No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings & Erin Meyer

(New York: Penguin, 2020), 320

First Steps to a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility

Summary: A great workplace is stunning colleagues

Your #1 goal is to develop a work environment with only stunning colleagues
Sunning colleagues accomplish significantly more than average ones
Jerks, slackers, sweet people with nonstellar performance, or pessimists left on the team will bring down the performance of everyone

Summary: Say what you really think (with positive intent)

With candor, high performers become outstanding performers. Frequent candid feedback magnifies the speed and effectiveness of your team.
Build feedback into regular meetings
Give feedback using the 4A guidelines:
- Assist: feedback must be given with positive intent
- Actionable: focus on what the recipient can do differently
- Appreciate: how can I show appreciation for this feedback rather than being defensive?
- Accept or Discard: the decision to react to the feedback is up to the recipient
As the leader solicit frequent feedback and respond with belonging cues
Get rid of jerks as you instill a culture of candor

Summary: Remove vacation policy and travel and expense approvals

Vacation policy
- Employees have full discretion on taking a few hours, a day, a week, or a month off work
- The leader must provide example of how the policy is implemented and be loud about the vacation she takes
Travel policy
- Managers must set context on appropriate uses of company money
- Finance audits a percentage of expenses annually
- When people abuse the system, fire them and speak about the abuse openly
- With expense freedom employees will be able to make quick decisions to spend money in ways that helps the business

Summary: Pay top of personal market

Pay creative (vs operational) employees top of market (which may mean hiring one exceptional individual rather than ten adequate people)
Don't pay performance-based bonuses, but put those resources into salary
Take calls from recruiters to get to know your own and your team's market value

Summary: Open the books

Encourage transparency by getting rid of closed offices, locked spaces, etc.
Share sensitive financial and strategic information with all employees
Notify employees about possible changes early even if they cause anxiety and distraction
If information is about something that happened at work, share it. If information is personal say it's not your place to share but refer to the person
As long as you have already shown yourself to be competent talking openly about your own mistakes will increase trust an goodwill

Summary: No decision-making approvals needed

Ownership of decisions should be dispersed across the team at all levels
For this to work: "don't seek to please your boss"
Think in bets: some will succeed and some will fail, and you are judged on the collective outcome rather than a single bet
When a bet fails, sunshine it openly

Summary: The Keeper Test

The Keeper Test: "Which of my people, if they told me they were leaving for a similar job at another company, would I fight hard to keep?"
Avoid stack-ranking systems which create competition and discourage collaboration
A sports team is a better metaphor than a family: keep the best player in each position
When an employee is underperforming, take the money that would have gone into a PIP and instead put it toward a generous severance package
To reduce fear among employees, encourage them to use the Keeper Test with their managers
When an employee is let go, speak openly about what happened and answer questions

Summary: A circle of feedback

A thorough session every 6-12 months ensures clear feedback
Performance reviews are not the best mechanism for candid feedback since they only go one way and involve one person
A 360 written report is a good mechanism for annual feedback but make sure it is not anonymous
Live 360 dinners are effective for feedback in a Start, Stop, Continue format

Summary: Lead with context, not control

Leading with context is best when you goal is innovation (not error prevention), and requires a loosely coupled system
Instead of telling people what to do, get into alignment by providing and debating all the context that will allow them to make good decisions
When someone on your team fails, ask yourself what context you forgot to set
A loosely coupled organization should resemble a tree rather than a pyramid: the boss is at the roots, holding the trunk of senior mangers who supports the branches where decisions are made

Summary:

Map your corporate culture and compare it to the cultures of the countries you are expanding to
In less direct countries, implement more formal feedback mechanisms
With more direct cultures, talk about the cultural difference openly so the feedback is understood as intended
Add "adaptability" to your candor model

Topic: Management

Source:

Created: 2021-11-08
Updated: 2023-06-21-Wed