Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Netflix co-founder Hastings and business guru Meyer hold forth on the unusual workplace culturehigh performance, top pay, no rules, and constant candorbehind the entertainment companys 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 firms 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: Dont 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 worksat least for Netflix. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.