Netflix

"Freedom and Responsibility Culture"

Lots of individual control. (Read Reed's slide deck)

If you're part of a well-run team, you'll love it:

• Excellent compensation
• Unique stock option program with personal choice for $$ allocated
• Fast-paced environment with lots of challenges
• It's the largest streaming movie service in the world and it's just getting better
• Extremely open with corporate information sharing (no internal culture of secrecy like Apple)
• Incredible execution over the last couple years - the methods can be controversial, but you can't argue with the quarterly/annual results

"High Performance Culture" means you can hang yourself easily and get canned (Read Reed's slide deck).

If you join a mis-managed group, you'll be posting a negative review on here soon. :-)

• Average benefits programs
• Inexperienced managers can mis-apply the "high performance culture" philosophy and lead to the "culture of fear" some people have complained about in certain organizations.
• Double standard for performance: VP/C-level staff appear immune from "high performance culture". Reed rocks, but some of the others are average/good, not exceptional.

In almost two years at Netflix, some people LOVE working there, while some cautiously tolerate it. This is too much dependent on whether they're working for a competent manager who properly applies the "high performance culture" philosophy.

The desire to streamline HR by getting rid of almost all policies and procedures means no "professional development" for your management teams. There needs to be a level of education for new managers (hired and promoted). Don't assume everyone "gets it" in order to ensure the "high performance culture" is properly applied.

Done right, people will know what's expected of them, get regular feedback from their managers, and KNOW if they're on the short list for being let go as business needs change. They can react to this and either adapt or anticipate why they're getting a severance package.

For most employees, Netflix is a short-term roller-coaster ride with options to ride again for those who enjoy it. When someone exits the ride, you want them leaving with a smile and a civil handshake, not a brick to the head and just a check to cushion the pain.

I've been lucky to work for a manager who's awesome, and I've been having a great time. It's painful to see the flip side where co-workers are not always enjoying the same perspective when the company is doing so well as a whole.