Review: No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am always fascinated by the stories behind a success. Yes, there is often luck involved - which successful entrepreneurs and leaders tend not to mention. But there is certainly something to learn from the company which revolutionised the way we watch films and series - globally.

This book reveals some "secrets" of the way Netflix is run. Some of them are rather obvious: hire talented people and pay them well, encourage a lot of (actionable) feedback and be transparent. Some other methods are more intriguing. For example, encouraging yous employees listen to recruiters and ask what salary can be provided - and then match it to make sure your employee doesn't leave because of money. Or so-called live 360 sessions - where all members of the team are openly giving feedback to each other during a 3-5 hour session.

A lot of learnings from the book are not new. Many of them (being transparent towards employees, nurturing your talent, culture of learning from mistakes) are actively practiced (especially in a tech sector). It was still interesting to read how systematic Netflix seems to be regarding these principles. For example, their official feedback guidelines:
#1 give feedback with positive intent
#2 give actionable feedback
#3 appreciate feedback
#4 accept or disregard feedback.

And there is this oh-so-hard-management-truth that one needs to remind oneself time-to-time:

“If a person on your team were to quit tomorrow, would you try to change their mind? Or would you accept their resignation, perhaps with a little relief? If the latter, you should give them a severance package now, and look for a star, someone you would fight to keep.”

The book is well structured and easy to read. Good anecdotical stories to support.