No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

by Reed Hastings

a culture that valued people over process, emphasized innovation over efficiency, and had very few controls.

Policies and control processes became so foundational to our work that those who were great at coloring within the lines were promoted, while many creative mavericks felt stifled and went to work elsewhere.

Steve Jobs said: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

“A-B-C-D,” or “Always be connecting the dots.”

We learned that a company with really dense talent is a company everyone wants to work for. High performers especially thrive in environments where the overall talent density is high.

If you have a team of five stunning employees and two adequate ones, the adequate ones will sap 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 around them, reducing efficiency, drive staff who seek excellence to quit, and show the team you accept mediocrity, thus multiplying the problem.

performance—both good and bad—is infectious. If you have adequate performers, it leads many who could be excellent to also perform adequately. And if you have a team consisting entirely of high performers, each pushes the others to achieve more.

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.

The Culture Map,

most of us do instinctively understand the value of hearing the truth.

by a roughly three-to-one margin, people believe corrective feedback does more to improve their performance than positive feedback.

57 percent of respondents claim they would prefer to receive corrective feedback to positive feedback. 72 percent felt their performance would improve if they received more corrective feedback.

92 percent agreed with the comment, “Negative feedback, if delivered appropriately, improves performance.”

A feedback loop is one of the most effective tools for improving performance.

TEACH ALL EMPLOYEES TO GIVE AND RECEIVE FEEDBACK WELL

4A FEEDBACK GUIDELINES

Giving Feedback

AIM TO ASSIST: Feedback must be given with positive intent.

ACTIONABLE: Your feedback must focus on what the recipient can do differently.

Receiving Feedback

APPRECIATE:

“How can I show appreciation for this feedback by listening carefully, considering the message with an open mind, and becoming neither defensive nor angry?”

ACCEPT OR DISCARD:

You are required to listen and consider all feedback provided. You are not required to follow it.

PREACH FEEDBACK ANYWHERE, ANYTIME

CLARIFY AND REINFORCE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING SELFLESSLY CANDID AND A BRILLIANT JERK