Look Out: Netflix Is in Command of Their Culture

‘No Rules, Rules’ outlines how Netflix has grown to be an elite innovator

Photo by Mollie Sivaram on Unsplash

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is a brilliant strategist. The pivot from DVDs to streaming took guts and vision in 2007. The subsequent price raises to start increasing margin were good business. Then Netflix made the gangster decision to produce their own content in 2012 which has proved to be nothing short of genius. At that time their stock was hanging around $10 per share. It’s now over $500 per share.

From anyone’s perspective, they’re moving at warp speed. How are they doing it? Netflix’s secret weapon is how they treat their people. In his book, “No Rules, Rules” Hastings lays out Netflix’s culture strategy: build talent density, increase candor, and eliminate controls.

Build Talent Density

This is the foundation of the entire Netflix journey. The dot com bubble of 2001 forced the company into a period of layoffs. Hastings admits that it was an awful experience. But soon after the layoffs, “the office was buzzing with passion, energy, and ideas.”

Long-time HR Director, Patty McCord, referred to this new energy as a result of increasing talent density. Ever since 2001, Netflix has driven to keep their talent density high by…