No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
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- Create Date：2021-03-25 14:16:50
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Reed Hastings
- ISBN：0753553635
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Summary
Hard work is irrelevant。 Be radically honest。 Adequate performance gets a generous severance。 And never， ever try to please your boss。
These are some of the ground rules if you work at Netflix。 They are part of a unique cultural experiment that explains how the company has transformed itself at lightning speed from a DVD mail order service into a streaming superpower – with 125 million fervent subscribers and a market capitalisation bigger than Disney。
Finally Reed Hastings， Netflix Chairman and CEO， is sharing the secrets that have revolutionised the entertainment and tech industries。 With INSEAD business school professor Erin Meyer， he will explore his leadership philosophy – which begins by rejecting the accepted beliefs under which most companies operate – and how it plays out in practice at Netflix。
From unlimited holidays to abolishing financial approvals， Netflix offers a fundamentally different way to run any organisation， one far more in tune with a fast-paced world。 For anyone interested in creativity， productivity and innovation， the Netflix culture is something close to a holy grail。 This book will make it， and its creator， fully accessible for the first time。
These are some of the ground rules if you work at Netflix。 They are part of a unique cultural experiment that explains how the company has transformed itself at lightning speed from a DVD mail order service into a streaming superpower – with 125 million fervent subscribers and a market capitalisation bigger than Disney。
Finally Reed Hastings， Netflix Chairman and CEO， is sharing the secrets that have revolutionised the entertainment and tech industries。 With INSEAD business school professor Erin Meyer， he will explore his leadership philosophy – which begins by rejecting the accepted beliefs under which most companies operate – and how it plays out in practice at Netflix。
From unlimited holidays to abolishing financial approvals， Netflix offers a fundamentally different way to run any organisation， one far more in tune with a fast-paced world。 For anyone interested in creativity， productivity and innovation， the Netflix culture is something close to a holy grail。 This book will make it， and its creator， fully accessible for the first time。
Reviews
Shefali Dua
，
What thought provoking book on Netflix's culture！ Central to the company’s high innovation culture is the idea of a maintaining high talent density at all times。 A work team is analogous to an Olympics team where a player on each position is a star performer。Unlike a family， where you are guaranteed a spot， a work team is like a NBA team where you play on the game only if you are the best fit。 Rules & processes are kept to a min to quickly act in best interest of Netflix。Top Ideas I liked🚀Feedba What thought provoking book on Netflix's culture！ Central to the company’s high innovation culture is the idea of a maintaining high talent density at all times。 A work team is analogous to an Olympics team where a player on each position is a star performer。Unlike a family， where you are guaranteed a spot， a work team is like a NBA team where you play on the game only if you are the best fit。 Rules & processes are kept to a min to quickly act in best interest of Netflix。Top Ideas I liked🚀Feedback is immediate， non-anonymous， in context & actionable。💨Using the Keepers test， employees routinely ask their manager if the manager will fight to keep them if they were to resign which uncovers critical performance feedback。🤩Autocorrection of pay to be always above market by HR。💪The enormous autonomy given to employees to authorize & execute a project is refreshing。What I didn’t like😨Fear of just being adequate can be disempowering。〽️Potential pay/job loss when market value drops。🤷🏼♂️Developing trusted relationships can be challenging。 。。。more
Vivek Sharma
，
Worth reading！ Great insights for mid level people in any organisation be it driven by rules or F&R！A lot to take home for an Individual contributor like me。 Candor: Giving feedbackF&RMost important: I personally would like to see my colleagues as a pit crew， not a family。
Almad
，
I have to begrudgingly admit I've enjoyed this book。I was biased towards rolling my eyes the whole way。 For one， I have sufficient insider information from Netflix to know it really isn't a place for me。 Second， I read a few other "Silicon Valley culture books，" and they all read like glorified hiring pitch run havoc。 But this book was recommended enough to give it a shot。It feels like the book was written mainly by Erin Meyer， with Reed Hastings being in as an interviewee and giving a sales boo I have to begrudgingly admit I've enjoyed this book。I was biased towards rolling my eyes the whole way。 For one， I have sufficient insider information from Netflix to know it really isn't a place for me。 Second， I read a few other "Silicon Valley culture books，" and they all read like glorified hiring pitch run havoc。 But this book was recommended enough to give it a shot。It feels like the book was written mainly by Erin Meyer， with Reed Hastings being in as an interviewee and giving a sales boost。 Nothing wrong with that; I am saying that because I think most of the credit for this book should go to Erin。 I was not thrilled by Erin and Reed's structure having a written sort-of-dialogue， but it was not a complete turn-off。There is one single thing that I really liked about this book which I think also translates to Reed being a great leader。 There is an explicit acceptance of the downsides of the culture。 This is best illustrated in the section about trust and honesty about uncertainty。A lady from Netflix shares her story: she was told there is a 50:50 chance of her job being on the chopping block， and she hated it。 She dreaded living in uncertainty for a year， avoiding buying a house， and having significant background stress。 "Why ruin your employees' lives for no reason？" Isabella asks。Reeds response？ "I believe her story only boosts the argument for share。" （Because not sharing would end up worse for her if they decided to part with her in the end。）If this sounds slightly sociopathic to you， I have bad news。 The absolute majority of large companies are very sociopathic。 The difference is that they don't admit it。 This is the difference between company propaganda （with very generic， feel-good values） and their culture。 True culture is defined as "what do you fire for，" and I think the book describes it well。Yes， the book was written by the CEO。 But from what I know about Netflix， they actually seem to use their explicit culture as guidance， more than in other companies。 This alone is worth exploring。It also seems to me that the outlined culture framework is consistent。 It outlines a structure of "dots" that connect to each other and explicitly explains how they depend on each other。 I am pretty sure that when I see people cherry-picking from this book， this will be conveniently skimmed over， the same way people applying Scrum look over the context it was developed in。 But the described gradual build-up makes sense to me。Erin wrote this as an inquiry into "How is it possible that Netflix works this way。" It is not meant as "how to create a culture in your company，" a context I see assumed in some reviews。 And as such， I think it did a better job than most books I've read。 。。。more
James Gale
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Haven’t read any other management books but this is by far the best management book I’ve ever read
Karima
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Freedom and responsibility Assume everyone are adults and have good judgement - removing things like expense policy High talent density， bad apples will bring down the group Candor- say what you think with positive intent Belonging queues- being receptive/ encouraging constructive feedbackFrequent feedback makes teams more effective No brilliant jerks Don’t give feedback when you’re still frustrated Now you can remove controls。。。 Remove vacation policy but fill the hole with context， need to gui Freedom and responsibility Assume everyone are adults and have good judgement - removing things like expense policy High talent density， bad apples will bring down the group Candor- say what you think with positive intent Belonging queues- being receptive/ encouraging constructive feedbackFrequent feedback makes teams more effective No brilliant jerks Don’t give feedback when you’re still frustrated Now you can remove controls。。。 Remove vacation policy but fill the hole with context， need to guide behaviorsPeople will follow what leaders do/ not sayRemove expense policy （10% more expenses but outweighs freedom）Whisper wins， shout mistakes Someone proven competent successful and already well liked will be more likable when shouting mistakes / gain more trust Someone unproven will not benefit from shouting mistakes Don’t seek to please your boss， seek to do what is best for the company Innovation cycle Farm for dissentSocialize the idea Test it out （even without hierarchical） Think boldly and place your chips on the bets you believe in Sunshine mistakes Keeper test- regrettable and non-regrettable hiresManager > Employee: “Which of my people， if they told me were leaving for a similar job at another company， would I fight hard to keep？”Employee > Manager: “How hard would you work to change my mind if I were thinking of leaving？"Pay top of market， encourage people on your team to interview elsewhere so they are confident they are valued/ paid their market rateTeam > Family， don’t keep someone who is’t a good performer， give them a generous severance package and move onLive360 feedbackLead with context， not control 。。。more
julie
，
Netflix's culture is admirable。 I don't think other companies could apply same culture and get same results as Netflix does。 It is amazing how their freedom and responsibility policy pumps innovations in the company。It is definitely worth to read。 I would recommend this as a must-read if you are interesting in reading business cultures。 Netflix's culture is admirable。 I don't think other companies could apply same culture and get same results as Netflix does。 It is amazing how their freedom and responsibility policy pumps innovations in the company。It is definitely worth to read。 I would recommend this as a must-read if you are interesting in reading business cultures。 。。。more
GABRIEL CABALLERO L
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Great read for everyone managing a groups of people。 Specially a creative oneI liked the book， is easy to use Netflix and not en aware of the challenges the company went through to get were it is。 the book dleines clearly how to get a culture of empowerment and high results。 Great read and challenging learnings
Martynas Kėvišas
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One of the best business books I have ever read。 A must read even if you work in a very different field。 The only negative thing I could think of is that it could be twice longer。 The writing is a bit like bullet point presentation and at some points there could be more depth and analysis。 But overall it is an amazing read。
Alyssa
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Build high talent-density， then give them the context to make decisions。 Create culture of rapid feedback by demonstrating it often。 Good but slightly more relevant for bigger companies than startups
Viet Nguyen
，
This is a good book about Netflix corporate culture， in which a few key principles go against the industry standards， such as the ideas of hiring and retaining only top players， Freedom and Responsibility， candid feedbacks。 It seems difficult to me to apply this Netflix blueprint to many companies， and Reed Hastings also warned some industries should strictly follow rules and processes approach instead。 But I think it's true in the industries where creativity and innovation are what decide a com This is a good book about Netflix corporate culture， in which a few key principles go against the industry standards， such as the ideas of hiring and retaining only top players， Freedom and Responsibility， candid feedbacks。 It seems difficult to me to apply this Netflix blueprint to many companies， and Reed Hastings also warned some industries should strictly follow rules and processes approach instead。 But I think it's true in the industries where creativity and innovation are what decide a company survive or not， Netflix culture indeed helps unleash them。 。。。more
Abdulfattah Popoola
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Interesting book; short and straight to the point。 Learnt a few things that I'd love to try someday （lead with context over control for creative orgs， delegate and grant authority to folks closest to the decision， openness and clear feedback etc。） Interesting book; short and straight to the point。 Learnt a few things that I'd love to try someday （lead with context over control for creative orgs， delegate and grant authority to folks closest to the decision， openness and clear feedback etc。） 。。。more
Ulo
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This book describes the people policies in Netflix and is mostly useful for HR managers。 I assume its handed out to all Netflix human resources people。 If you are looking for the history of Netflix and the discussions of the different risks Netflix founders took and the difficulties they faced， then read "This will never work" by Marc Randolph instead。 This book describes the people policies in Netflix and is mostly useful for HR managers。 I assume its handed out to all Netflix human resources people。 If you are looking for the history of Netflix and the discussions of the different risks Netflix founders took and the difficulties they faced， then read "This will never work" by Marc Randolph instead。 。。。more
Adrien
，
This isn't so much a book about， Netflix than it is about modern company culture。This books truly highlights， how our process are not made to optimise productivity and the vestiges of thr old industrial system are crippling workers productivity and creativity。It is a great books for all those， who want to work in field that requires creativity or problem solving。After reading this book， many might understand why for most of us work seems like such a chore， and help us reconsider what we could ex This isn't so much a book about， Netflix than it is about modern company culture。This books truly highlights， how our process are not made to optimise productivity and the vestiges of thr old industrial system are crippling workers productivity and creativity。It is a great books for all those， who want to work in field that requires creativity or problem solving。After reading this book， many might understand why for most of us work seems like such a chore， and help us reconsider what we could expect from the modern work place。 。。。more
Surbhi Dua
，
I have mixed feelings regarding this book。 It was interesting to read about certain practical solutions for an organisation to cultivate a culture of candor （recurring theme）， to empower your employees， and be cognizant of implications on your culture when you go global。Reed and Erin perfectly master the art of storytelling by sharing actual work instances， memos， and email correspondence to drive their point。The section on how an unlimited vacation policy for employees didn’t lead to an obvious I have mixed feelings regarding this book。 It was interesting to read about certain practical solutions for an organisation to cultivate a culture of candor （recurring theme）， to empower your employees， and be cognizant of implications on your culture when you go global。Reed and Erin perfectly master the art of storytelling by sharing actual work instances， memos， and email correspondence to drive their point。The section on how an unlimited vacation policy for employees didn’t lead to an obvious - employees taking frequent and unlimited time off/no time off at all was well articulated。 However， paying higher salaries than anyone else is a no brainer to attract and retain top talent and calls into question the entire body of work around Total Rewards。 Moreover， how would you ensure that they aren’t lured away by another higher paying competitor？Additionally， the keeper test that expects managers to constantly evaluate their team members and let go off somebody who delivers ‘adequate’ performance actually promotes a culture of fear and portrays that Netflix doesn’t believe in nurturing talent。 。。。more
Umesh
，
This is one of the best book i have read in recent times。 It is a complete paradigm shift in thinking n approach。 It is a freeflow book n very very easy to comprehend yet super profound。 Do not miss this book absolute epic，great to refer when u are creative field or building culture or Company。 Read -comprehend。。 Read again n again n again。。。 Every time give u different perspective。
Andrew Thompson-Davies
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Really interesting and useful explanation and guide to a very different way of running any creative organisation。
Mikołaj Hudemowicz
，
Netflix definitely implements many useful and remarkable practices that makes this company a unique and successful。 Nevertheless， it’s difficult not to notice how toxic and difficult this company must sometimes be because “it’s a team， not a family”。 It’s interesting how the authors for， for example， try to pretend that there is nothing wrong about an employee having an anxiety for months due to being scared of being fired because in the end he got a good feedback。In conclusion， this book shows Netflix definitely implements many useful and remarkable practices that makes this company a unique and successful。 Nevertheless， it’s difficult not to notice how toxic and difficult this company must sometimes be because “it’s a team， not a family”。 It’s interesting how the authors for， for example， try to pretend that there is nothing wrong about an employee having an anxiety for months due to being scared of being fired because in the end he got a good feedback。In conclusion， this book shows how to run a team and how to not run it （though the latter is not intentional）。 。。。more
Alexander Holzmann
，
Another brilliant book by Erin Meyer。 Features a lot of interest insights on how Netflix decided on settling for high talent density and a frequent feedback culture。 This enabled them to start removing more and more rules。 It gives interesting examples on how to improve feedback processes， transparency and salary setting among other topics。 Not everything is applicable in any organization though。
Prabs
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Bragging a lot about the culture。I always get confused。。。。 are they successful because they behaved this way or they are successful and their behaviour is that way。 Is there a correlation or causation - these are just two different things which are simultaneous。Too much is talked about open feedback， policy free life， etc。 but I am not sure， whether many will enjoy working there。 In creative sector， this could be useful however， the last chapter speaks about adapt it to the local culture。 Some s Bragging a lot about the culture。I always get confused。。。。 are they successful because they behaved this way or they are successful and their behaviour is that way。 Is there a correlation or causation - these are just two different things which are simultaneous。Too much is talked about open feedback， policy free life， etc。 but I am not sure， whether many will enjoy working there。 In creative sector， this could be useful however， the last chapter speaks about adapt it to the local culture。 Some sense of arrogance is evident through the book， so stopped and tried to finish many times。Treating people as money making machine is very different thought compared to other companies treating employees as family。 I dont whether working in place where you have freedom till you perform is the best place。 The various employees surveys of Netflix enjoy that。Finally finished。 。。。more
Eugene L
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Fav part was about the effects of not having a vacation/expense policy。 Interesting outcomesHire the best， pay top dollar and fire publicly when behavior is obviously against culture or illegal。
Peter Phung
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Good book with interesting concepts， but very few which are applicable unless you are a CEO or in the technology field。
Avionicom
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Scritto da Erin Meyer con il supporto del fondatore di Netflix Reed Hastings。 Il libro descrive il modo di lavorare all'interno di Netflix e come esso si è evoluto nel tempo， arrivando ad una cultura senza regole。 In pratica， dalla sua fondazione Netflix ha visto man mano abbandonare diverse regole。 E' un modo di operare molto originale， che cerca di togliere i normali paletti presenti in un'azienda e cercando di valorizzare al massimo l'esperienza dei talenti che sono assunti all'interno di Net Scritto da Erin Meyer con il supporto del fondatore di Netflix Reed Hastings。 Il libro descrive il modo di lavorare all'interno di Netflix e come esso si è evoluto nel tempo， arrivando ad una cultura senza regole。 In pratica， dalla sua fondazione Netflix ha visto man mano abbandonare diverse regole。 E' un modo di operare molto originale， che cerca di togliere i normali paletti presenti in un'azienda e cercando di valorizzare al massimo l'esperienza dei talenti che sono assunti all'interno di Netflix。 Si va dall'abolizione del piano ferie concordate， alla responsabilizzazione del lavoratore sugli acquisti che può/non può fare， fino ad arrivare a pagare uno stipendio che è sempre adeguato alle performance e professionalità di chi lavora。 In Netflix esiste quello che si chiama "Keeper Test" che serve ad un capo per verificare se un membro del suo staff merita quel lavoro o debba essere licenziato。 Anche il licenziamento è tenuto sempre in conto dai dipendenti， e ad ogni modo il motto di Netflix è che "A una performance adeguata corrisponde un trattamento fine rapporto generoso"。 。。。more
Ben Mac
，
If I had my own creative start up this book would be handy。 But I do not， so therefore this book didn’t excite me too much。 Interesting ideas on personnel， hiring， policies， office culture and growth but it’s written in a curriculum sort of way。 I prefer the other book about the same story by Reed’s OG counter part Marc Randolph。 His book was written in a much more palatable way。
Simonas
，
Apie "Netflix" įmonės kultūrą daug kalbama ir daug aprašyta: šita knyga parašyta HR konsultantės kartu su įkūrėju， todėl reikėtų laikyti "originalu"。 Labai patiko kaip išdėstyta ir prieita prie kultūros esmės: kopijuoti detales nepadės， o daryti viską taip pat kažin ar kitos bendrovės išdrįs。 Apie "Netflix" įmonės kultūrą daug kalbama ir daug aprašyta: šita knyga parašyta HR konsultantės kartu su įkūrėju， todėl reikėtų laikyti "originalu"。 Labai patiko kaip išdėstyta ir prieita prie kultūros esmės: kopijuoti detales nepadės， o daryti viską taip pat kažin ar kitos bendrovės išdrįs。 。。。more
Allyson
，
Excellent book！ This has shaped a lot of my perspective on hiring / retaining talent and building a high performing workplace culture。 Hope to be able to put these into practice at some point！ Would highly recommend。 Listened to audiobook。
Don
，
Very interesting insiders' view into Netflix's peculiar corporate culture。 You can navigate the ups and downs Reed and others lived through while implementing an aggressively free work model。 While all of their strategic points are presented as silver bullets （especially in the first chapters）， they still share all of the problems they faced in the meantime。 One big glaring omission - They hardly talk about the transition from DVDs to Streaming - This is the kind of change that rocked not only e Very interesting insiders' view into Netflix's peculiar corporate culture。 You can navigate the ups and downs Reed and others lived through while implementing an aggressively free work model。 While all of their strategic points are presented as silver bullets （especially in the first chapters）， they still share all of the problems they faced in the meantime。 One big glaring omission - They hardly talk about the transition from DVDs to Streaming - This is the kind of change that rocked not only entire industries， but the world as well。 A bit more detail into what led to this decision would've been nice。 。。。more
Nick
，
This is a good， at time inspirational， to a more effective creative workplace。 However， I continually need to temper my expectations as it's primarily based on talking to executives and managers instead of engineers。 So even in Netflix engineers probably don't have a high degree of freedom。The book is written half by the CEO of Netflix and half by an outside writer。 While I do appreciate Reed Hastings pointing out his own past mistakes， it does seem like the outside writer is brought in primaril This is a good， at time inspirational， to a more effective creative workplace。 However， I continually need to temper my expectations as it's primarily based on talking to executives and managers instead of engineers。 So even in Netflix engineers probably don't have a high degree of freedom。The book is written half by the CEO of Netflix and half by an outside writer。 While I do appreciate Reed Hastings pointing out his own past mistakes， it does seem like the outside writer is brought in primarily to give an air of legitimacy to the book rather than the CEO patting his own back。Still， if I was ever to start a company， I could do a lot worse than follow the culture outlined in this book。 。。。more
Vishvendra Nathawat
，
For those who wants to build a sensational company beyond typical norms。
Ansis
，
Great and fast read。 Interesting insights on Netflix culture。 However， I wonder how many companies have the same properties and resources to apply something close to this strategy。 As well I personally would have liked to hear more about competitiveness of the staff， the book comes in contrariety with no vacation policies and support of work life balance but in the following chapters some of the characters exits due to need to “work less”。It’s an interesting read and would suggest to anyone runn Great and fast read。 Interesting insights on Netflix culture。 However， I wonder how many companies have the same properties and resources to apply something close to this strategy。 As well I personally would have liked to hear more about competitiveness of the staff， the book comes in contrariety with no vacation policies and support of work life balance but in the following chapters some of the characters exits due to need to “work less”。It’s an interesting read and would suggest to anyone running company on similar properties and characteristics。 However， I personally felt like deeper insights， investigations from employees were missing to convince the reader that these principles do work while keeping a healthy work life balance at the same time。 “Tell us what you really feel”， as sometimes it felt a little like advertising on best examples。 As for no vacation policy an afterthought clicked that maybe a hybrid solution would make the employees feel more comfortable。 Such as “3 weeks obligatory vacation， we don’t need braindead teammates” and if you need more， just take more。 。。。more
Zane Poča
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