
The Guide to the Freedom and Responsibility Culture at Netflix - male_salmon
http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664
======
mojombo
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
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...](http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Success-Behind-
Unusual-Workplace/dp/0446670553)

------
seear
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.

------
joez
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_salmon
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.

~~~
joez
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.

------
kqr2
If any Netflix employees are reading this, it would be great to hear your
comments on how well those slides reflect the actual culture.

~~~
elq
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
Care to share any stories?

~~~
elq
Sure. Here's some banal stuff. If you have anything in particular you'd like
to know, ask.

Good - A few days after I joined I decided I wanted a much bigger monitor and
several gigs more ram. After hemming and hawing for a day trying to figure out
how to justify it to my manager, I just asked. My manager said there was no
reason to ask him, just file a ticket. No approval needed. This is true for
anything I need (hardware, software, cell phone...).

Bad - Within my first week, I noticed three "good bye" emails, none of which
were voluntary.

Great - I have free access to one of the largest sets of voluntary enjoyment
decision data and lots of big machines. ML paradise.

Great - All of my coworkers are amazing. It's really satisfying to not be the
smartest guy in the room.

~~~
kqr2
How long does it usually take to determine whether a person is only an
"adequate" performer and given a generous severance package?

~~~
elq
No one I've worked with has ever been sent packing, but to the best of my
understanding it's generally not a surprise and people are given chances.

------
pg
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.

~~~
elq
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
"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)".

~~~
elq
No, I'm a jerk not a constant asshole. Most companies try real hard not to
hire idiots. Netflix is such a company.

Orders are not given at netflix. I choose the project I want to work on. Hence
my comment "Context vs. Control", it's taken right out of the presentation.

~~~
luckyland
Interesting. In your observation how good has the Company been at not hiring
these so-called "Brilliant Jerks"? I've found one of the common failures in
engineering management is knowing when to get rid of smart but disruptive
talent.

~~~
elq
Not perfect. But they really mean it when they say "adequate performance gets
a generous severance package".

~~~
jodrellblank
Then it's not 'adequate', is it?

~~~
varaon
My impression from the slides is that they see it as a financial gain if it
frees up the job for a higher performer.

No mention is made of why they feel the need to offer severance when they're
shedding an underperformer, but maybe they want to make it a less negative
event. Maybe the strategy is to try and avoid distracting or upsetting the
high performers by having underachievers leave on good terms (this could
explain the "goodbye" emails).

------
cake
_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.

------
kevinpet
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.

------
brg
Wow.

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

~~~
brown9-2
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.

------
luckyland
Sounds like an awesome place to get fired from.

------
cookiecaper
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.

------
rg
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.

------
nebula
Wow! I love these guys.

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

<http://www.netflix.com/Jobs>

------
alanthonyc
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._

------
brown9-2
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?

------
joshu
This is inspiring and awesome.

I think Yahoo found the bizarro world version of this.

------
geeko
Is there a direct link to the pdf?

~~~
nebula
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>

------
madair
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_salmon
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.

~~~
CamperBob
_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.

~~~
male_salmon
I think the reason you're hired is because they think you can perform at the
same level of said peers. And you accept the job because you think you can.
And want to.

I'd say the average employee age skews towards 35+. No young whipper-snappers
here! Except for a few :) Most everyone seems to have a family they need to
take care of, which means leaving early some days.

Mailing out DVDs is big business! You have no idea how important Netflix is to
people's happiness. I think that's closer to changing the world than most
other companies. Just do a search of Netflix on twitter and you'll see what I
mean.

~~~
CamperBob
_You have no idea how important Netflix is to people's happiness._

As a longtime customer, I do indeed. :-P Pretty damn reliable service,
actually.

The last Netflix error I experienced was when you sent me a fourth disc for
some reason. An advanced AI would have recognized that _He's Just Not That
Into You_ doesn't go well with Park Chan-Wook's _Vengeance Trilogy_. /grumble

