Comments on: The Netflix Culture of Excellence – and How to Capture It In Your Own Life http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/ Financial talk for the rest of us Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:14:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: GreenScreenCinema http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-923331 GreenScreenCinema Sat, 04 Sep 2010 06:28:19 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-923331 As an ex-employee I feel I need to clear up some of the misinformation. First, when I was there an informal study showed the turnover rate to be close to 25%. And the employees that are fired usually have no idea its coming, since there is no review system. The net effect is that no one knows who is going to get it next. Which brings us to the real problem at Netflix: everyone is so concerned about the firings that nobody will stick their neck out. There is no innovation going on there. Nothing is attempted that takes more than a couple weeks to plan. It’s just fighting fires and trying to look good… When it comes to website features, you will notice that improvements come at a glacial pace. And site outages are common, at least for various site features (just check how often your friends recommendations are actually visible and working). There is no attempt by anyone to make Netflix the “best place to work”. Everyone that works there knows this culture goal is total BS. I am just surprised at how many people will believe something posted in a slide deck, when literally hundreds of ex-employee postings say the opposite.

]]> By: greem http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-909913 greem Tue, 04 May 2010 16:42:00 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-909913 stopped using netflix, blockbuster was a better value and better service. would not work for netflix without buying stock in a coffee company, cause it sounds like you need alot of focus and adrenalin to stay there. I believe in performing, but not everyone can excel all the time all year round.

]]> By: ethel http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-752147 ethel Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:23:19 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-752147 Huh! I find this post funny because I’ve been a customer’s of Netflix off and on for the past three years. After the last time dealing with them (about three months ago), I had such abysmal customer service that I vowed never to use them again. I understand that any company can have moments of poor customer service and probably everyone has a bad customer service story to relate about every company, but I couldn’t help read this post with a bit of a chuckle. My sense is that once Netflix cornered the market, so to speak, they have really put customer service in the backseat.

]]> By: Ebb99 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-750414 Ebb99 Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:42:02 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-750414 Netflix might have a superb corporate culture, but their ethics are suspect.

I heard the class action suit filed against them re “unlimited” monthly rentals was a ruse used to reel more customers in.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/netflix.asp

If so, then it tarnishes their rep for good corp practices. Alas.

]]> By: Anupy http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-750238 Anupy Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:08:11 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-750238 Hello. I just read your post from 2007 about crockpots. I am writing a book on Indian crockpot cooking. I was wondering if anyone can tell me – is it safe to use the crockpot on HIGH setting when you are not at home. I can’t find this bit of info anywhere. I might end up calling Rival. But I was wondering if anyone knows. If you want to look at my site…anyone is interested in talking crockpots again..wwww.indianasapplepie.com
I am excited i found this site. i really like it. -Anupy

]]> By: Nigel http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-749640 Nigel Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:37:35 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-749640 I was formerly employed at the Netflix CS center in Hillsboro, OR, where I worked on their technical support team.

On January 2, 2009, this team was disbanded; all subsequent customers requiring technical support were thereafter simply told to contact Microsoft. Things have turned-out well for me, and I have no axe to grind with Netflix, but give this background in the interest of full disclosure.

What I really want to mention is the management turnover at the Hillsboro facility. In my last six months I had three managers in a five month period, and no manager at all for one month. One of my co-workers counted the managers she had in two and one-half years; the number was twenty-three! Anyone who became a manager would be gone within three months, whether they were on the customer service or tech support side. It surprises me still that there were always a ready supply of folks willing to give it a go.

Netflix was an excellent company to work for, and I was pleased with the pay and benefits they offered. Overall, I enjoyed my time there, but want to pass along the fact about their management turnover.

Nigel

]]> By: Brittany http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-749062 Brittany Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:19:05 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-749062 This is a minor point in the presentation, but one I really appreciate about Trent’s approach to frugality, so I thought it worth mentioning–that it’s okay and even good to spend top dollar on equipment you use a lot and are going to get a lot of use out of. I sometimes have a tendency to go “too frugal” and always go bargain basement, even if it’s not the best choice (having to buy two pairs of cheap shoes instead of one good pair can end up costing me more). I finally spent serious money (okay, serious for my salary, which was minimum wage minus tuition until the job I started this week) in two areas, my computer and my pan set, and I felt really guilty about it for a long time. But they were some of the best purchases I’ve made and I get so much easy, trouble-free use out of them that I don’t regret them a bit. This has gotten a little rambly, but basically I just wanted to say thanks to Trent for helping me realize that spending more for something of quality CAN be a frugal, responsible financial decision. (And thanks for the post oh-so-long-ago suggesting a serious cook look into hard-anodized pans. I use mine every single day and just love them to pieces. They’re easily the nicest thing I own or ever have owned.)

]]> By: David http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-749028 David Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:25:32 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-749028 Words to live by, plain and simple. Whether applying it to fixing your finances, starting a diet, or just living your life…these are words to live by.

No wonder they are as successful as they are, and too bad so many other businesses out there just don’t get it.

]]> By: John http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-747627 John Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:54:37 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-747627 Thanks for posting about this, Trent. I saw this yesterday – in the link from kottkes’ site – and immediately downloaded it and sent it to a couple of colleagues (our firm is in the UK, and is a very traditional business that has been running for 135 years).

Everybody was amazed at the sheer value held in that presentation – in fact, I have an A3 copy of the slide that captures the 9 core values they are looking for in people, pinned up next to my monitor.

Every day, I re-read the chart, and check that my day to day activity adheres to those values. Whether or not my company operates the way Netflix does, I can add real value by increasing my value to the company up to the real ‘superstar’ operating level. It’s changed the way I think and behave already.

]]> By: AnnJo http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-747582 AnnJo Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:07:13 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-747582 Should our relationships with others really only be about how “valuable” they are to us?

For a company to measure its employees that way is perfectly sensible. Employees are the tools through which it accomplishes its goals and their utility is the only point in keeping them around.

But in our personal lives, such a utilitarian approach seems very cold. Or maybe you are using the term “valuable” in a more expansive way than I am hearing it. Liking, shared history, compassionate caring, familial duty, are all reasons to maintain relationships that are not obviously “valuable.”

]]> By: tentaculistic http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-747561 tentaculistic Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:30:33 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-747561 Hey, how come I’ve started to be moderated again all of a sudden?? Trent, what did I say?!?!

The pain, it cuts so deep. Sigh…

]]> By: Olivia http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-747528 Olivia Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:48:26 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-747528 Packed with powerful advice, not the least of which is to evaluate yourself and your friends/coworkers against the list of recommended 9 traits. I also like the the idea of reevaluating and shaking it up by not getting married to routines and also moving on.

Finally, we all could benefit by verbally recognizing those we value.

]]> By: Moneyblogga http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-747110 Moneyblogga Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:48:07 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-747110 I discovered the following article regarding Netflix (a different perspective from your article admittedly) but wondered at the time what effect business models like these are having on society in general:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1913745,00.html

]]> By: Valerie M http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-747072 Valerie M Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:21:57 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-747072 Excellent, excellent post! I would have never thought to compare corporate culture to meaningful personal development, since corporate culture is something most of us are trying to get away from. Then and again, Netflix is no ordinary corporation…

I kind of disagree that surrounding yourself with excellence makes you lonely. If by lonely, you mean you’re close to less people, then I agree. I’d rather have quality relationships than makes my life richer than quantity (befriending anyone in the hopes of finding one or two people you click with) any day. Although having both is definitely better!

Which brings me to another thought. If more excellent people influenced others, then you bring up everyone (or at least a lot more people) as a whole.

]]> By: cookie http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-746932 cookie Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:55:38 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-746932 Hmmm…apparently 2 of Enron’s corporate values are the same as 2 of the 5 values at my workplace. It just shows how meaningless these “values” buzzwords can be unless they are given specific definitions and explained to employees using examples of real behavior, as Netflix seems to have done. At my company, there is definitely a huge gap between the stated values and the attitudes and behaviors actually favored.

Netflix’s attitudes towards procedures (i.e., bureaucracy) and correcting mistakes seem enlightened and probably help the company react to challenges in the marketplace.

]]> By: liv http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-746876 liv Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:00:27 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-746876 I thought you don’t use Netflix.

]]> By: thebaglady http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-746870 thebaglady Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:46:38 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-746870 NetFlix is famous in the Silicon Valley as the company without a limit to holidays. This culture of excellence and “freedom” is actually a double edged sword. I’ve known people who worked there say that they know they can take days off but they were compelled to stay because they want to look better than the others, so the end result is that most employees don’t take advantage of their unlimited days off. Those who slack off do get canned so there is a bit of fear, too. I would say that it works really well for the company as a whole because people are being maximally productive, but it’s not necessarily the best for an employee.

]]> By: Chris http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-746849 Chris Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:10:38 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-746849 One of your best posts. I like the blend of philosophy and practical advice; it’s often difficult (but essential) to make the leap from the big picture to daily action. And I always like a good reminder to keep my values front and center.

]]> By: scott http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-746846 scott Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:06:18 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-746846 This post has a ton of excellent information in it. I feel a great company is all about the people. If they are taken care of, usually they will have a strong commitment to their job and work that much harder. Everyone has to be on board though because a few cogs in the wheel can slow down progress tremendously.

]]> By: tentaculistic http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/08/06/the-netflix-culture-of-excellence-and-how-to-capture-it-in-your-own-life/#comment-746845 tentaculistic Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:05:17 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=4165#comment-746845 The presentation is also up on Netflix’ jobs website (google: Netflix jobs).

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