10 August 2009
The culture at NetFlix, explained in this slide deck, is nothing short of inspiring. Its not their values that I admire, but the fact that they also run the company by the same values that they expect their employees to work by. Having shared values is important because it defines what you celebrate, what you get angry about, what you flight for, what you look for when hiring and its what screams out at you when someone has to go.
I really like that a big part of NetFlix’ culture is to preserve the culture. I also like their very frank policies of, “if you wouldn’t fight to keep someone if they resigned, then fire them now” and “if you would offer someone a payrise to keep them if they resigned, then offer them that payrise now”. Culture and values definately come from the top, so the only way to spread these values is to run the company on them too.
A big focus at Netflix is on finding and keeping high performing, motivated people. Naturally, we all wonder if we’d meet their standards and as a person who’s on the learning curve with my sights set on being a high performer – it seems to me that being high performing doesn’t start with a degree, or with the right experience, job or boss – but with the right attitute. An attitude that is determined to learn and push the boundaries.
The lowest form of excellence is having the disclipline to push yourself and learn. Only from this do you start to gather knowledge through experience and upon that knowledge can come a level of proficiency that is necessary to be high performing in some area of expertise. At this point, you deploy yourself into something that you’re passionate about or into an opportunity that comes your way and this is where things come off the rail. Opportunity (no matter how great) without passion will always lead to medioricity. Passion (no matter how great) without opportunity will always lead to fustration (if not for you then for everyone around you). To reach the next level where you start to inspire others into excellence and high performance requires both opportunity and passion.
Like I said, these are the thoughts of someone on the learning curve – not someone who has arrived, so I might change my mind on all this in the future. However – I still think its interesting to look at this simplistic model and ask yourself the question – which box is my career currently in?
Leave a Comment » | 
Business, Passion | 
Permalink
Posted by Andrew
30 June 2009
It must be the time of year when people start asking the question, what am I supposed to be doing? My answer is along the lines of – well, what are you passionate about? Often the answer is, I’m not sure. You can like your job, like your friends, like your city – but still have that nagging feeling that time is wasting away and you’re not doing what it is you’re supposed to be doing.
So – here’s a challenge. Pick a conference, any conference – and go to it.
The catch is, conferences are expensive. Usually thousands of dollars for the ticket, plus travel, plus accomodation. Find a conference anywhere in the world that you’d really love to go to. It might cost you $5k or $10k to get there and its your own money you’re spending. There are hundreds of conferences happening all the time, so anyone can find one that they’d pay their hard earned money to go to. Conferences aren’t just about learning some new skills, or hearing about the latest technology – they’re also about mixing with like-minded people and walking away with some new friends, some ideas and plenty of inspiration.
By answering the question, what conference would I take a week off work for and spend my own money to go to – you’re probably also answering the question, what am I passionate about.
Now go. Its your life so you can’t sit around waiting for other people to look out for you if you’re not prepared to look out for yourself. Its going to cost a lot – but why wouldn’t you invest that in yourself to discover or simply fuel your passion. Set a goal, maybe for this year or for three years away to get to that conference, then make it happen.
One parting comment, if you don’t ask - you don’t get. In 2002, I was working as a java developer in London and planning to move back to New Zealand to start a business. I wanted to move into .NET to build smart client applications and there was a great conference in London that I wanted to go to. It wasn’t relevant to my job, but I asked and my boss let me take a week off to go the the conference. The cost was 2,500 pounds – but it was worth it. On the spur of the moment, I emailed the conference organiser explaining why I wanted to go and asked for a free ticket. They said yes. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Last year, I decided I wanted to go to Business of Software in Boston. This time I paid my own way completely and took annual leave. Both conferences were fundamental in setting the direction my career is going and I’d do both again.
Leave a Comment » | Passion | Permalink
Posted by Andrew
