Imagine you are a novice in an organization and the management asks you to sign a multi million dollar contract representing the company for a deal which you were part of in negotiating.
Imagine you are given the freedom to criticize your higher ups for their actions and give honest (sometimes brutal) feedback when you feel it’s required.
Imagine you are working in an organization and you feel your work warrants you to function on a fancy iMac and you can buy it and just handover the payment receipt to the purchases department for reimbursement without any approvals !
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention penned by Erin Meyer and Reed Hastings (CEO of Netflix) is an honest yet highly candid take on how an organization can do away with conventional systems, processes & policies and yet be a roaring success.
Apart from the strong recommendation of Mr. Anoop of Modern Books (Trivandrum), I used to be highly curious about the high performance culture prevailing in Netflix after going through their culture deck, containing very strong statements such as “We’re a team, not a family” and “Like every Company we try to hire well. But unlike many companies, we practice adequate performance gets a generous severance package”.
The book elaborates in detail regarding the culture of Netflix which is built on the foundation stone of “Freedom & Responsibility” and very commonly phrased in Netflix as F&R. But the pertinent question which runs through the mind of the reader will be: Won’t bestowing employees with this level of autonomy in an organization backfire? As mentioned in the outset, will the responsibility entrusted on a novice to sign a multi million contract be derailing to the organization in the long run?
Netflix preaches and practices by principles to encourage their employees to use their good judgment. To ensure the display of a very high quality judgment collectively, Netflix puts a laser focus to ensure their talent pool is of top notch.
In the words of Mr. Reed, building of a high talent density wherein the work place consists exclusively of stunning colleagues and the average performers don’t stand a chance, by paying top of the market salaries to the employees.
As I was progressing through the book the concept of keeping a high talent density at all the time and showing the door to adequate performers with a good severance package pricked my conscience, reflecting on my thought process (or my naivety?) that even adequate performers should be given a chance to unlock their value through guidance and under-able leadership. Let’s just face it and accept the fact that we live in a brutal dog eat dog world, but still the question arises from the deepest grooves of my mind — Is this just?
The book emphasizes how Netflix built a culture of candor laying the foundation of robust feedback mechanisms among its employees. Giving feedback with positive intent using the 4A guidelines is ingrained into the culture of Netflix.
4A guidelines are as follows:
- Aim to Assist
- Actionable
- Appreciate
- Accept/discard
A highly commendable aspect is that the leaders at all levels of Netflix solicit feedback and boy, are you bound to hear many harsh truths. Even while promoting the culture of candor, Mr. Reed highly underscores the importance of setting the context upfront. Clear context as to the intention of giving and receiving feedback and taking positive actions based on the same are laid before employees and coaching for the same are given.
It was a positive surprise to learn that Netflix encourages their employees to talk to their competitors and even attend job interviews (Yes, you heard it right). If an employee feels he is underpaid, he can rightly ask for a raise to his superior, but with a rider that he should substantiate his claim and also furnish data that his peers are being paid more.
One of the highly debatable areas in the book and one which is prone to more hesitations and frowns is the removal of controls, processes and policies in an organization. Netflix has very famously done away with vacation policies, decision making approvals, expense policies, KPIs etc. The point put forward by Mr. Reed is that control always limits creativity and innovation. On a personal note I agree with Mr. Reed’s point: eliminating controls and policies will be a catastrophe for industries where error prevention is sine qua non.
The audacity to remove policies and processes is a privilege best enjoyable by industries where creativity and innovation is in the forefront.
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention is a thoroughly enjoyable book giving insights which are in loggerheads with the conventional management wisdom. As mentioned above I found the concepts mentioned in the book best suited for organizations dangling more towards creativity and innovation.