No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

by Reed Hastings

“Ted wasn’t about to make that decision for me, but he set broad context to help align my thinking with the company’s strategy. That context he set laid the foundation for my decision.”

If your focus is on eliminating mistakes, then control is best.

Leading with control is great for error prevention.

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.

In addition to high talent density (that’s the first condition) and a goal of innovation rather than error prevention (that’s the second), you also need to work (here comes the third) in a system that is “loosely coupled.”

in a loosely coupled company, an individual manager or employee is free to make decisions or solve problems,

If you are already part of a tightly coupled system, you may have to work with the top leaders in the company in order to change the entire organizational approach before trying to lead with context at a lower level.

In a tightly coupled system, strategic change is easily aligned throughout the organization.

HIGHLY ALIGNED, LOOSELY COUPLED

WHEN ONE OF YOUR PEOPLE DOES SOMETHING DUMB DON’T BLAME THEM. INSTEAD ASK YOURSELF WHAT CONTEXT YOU FAILED TO SET. ARE YOU ARTICULATE AND INSPIRING ENOUGH IN EXPRESSING YOUR GOALS AND STRATEGY? HAVE YOU CLEARLY EXPLAINED ALL THE ASSUMPTIONS AND RISKS THAT WILL HELP YOUR TEAM TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS? ARE YOU AND YOUR EMPLOYEES HIGHLY ALIGNED ON VISION AND OBJECTIVES?

no matter where you come from—when it comes to working across cultural differences, talk, talk, talk.

What we’ve learned is that in order to integrate your corporate culture around the world, above all you have to be humble, you have to be curious, and you have to remember to listen before you speak and to learn before you teach.

In less direct countries, implement more formal feedback mechanisms and put feedback on the agenda more frequently, because informal exchanges will happen less often.