No Rules Rules

March 15, 2020
Netflix co-founder Hastings and business guru Meyer hold forth on the unusual workplace culture--high performance, top pay, no rules, and constant candor--behind the entertainment company's streaming success. Founded in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail business, Netflix now has 7,000 employees, creates its own award-winning TV shows, and reaches 150 million streaming customers in 190 countries. In a 2018 Wall Street Journal profile, the firm was criticized for its sometimes "ruthless" approach, including the harsh firing of underperforming employees. In this debut, Hastings offers a different view. He celebrates his firm's culture, arguing that its emphasis on keeping only the most highly effective people is essential to innovation and creative success. In alternating sections with Meyer, who provides elaboration based on more than 200 Netflix interviews, Hastings details the making of the Netflix way, from hiring the best creative talent at high pay to increasing candor through frequent feedback and gradually removing controls that stifle innovation. The latter begins with removing vacation policies and travel/expense controls and culminates in sharing "unprecedented" amounts of company information so that employees can make good decisions on their own. No approvals from higher-ups are needed: "Don't seek to please your boss," only to advance the company. All of this is possible only after you have formed a team (not a family) of "self-motivated, self-aware, and self-disciplined" staff. A critical element, the "keeper test," suggests a staffer ask a boss, "If I were thinking of leaving, how hard would you work to change my mind?" Fired employees receive generous severance. The book is conversational, packed with sidebars, asides, graphs, and charts, and illuminating, sometimes self-satisfied anecdotes. Netflix-like cultures of "freedom and responsibility" are most effective in "creative" companies that depend on "innovation, speed, and flexibility." Firms focused on error prevention generally opt for stricter policies. A self-congratulatory but fascinating story of a counterintuitive approach that apparently works--at least for Netflix.

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March 23, 2020
Bringing impressive credentials to this riveting business guide, Meyer (The Culture Map), a professor at the INSEAD business school, and Hastings, cofounder and CEO of Netflix, walk readers through the “unique ecosystem” of the streaming giant’s corporate culture. They chart Netflix’s evolution, drawing from Hastings’s personal recollections, excerpts from Meyer’s more than 200 interviews with current and past Netflix employees, and selections of company PowerPoint meeting slides, emails, and “culture maps.” In order to “connect the dots” and form a coherent picture of Netflix’s management style, the coauthors identify the firm’s 10 key tenets, beginning with its foundational emphasis on “talent density,” and continuing with its “culture of candor.” In its quest to be the best, the company has rewritten many long-standing corporate rules, such as by “removing controls,” with the elimination of limitations on vacation time, among other measures. Sharing this kind of dramatic evolution requires a dense and info-packed book, but the authors break up the text with helpful end-of-chapter synopses to sum up the takeaways and boxed excerpts from employee interviews. Aspiring tech moguls should flock to Hastings and Meyer’s energetic and fascinating account.

Starred review from May 1, 2020

Hastings (Cofounder, chair, and CEO of Netflix) and Meyer (European Institute of Business Administration; The Culture Map) present a fascinating analysis of Netflix. Hastings begins with the rocky start of Netflix in '97 and takes readers to its current model of streaming combined with original films that have transformed the company into the powerhouse it is today. Hastings attributes this success to the distinctive company culture that values people over process, emphasizes innovation over efficiency, and has very few controls. Some of the Hastings principles include requiring employees to give candid feedback, not forcing employees to obtain approval for business expenses or decisions, deeming hard work as irrelevant while providing generous severance for adequate performance, and always paying top salaries in order to acquire and retain top star talent. Hastings explains how to build up talent density, increase candor, and begin removing controls. However, Hastings's work misses the importance of luck in his success, something he would consider the result of his continuous preparation for upcoming opportunities others miss. VERDICT Highly recommended for leaders eager to build innovative, fast, and flexible teams, and all university libraries supporting business and human resource development curriculum.--Dale Farris, Groves, TX

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2020
Hastings, CEO and cofounder of Netflix, and Meyer, a business professor at INSEAD, team up to explore the organizational cultures, successes, and lessons learned within Netflix, a global company and dominating force in the streaming industry. What are Netflix's expectations, norms, and goals for employees around the world? Hastings and Meyer cover topics like human resource management, corporate policies, and company culture, and more, taking turns throughout the book to explain a situation or practice. This format feels conversational, and makes the book very easy to follow. The authors share anecdotes, observations, and interviews from current and former Netflix employees to show how other leaders, managers, and organizations may implement company expectations or communication practices. The writing is also lucid, particularly on complex and dense issues such as expense approval or performance review processes. Readers interested in organizational leadership and management and the role of technology in business development will find this to be informative, thought provoking, and down-to-earth as Hastings and Meyer describe important facets of Netflix's organizational growth and innovative culture.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)