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- 4. Seven Aspects of our Culture • Values are what we Value • High Performance • Freedom & Responsibility • Context, not Control • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Pay Top of Market • PromoRons & Development 4
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- 19. Seven Aspects of our Culture • Values are what we Value • High Performance • Freedom & Responsibility • Context, not Control • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Pay Top of Market • PromoRons & Development 19
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- 34. Loyalty is Good • Loyalty is good as a stabilizer • People who have been stars for us, and hit a bad patch, get a near term pass because we think they are likely to become stars for us again • We want the same: if Ne6lix hits a temporary bad patch, we want people to sRck with us • But unlimited loyalty to a shrinking firm, or to an ineffecRve employee, is not what we are about 34
- 35. Hard Work – Not Relevant • We don’t measure people by how many hours they work or how much they are in the office • We do care about accomplishing great work • Sustained B-level performance, despite “A for effort”, generates a generous severance package, with respect • Sustained A-level performance, despite minimal effort, is rewarded with more responsibility and great pay 35
- 36. Brilliant Jerks • Some companies tolerate them • For us, cost to effecRve teamwork is too high • Diverse styles are fine – as long as person embodies the 9 values 36
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- 39. Our High Performance Culture Not Right for Everyone • Many people love our culture, and stay a long Rme – They thrive on excellence and candor and change – They would be disappointed if given a severance package, but lots of mutual warmth and respect • Some people, however, value job security and stability over performance, and don’t like our culture – They feel fearful at Ne6lix – They are someRmes bi`er if let go, and feel that we are poliRcal place to work • We’re gerng be`er at a`racRng only the former, and helping the la`er realize we are not right for them 39
- 40. Seven Aspects of our Culture • Values are what we Value • High Performance • Freedom & Responsibility • Context, not Control • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Pay Top of Market • PromoRons & Development 40
- 41. The Rare Responsible Person • Self moRvaRng • Self aware • Self disciplined • Self improving • Acts like a leader • Doesn’t wait to be told what to do • Picks up the trash lying on the floor 41
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- 52. Process Brings SeducRvely Strong Near-Term Outcome • A highly-successful process-driven company – With leading share in its market – Minimal thinking required – Few mistakes made – very efficient – Few curious innovator-mavericks remain – Very opRmized processes for its exisRng market – Efficiency has trumped flexibility 52
- 53. Then the Market Shiss… • Market shiss due to new technology or compeRtors or business models • Company is unable to adapt quickly – because the employees are extremely good at following the exisRng processes, and process adherence is the value system • Company generally grinds painfully into irrelevance 53
- 54. Seems Like Three Bad OpRons 1. Stay creaRve by staying small, but therefore have less impact 2. Avoid rules as you grow, and suffer chaos 3. Use process as you grow to drive efficient execuRon of current model, but cripple creaRvity, flexibility, and ability to thrive when your market eventually changes 54
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- 57. Increase Talent Density • Top of market compensaRon • A`ract high-value people through freedom to make big impact • Be demanding about high performance culture 57
- 58. Minimize Complexity Growth Business Complexity • Few big products vs many small ones • Eliminate distracRng complexity (barnacles) • Be wary of efficiency opRmizaRons that increase complexity and rigidity 58 Note: someRmes long-term simplicity is achieved only through bursts of complexity to rework current systems
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- 62. Two Types of Necessary Rules 1. Prevent irrevocable disaster – Financials produced are wrong – Hackers steal our customers’ credit card info 2. Moral, ethical, legal issues – Dishonesty, harassment are intolerable 62
- 63. Mostly, though, Rapid Recovery is the Right Model • Just fix problems quickly – High performers make very few errors • We’re in a creaRve-invenRve market, not a safety-criRcal market like medicine or nuclear power • You may have heard prevenRng error is cheaper than fixing it – Yes, in manufacturing or medicine, but… – Not so in crea/ve environments 63
- 64. “Good” versus “Bad” Process • “Good” process helps talented people get more done – Lerng others know when you are updaRng code – Spend within budget each quarter so don’t have to coordinate every spending decision across departments – Regularly scheduled strategy and context meeRngs • “Bad” process tries to prevent recoverable mistakes – Get pre-approvals for $5k spending – 3 people to sign off on banner ad creaRve – Permission needed to hang a poster on a wall – MulR-level approval process for projects – Get 10 people to interview each candidate 64
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- 76. “Act in Ne6lix’s Best Interest” Generally Means… 1. Expense only what you would otherwise not spend, and is worthwhile for work 2. Travel as you would if it were your own money 3. Disclose non-trivial vendor giss 4. Take from Ne6lix only when it is inefficient to not take, and inconsequenRal – “taking” means, for example, prinRng personal documents at work or making personal calls on work phone: inconsequenRal and inefficient to avoid 76
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- 79. Seven Aspects of our Culture • Values are what we Value • High Performance • Freedom & Responsibility • Context, not Control • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Pay Top of Market • PromoRons & Development 79
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- 82. Context, not Control Context (embrace) • Strategy • Metrics • AssumpRons • ObjecRves • Clearly-defined roles • Knowledge of the stakes • Transparency around decision-making Control (avoid) • Top-down decision-making • Management approval • Commi`ees • Planning and process valued more than results Provide the insight and understanding to enable sound decisions 82
- 83. Good Context • Link to company/funcRonal goals • RelaRve priority (how important/how Rme sensiRve) – CriRcal (needs to happen now), or… – Nice to have (when you can get to it) • Level of precision & refinement – No errors (credit cards handling, etc…), or… – Pre`y good / can correct errors (website), or… – Rough (experimental) • Key stakeholders • Key metrics / definiRon of success 83
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- 88. ExcepRons to “Context, not Control” • Control can be important in emergency – No Rme to take long-term capacity-building view • Control can be important when someone is sRll learning their area – Takes Rme to pick up the necessary context • Control can be important when you have the wrong person in a role – Temporarily, no doubt 88
- 89. Seven Aspects of our Culture • Values are what we Value • High Performance • Freedom & Responsibility • Context, not Control • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Pay Top of Market • PromoRons & Development 89
- 90. Three Models of Corporate Teamwork 1. Tightly Coupled Monolith 2. Independent Silos 3. Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled 90
- 91. Tightly Coupled Monolith • Senior management reviews nearly all tacRcs – e.g., CEO reviews all job offers or adverRsing • Lots of x-departmental buy-in meeRngs • Keeping other internal groups happy has equal precedence with pleasing customers • Mavericks get exhausted trying to innovate • Highly coordinated through centralizaRon, but very slow, and slowness increases with size 91
- 92. Independent Silos • Each group executes on their objecRves with li`le coordinaRon – Everyone does their own thing • Work that requires coordinaRon suffers • AlienaRon and suspicion between departments • Only works well when areas are independent – e.g., aircras engines and blenders for GE 92
- 93. #3 is the Ne6lix Choice 1. Tightly Coupled Monolith 2. Independent Silos 3. Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled 93
- 94. Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Highly Aligned – Strategy and goals are clear, specific, broadly understood – Team interacRons focused on strategy and goals, rather than tacRcs – Requires large investment in management Rme to be transparent and arRculate and percepRve • Loosely Coupled – Minimal cross-funcRonal meeRngs except to get aligned on goals and strategy – Trust between groups on tacRcs without previewing/approving each one – so groups can move fast – Leaders reaching out proacRvely for ad-hoc coordinaRon and perspecRve as appropriate – Occasional post-mortems on tacRcs necessary to increase alignment 94
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- 96. Seven Aspects of our Culture • Values are what we Value • High Performance • Freedom & Responsibility • Context, not Control • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Pay Top of Market • PromoRons & Development 96
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- 98. Three Tests for Top of Market for a Person 1. What could person get elsewhere? 2. What would we pay for replacement? 3. What would we pay to keep that person? – If they had a bigger offer elsewhere 98 ConfidenRal
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- 100. Titles Not Very Helpful • Lots of people have the Rtle “Major League Pitcher” but they are not all equally effecRve • Similarly, all people with the Rtle “Senior MarkeRng Manager” or “Director of Engineering” are not equally effecRve • So the art of compensaRon is answering the Three Tests for each employee 100
- 101. Annual Comp Review • At many firms, when employees are hired, market compensaRon applies • But at comp review Rme, it no longer applies! • At Ne6lix, market comp always applies: – EssenRally, top of market comp is re-established each year for high performing employees – At annual comp review, manager has to answer the Three Tests for the personal market for each of their employees 101 ConfidenRal
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- 105. Bad Comp PracRces • Manager sets pay at Nth percenRle of Rtle- linked compensaRon data – The “Major League Pitcher” problem • Manager cares about internal parity instead of external market value – Fairness in comp is being true to the market • Manager gives everyone a 4% raise – Very unlikely to reflect the market 105
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- 111. No VesRng or Deferred Comp • We don’t want managers to “own” their people with vesRng – all comp is fully vested • We want managers to be responsible for creaRng a great place to work, and paying at the top of market • Employees are free to leave us anyRme, without penalty, but nearly everyone stays • Employees stay because they are passionate about their work, and well paid, not because of a deferred compensaRon system 111
- 112. No Ranking Against Other Employees • We avoid “top 30%” and “bo`om 10%” rankings amongst employees • We don’t want employees to feel compeRRve with each other • We want all of our employees to be “top 10%” relaRve to the pool of global candidates • We want employees to help each other, and they do 112
- 113. Seven Aspects of our Culture • High Performance • Values are what we Value • Freedom & Responsibility • Context, not Control • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Pay Top of Market • PromoRons & Development 113
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- 115. Baseball Analogy: Minors to Majors • Very talented people usually get to move up, but only true for the very talented • Some luck in terms of what posiRons open up and what the compeRRon is • Some people move to other teams to get the opportunity they want • Great teams keep their best talent • Some minor league players keep playing even though they don’t move up because they love the game 115
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- 117. Three Necessary CondiRons for PromoRon 1. Job has to be big enough – We might have an incredible manager of something, but we don’t need a director of it because job isn’t big enough • If the incredible manager les, we would replace with a manager, not with a director 2. Person has to be a superstar in current role – Could get the next level job here if applying from outside and we knew their talents well – Could get the next level job at peer firm that knew their talents well 3. Person is an extraordinary role model of our culture and values 117
- 118. Timing • If a manager would promote to prevent an employee from leaving, the manager should promote now instead of waiRng • Three tests sRll have to be passed 1. Job big enough 2. Superstar in current role 3. Person is an extraordinary role model of our culture and values 118
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- 124. Seven Aspects of our Culture • Values are what we Value • High Performance • Freedom & Responsibility • Context, not Control • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled • Pay Top of Market • PromoRons & Development 124
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