My experience of reading ‘No Rules Rules - Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention'

'No Rules Rules - Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention’ presents an inside view into the culture at Netflix which allows the company to encourage innovation and speed. The book is replete with lessons about leadership and fostering great teams through organizational culture.

Reed Hastings, chairperson, erstwhile CEO, and co-founder of Netflix, and Erin Meyer, Professor at INSEAD Business School collaborate to write this book in the form of a dialogue. Reed discusses the conscious decisions that Netflix has taken to shape its culture and Erin reflects on the implications of those.

The book is easy to read, about 275 pages long and entertaining from the start. The many anecdotes shared by Netflix employees from all over the globe provide us readers with real-life context. I disagree with readers who feel that the book repeats a 3-step formula with only small, insignificant differences over the length of the book. These subtleties left me with a lot of lessons to take away.

When I took up the book, I didn’t have clear expectations in mind. I was always interested in the topic of organizational culture. I wanted to understand how some employees are intrinsically motivated and how can this be institutionally encouraged. I have always wanted to put a finger on what makes one a great, charismatic leader. The book presents perspectives on these. I found numerous examples in the book that challenged my ideas about workplace culture and teamwork.

Some concepts from the book that interested me were:

1. The overarching formula behind Netflix’s culture: Maximum talent density —> Maximum honesty —> Minimum management control. Each element in this chain is extremely important.
   

2. The 4As framework for constructive feedback:

   1. 2 steps for giving feedback - Aim to assist, Actionable

   2. 2 steps for receiving feedback - Appreciate the feedback and Accept or Reject it as the project owner
      

3. The 4-step innovation cycle:

   1. Farm for dissent on your idea

   2. For a big idea, test it out

   3. Place your bet as the informed captain

   4. If it wins, celebrate it; If it fails, sunshine it
      

4. The efforts taken to contextualize the ways of working to cater to cultural differences in different countries without letting the core values of Netflix’s culture waver.

There were a couple of overarching lessons that I learned from this book:

It is possible to institutionally encourage employees to own up to their work and feel intrinsically motivated. This requires transparency in sharing the vision, goals, priorities, and resources at hand and then trusting them with making decisions and executing their domain work independently.

There will be some losses due to this stance. Some people will cheat, and some people will put their agenda above the organization’s agenda. You don’t retract from the stance if this happens, rather deal with it on a case-to-case basis. Better to develop a tolerance for small losses for outsized gains.

Omissions and disagreements

One thing that I found missing from the book was how Netflix looked at training its employees. The focus of their organizational design is on attracting and retaining superstar employees. This might mean that grooming talent and training them all the way to the top is not important to Netflix. I’d have liked to see a stance on generalists taken by Netflix if there was one.

Another thing that I would have liked to read about is how Netflix goes about appraisals and promotions. It would have been interesting to see how culture and values become a factor in the progress evaluation of employees.

Who would I recommend No Rules Rules to?

I’d recommend this book to the one who likes to work in teams and who likes to don the hat of a leader occasionally. You’d enjoy this book if you feel that your current way of working is limiting your potential. You’d learn a lot from the book if you’re thinking of starting up or are stepping into a managerial position. Even if all the aspects discussed in the book may not be translatable to your context, you will get good lessons to carry home. The book would be more relatable for people with experience in the workforce rather than students, hence I won’t recommend it to students just yet.

Do let me know your experience of reading No Rules Rules if you read it hence or have already done so. I’d love to hear!