5min books review #5

Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer: No Rules Rules. Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

Value for money

7/10

Ebook or Bookshelf?

This is more suited to reading as an ebook, don’t want it to take up precious bookshelf real estate.

Year, Price, Pages, Cover design

2020 by WH Allen; Euro 23,01; 272 pages (293 pages with Acknowledgments, Selected bibliography, Index), Hardback

Jacket design by Two Associates, Author photography by Austine Hargrave, Book design by Lucia Bernard, Portrait Illustrations by Henry Sene Yee. Top-quality paper made by Forest Stewardship Council, the exquisite reading experience.

5 sentences about the book

• The book itself is organized around the triad “talent-candor-control”, similarly, as the Netflix organization is built. Netflix’s organism can live only when all elements are in place — they depend on each other.
• First, the organization builds up talent density by creating a workforce of high performers. Then it introduces candor by encouraging loads of feedback. In the end, it removes controls such as vacation, travel and expense policies.
• In the next steps, the triad is tuned: strengthening talent density by paying top of the market, increasing candor by emphasizing organizational transparency and releasing more controls such as decision-making approvals.
• Last chapters are dedicated to maximizing the triad: the Netflix’s Keeper test is used for maximizing talent density, the circle of feedback is used for maximizing candor and emphasizing leading by the context not control eliminates most controls.
• Narration consists of two parallel storylines provided by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. Hastings represents a voice of practicality; he plots the conditions thanks to whom Netflix organization was established as we know it in its current form. On the other hand, Erin Meyer documents that there is a theory (psychological, sociological, cultural) behind every Hastings’s example.

What did I learn?

• As well as Spotify model, Netflix triad works for Netflix and should not be treated as a copy+paste instruction model
• Giving and receiving feedback is the additional inspirational lecture in the raster of similar books. Creating a culture of candor could be feasible in the micro-cosmos of your organization too (team, department).
• “Don’t seek to please your bosses” — organization expects that employee tells her/his opinion and every person is responsible to tell what she/he thinks. If you start with line management or if you lead the product, there is a place to set up a relationship with your employees or colleagues in such a way and get benefit from it.
• “My career is my responsibility”. The self-awareness of Netflix’s employees related to payment and salary awakened me and I realize my ignorance in the topic. Did you do your homework and are you familiar with the salary trends of your job position on the market today?
• The place of the failure in the organization and how could be treated in the relationship of the employee and the boss (1. Ask what kind of learning came from the project; 2. Don’t make a big deal about it; 3. Ask her/him to sunshine the failure)

What was missing?

• Mentioning above, reading the book could be as watching reality through the glass. Ok, interesting Netlifx story, the organization works only when all elements are in place. There are only a few things you can take away; you can try in your micro-cosmos but I would not expect the same results as Netlflix achieved.

Favourite quotes:

“In hindsight, I understood that a team with one or two merely adequate performers brings down the performance of everyone on the team. If you have a team of five stunning employees and two adequate one, the adequate one will

• Sam managers’ energy, so they have less time for the top performers,
• Reduce the quality of group discussions, lowering the team’s overall IQ,
• Force others to develop ways to work sound them, reducing efficiency,
• Drive staff who seek excellence to quit, and
• Show the team you accept mediocrity, thus multiplying the problem.

For top performers, a great workplace isn’t about a lavish office, a beautiful gym, or a free sushi lunch. It’s about the joy of being surrounded by people who are both talented and collaborative” 7–8 (Reed Hastings)

Again you wonder, Should I speak up? But again, your lips stay sealed. You’ve probably experienced moments like these. You may not always remain silent. But often you do — and when you do, it’s likely to be because of one of the following reasons:

• You think your viewpoint won’t be supported.
• You don’t want to be viewed as ‘difficult’
• You don’t want to get into an unpleasant argument.
• You don’t want to risk upsetting or angering your colleagues.
• You’re wary of being called ‘not a team player’” 18 (Erin Meyer)

“At Netflix, it is tantamount to being disloyal to the company if you fail to speak up when you disagree with a colleague or have feedback that could be helpful. After all, you could help the business — but you are choosing not to” 18 (Erin Meyer)

“We hire you for your opinions. Every person in that room is responsible for telling me frankly what they think” (Ted Sarandos) 26

“Because of our high-talent density, our employees were already conscientious and responsible. Because of our culture of candor, if anyone abused the system or took advantage of the freedom allotted, other would call them out directly and explain the undesirable impact of their actions” 52 (Reed Hastings)

“Real life is so much more nuanced than any policy could ever address” 57 (Reed Hastings)

“Spinning the truth is one of the most common ways leaders erode trust. I can’t say this clearly enough: don’t do this. Your people are not stupid. When you try to spin them, they see it, and it makes you look like a fraud. Speak plainly, without trying to make bad situations seem good, and your employees will learn you tell the truth.” 118 (Reed Hastings)

“When you succeed, speak about it softly or let others mention it for you. But when you make a mistake say it clearly and loudly, so that everyone can learn and profit from your errors. In other words, ‘Whisper wins and shout mistakes’” 123 (Reed Hastings)

“That’s when we added a new element to our culture. We now say that it is disloyal to Netflix when you disagree with the idea and do not express that disagreement. By withholding your opinion, you are implicitly choosing to not help the company.” 141

“A job should be something you do for that magical period of time when you are the best person for that job and that job is the best position for you. Once you stop learning or stop excelling, that’s the moment for you to pass that spot onto someone who is better fitted for it and to move on to a better role for you” 168