No Rules Rules

Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

By: Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer

Narrated by: Jason Culp, Allyson Ryan

Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings reveals for the first time the unorthodox culture behind one of the world's most innovative, imaginative, and successful companies

There has never before been a company like Netflix. It has led nothing short of a revolution in the entertainment industries, generating billions of dollars in annual revenue while capturing the imaginations of hundreds of millions of people in over 190 countries. But to reach these great heights, Netflix, which launched in 1998 as an online DVD rental service, has had to reinvent itself over and over again. This type of unprecedented flexibility would have been impossible without the counterintuitive and radical management principles that cofounder Reed Hastings established from the very beginning. Hastings rejected the conventional wisdom under which other companies operate and defied tradition to instead build a culture focused on freedom and responsibility, one that has allowed Netflix to adapt and innovate as the needs of its members and the world have simultaneously transformed.

Hastings set new standards, valuing people over process, emphasizing innovation over efficiency, and giving employees context, not controls. At Netflix, there are no vacation or expense policies. At Netflix, adequate performance gets a generous severance, and hard work is irrel­evant. At Netflix, you don’t try to please your boss, you give candid feedback instead. At Netflix, employees don’t need approval, and the company pays top of market. When Hastings and his team first devised these unorthodox principles, the implications were unknown and untested. But in just a short period, their methods led to unparalleled speed and boldness, as Netflix quickly became one of the most loved brands in the world.

Here for the first time, Hastings and Erin Meyer, bestselling author of The Culture Map and one of the world’s most influential business thinkers, dive deep into the controversial ideologies at the heart of the Netflix psyche, which have generated results that are the envy of the business world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with current and past Netflix employees from around the globe and never-before-told stories of trial and error from Hastings’s own career, No Rules Rules is the fascinating and untold account of the philosophy behind one of the world’s most innovative, imaginative, and successful companies.

*Includes a PDF containing examples of Netflix Culture Maps from the book.

Fascinating book

This book gave me a lot to think about. I don't know that I believe Netflix got everything right, or that I would even want to work there, but the Netflix way challenges the assumptions of Corporate America and I found it very interesting to reach about.

So interesting and insightful; I loved it!

I am so glad I did not get discouraged by some of the reviews claiming that the book is a huge Netflix advertisement and nothing more. In my opinion, this statement cannot be further from the truth. The book provides great insight in an extremely captivating way; it is full of stories and lessons learned. I also think Reed Hastings pairing up with Erin Meyer to write the book was an excellent move: she had provided the research on why what Netflix does makes sense, and that gives the book even more merit. Highly recommended for people who would like to learn how to turn their process company around and make it an Agile innovation hub.

Insightful book for managers and entrepreneurs

This book was a great. I would recommend that all managers and CEOs read it. However, prior to reading I would recommend Creativity Inc. and Infinite Game. Those two books identify very valuable fundamental principles, where this book explores one particular culture and the necessary components to create that culture. I think it's important for people to have a good foundation prior to exploring this case studies.

This book Rules!

If you manage people in your work, or even in your own family there is a lot of wisdom on this book. Real eye opener on how to build better teams and thrive in todays ever changing world of business version 2.0.2.1

A must-listen for every Software Engineer

Made me realize exactly what my last job was missing. Also, a great example of a well functioning meritocracy.