory to me. You guys who vote me down are just so very delusional about the information economy's greatness. LOL.

luckyland2• 17 years ago

Sounds like an awesome place to get fired from.

joez2• 17 years ago

Amazing read. Rang true some many times with me.

I knew this was something special when it started out with an example of Enron's corporate values. Too many companies have corporate values printed on little cards, back of pamphlets or even "chiseled on the marble on the main lobby."

I think about two thirds the slides stressed on hiring the best talent possible, having high performers and keeping high performers. I have to agree. One of the most important things you can do, especially at a smaller company, is hire well.

One thing that is lacking is a reference to motivation. Compensating people well is important, but you also need a sense of impact and growth. See Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (a little out dated but a great place to start):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslows_hierarchy_of_needs

I'd say pay is at the lower levels. At the higher levels: -People need to feel appreciated (part of that is well compensated). -People need to feel like they are making a difference. (Your job adds value) -People need to like they're growing. It's not just about getting Sr. added to your job title but actually your learning something and self-actualizing.

male_salmon4• 17 years ago

I understand what you say about motivation, but I don't think Netflix is about that. My belief is that they expect you to be intrinsically excited about working there - because you are a professional adult. You should already be learning on your own and already "self-actualized". Paying you well just validates what they believe you should be.

Not all companies are like that, and that's why working at Netflix takes a bit of a mindset re-org.

joez2• 17 years ago

I think we are coming from the same place but I am not sure I agree with "you should already be learning on your own and already "self actualized."

I think the work place is one place of many where you can grow and prove yourself. It's a great place to learn new things, test your theories and be creative. A company should nurture that.

alanthonyc• 17 years ago

Somebody already said this: wow.

Awesome.

One thing that stood out for me in that document was their analysis of how company growth forces the reduction of creativity in the workforce by the implementation of rigid processes.

Even more impressive is their solution to avoiding this problem: Just keep hiring more talented people.

kevinpet• 17 years ago

Makes me want to work there for a few years. Showing merely adequate engineers the door is high on my list of things to look for in my next position.

seear• 17 years ago

A fascinating read. Not having a vacation policy strikes me as an incredibly radical idea.

It sounds so civilized, yet my worry would be that people end up not taking enough time off due to a combination of peer pressure and indifference. In my experience I've found there are a set of people who always struggle to use up a given vacation allowance, and in a situation where there is no allowance I could see the natural behaviour of these people creating pressure on those who enjoy taking time off to take a lot less.

cake• 17 years ago

Great workplace is not day-care, espresso, health benefits, sushi lunches, nice offices, or big compensation, and we only do those that are efficient at attracting stunning colleagues

I find this to be revealing of the culture this document is trying to express : the focus on the people. I don't think you can find that in many workplaces.

brown9-22• 17 years ago

I really love the distinction made in the opening slides between a company's stated values and their "real values", which are shown through actions.

Dear Netflix: can you please open software development offices in NJ or NY? Please?

geeko• 17 years ago

Is there a direct link to the pdf?

nebula2• 17 years ago

If you are asking to validate the source of this document, Netflix has this slide deck embedded on thier jobs page: http://www.netflix.com/Jobs

nebula2• 17 years ago

Wow! I love these guys.

Their Jobs page quotes Godfather: "I will make an offer he can't refuse"

http://www.netflix.com/Jobs

joshu• 17 years ago

This is inspiring and awesome.

I think Yahoo found the bizarro world version of this.

The Guide to the Freedom and Responsibility Culture at Netflix

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