When senior executives craft the culture of their organisations, enacting and implementing the ways their organisations ‘get things done’, it is rare that it directly impacts on those responsible for the development of such a culture. But at Netflix, the development of a ‘tough love’ culture did indeed impact on the chief talent officer who, while working for the content streaming giant for 14 years, developed its pioneering culture that has been considered by many, including Facebook's COO, to be “one of the most important documents to ever have come out of Silicon Valley”. Speculation still surrounds how Patty McCord was moved on from Netflix, but it is clear that she may have fulfilled her charter a little too well.
The development of Netflix’s culture has been documented in Netflix Culture: Freedom and Responsibility, and has become an organisational culture icon. The 124 page document documents Netflix’s unconventional HR practices and is considered ‘must read’ material for anyone charged with helping to shape and create corporate culture.
You can read more about this in a great article by (read it here), which includes the link to the Netflix culture document.
By Dr Peter Williams, Avondale Business School