Building a healthy and productive work culture is extremely complicated. Biased, oversensitive, and ill-ambitioned employers & employees make most companies’ work environments toxic and hostile. Instead of changing, most companies try hard to create a hierarchical environment where they can control the workforce. No doubt that in such a company, you can forget about creativity, ownership, and exceptional performance.

“Netflix: No Rules Rules” is a breath of fresh air in the dull office life. Extreme honesty and autonomy are a way to help adults act like adults.

This book is full of amazing insights that would be helpful to any employee, manager, or, especially, to aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to build high-performing organizations. I’ll highlight just a few points that I found interesting.

Culture

“We are a team, not a family.” The team wins when the best players are on the field. And as soon as you cannot keep up with the best players - you are out. As a team manager, you should also be the best at your job and make sure that everybody in the team feels that they are part of the best organization. Even one bad player might demoralize the team.

It is very hard to be objective and do constant performance management if you treat your company as a family.

Compensation

To be the best, you need to hire the best talent. And the best talent requires the best compensation. Netflix makes sure to compensate above any other company at all times and maintains the highest compensation above any competitor. In case you can find any company offering more, Netflix will match the offer.

Hiring test: would you hire the same person now? In case not - fire the person.

Communication

You cannot be honest with fools (low I.Q. & E.Q.). But when you hire the best people, you can be honest and open. Criticism is very important to ensure growth, but it should be constructive. Honesty is a very powerful tool and should be used only with the correct intention.

People might abuse their right to use honesty as an excuse to mistreat others. It should never be tolerated. In this case, culture is above skills - you need to let go talented but bad behaving individuals.

Feedback

Netflix uses the 4A feedback technique:

• When providing feedback: Aim to assist; Actionable;
• When receiving feedback: Appreciate; Accept or Discard;

Use feedback to grow with actionable critics.

Layoff

In case you treat your company as a high-performing team, you might end up in a situation where players feel threatened that they will be kicked out.

A big layoff severance package is something that makes Netflix employees assured that in case of a layoff, they are well taken care of.

Decentralization

Rid mentioned a few times how proud he is of the level of decentralization. In interviews, many employees mentioned how impressed and scared they were with the autonomy they were provided. Signing contracts for millions of dollars, which in other companies would require an intensive review process.

Netflix was the first in the industry to introduce unlimited days off. But that doesn’t mean that you can just go at any time. One of the stories is about employees who work up to 80 hours per week to finish job ahead of time and take 1+ month off.

Conclusion

“Netflix: No Rules Rules” serves as an essential guide for individuals at every level of an organization aiming to build high-performing companies. By embracing the principles outlined in this book, organizations can foster a culture of trust, innovation, and excellence, paving the way for sustained success in the ever-evolving business landscape.

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