Netflix corporate culture

Netflix is really doing a great job at the moment, finding a niche and transitioning from physical home delivery of movies to becoming one of the leaders in online content delivery. They do a great job by focusing on one thing and doing it extremely well. They also appear to have a fascinating corporate culture, worth taking a look at.

Ask yourself as you read this if this is a good culture or is it a culture that is just a bit too ruthless for long term success. Should a business be run like a sports team, where you are discarded once you're no longer useful? I don't know the answer.

From Netflix:
"Reference Guide on our Freedom & Responsibility Culture"
http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664

There is so much great content in this presentation that I hardly know where to start. They start out with a bang, by focusing on value statements. As they point out, Enron had a nice value statement, too. A lot of good it did them. According to Netflix, however, "The real company values, as opposed to the nice-sounding values, are shown by who gets rewarded, promoted, or let go."

After that great start the presentation only gets better. If I quoted all the good stuff in this presentation I'd end up quoting the whole thing. I thought it was that good.

Here's another shocker: "But, unlike many companies, we practice 'adequate performance gets a generous severance package.'" That's right, adequate performers are let go.

Apparently Netflix also allows you to take as many vacation days as you want, as long as you get your work done. But is this a good thing? I know I always have more work than time, so would this mean that I don't get to ever take a vacation?


Here is a counterpoint, from Business Insider:
"The Culture Of Fear Is So Ingrained In Netflix" by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry
http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-culture-of-fear-2010-12

Here are some quotes:

"'A total fear of failure permeates the ranks.' Basically, you get one mistake, and after that you're fired."

"There are no processes for doing stuff and everybody wings it. And because firings happen so often, people basically spend their days covering their asses. And because there are no processes, employees aren't evaluated objectively, and people are fired and rewarded through politics."