Netflix Culture:
Freedom & Responsibility
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We Seek Excellence
Our culture focuses on helping us
achieve excellence
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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
• Promotions & Development
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Many companies have nice sounding
value statements displayed in the
lobby, such as:
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Integrity
Communication
Respect
Excellence
Enron, whose leaders went to jail,
and which went bankrupt from fraud,
had these values displayed in their lobby:
Integrity
Communication
Respect
Excellence
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(These values were not, however, what was really valued at Enron)
The actual company values,
as opposed to the
nice-sounding values,
are shown by who gets
rewarded, promoted, or let go
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Actual company values are the
behaviors and skills
that are valued
in fellow employees
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At Netflix, we particularly value the
following nine behaviors and skills
in our colleagues…
…meaning we hire and promote
people who demonstrate these nine
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You make wise decisions
(people, technical, business, and
creative) despite ambiguity
You identify root causes, and get
beyond treating symptoms
You think strategically, and can
articulate what you are, and are
not, trying to do
You smartly separate what must
be done well now, and what can
be improved later
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Judgment
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Communication
You listen well, instead of
reacting fast, so you can better
understand
You are concise and articulate in
speech and writing
You treat people with respect
independent of their status or
disagreement with you
You maintain calm poise in
stressful situations
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Impact
You accomplish amazing
amounts of important work
You demonstrate consistently
strong performance so
colleagues can rely upon you
You focus on great results rather
than on process
You exhibit bias-to-action, and
avoid analysis-paralysis
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Curiosity
You learn rapidly and eagerly
You seek to understand our
strategy, market, customers, and
suppliers
You are broadly knowledgeable
about business, technology and
entertainment
You contribute effectively
outside of your specialty
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Innovation
You re-conceptualize issues to
discover practical solutions to
hard problems
You challenge prevailing
assumptions when warranted,
and suggest better approaches
You create new ideas that prove
useful
You keep us nimble by
minimizing complexity and
finding time to simplify
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Courage
You say what you think even if it
is controversial
You make tough decisions
without agonizing
You take smart risks
You question actions
inconsistent with our values
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Passion
You inspire others with your
thirst for excellence
You care intensely about
Netflix‘s success
You celebrate wins
You are tenacious
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Honesty
You are known for candor and
directness
You are non-political when you
disagree with others
You only say things about fellow
employees you will say to their
face
You are quick to admit mistakes
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Selflessness
You seek what is best for Netflix,
rather than best for yourself or
your group
You are ego-less when searching
for the best ideas
You make time to help
colleagues
You share information openly
and proactively
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
• Promotions & Development
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Imagine if every person at Netflix
is someone you
respect and learn from…
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