No Rules Rules

I can see so many benefits from organizations following the business ethos of Netflix. Doing what is best for the company doing away with big bonuses and paying the remuneration in salary so the employee is 100% focused on the company and not an objective that would make them money. Taking holidays when it will not cause issues for your department and colleagues and if companies only took on 1 item "candor" would be the area I would hope companies to adopt. This is a great read with wonderful examples of where things went wrong and right I wished I had read it 40 years ago when I was starting my career in the big corporate world x

I really enjoyed this book and it came at the right time to help me make some decisions about our business. Reed Hastings tells us like it is and it is really useful to have Erin Meyer's unbiased views too. I like that it tells where things have succeeded but equally where the failures have been. Also it is great hearing the stories from the team so that you have their view. As CEO it is often hard to get a true picture of what the team are really thinking but this book gets to heart of the team thinking and Reed is always prepared to confront when he has got it wrong.

The CEO doesn't always get it right and is not always the best person to make a decision as someone closer to the action knows far more about what is the right decision and when they fail they make sure that there is learning built into the failure.

It was great to read the different sections and then consider how that type of environment would suit an individual business. I came away with some great takeaway ideas for my own business and a great book to read.

This book was something a bit different than what I would normally read but I found it quite interesting the way that the Netflix company has grown into such a worldwide brand. When you think back to around the year 2000 Blockbuster, AOL and Kodak were massive companies and Netflix was just starting out and yet now all those other businesses have virtually disappeared yet Netflix is a worldwide leader in its market..

The book gives a great account of how Netflix operates and has thrived from being a DVD rental business to being a streaming service that is available in a large part of the world.

The book is written by the company's founder Reed Hastings, and business professor Erin Meyer and they both explain how the company only recruits the best people in their field, how the number of holidays taken are not registered, how a lower level employee can end up signing contracts worth millions of dollars. The book explains their ethos on pay structure, employee freedom to make decisions, how the company has adapted to work in different countries, etc.

This type of business only works in creative type industries but if you are at all interested in how businesses work then I would recommend this book to you and it will certainly introduce you to new ideas and business strategies.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and authors for giving me access to an advance copy of this book.

Written by Reed Hastings ( one of Netflix cofounders) and Erin Meyer this book reveals the reinvention several times over of Netflix since it launched as an online DVD service to become one of the biggest movie/tv prog producers by not following established business rules even when it has grown into a global brand.
The rules are there even if they are not written down in manuals.
Having worked in several global businesses I found this book thought provoking and interesting.
Great book for entrepreneurs and large firm managers.
Highly recommend it.

No Rules Rules is absolutely fascinating. Full of practical advice and insights in to how to run a successful business empire. It's a book anyone who wants to run a business or be there own boss should read.

Want to know how working at Netflix is similar to driving around the Arc d' Triomphe in Paris? I certainly did, and having worked indirectly for Netflix for some years now, and having gone from subscriber of the DVD postal envelopes to full family streaming subscription, I wanted to know the rules, or lack of them.

I wasn't; disappointed. This book should be part of the curriculum for any business GCSE or A' Level course. Instead of keeping all their internal policies and practices secret, the CEO of Netflix lays them bare. 'Almost daily a new employee expresses to me how astounded he is by the transparency at Neflix. This gives me great joy' shares Reed Hastings.

How to own up to your mistakes,;how to sunshine bad decisions; how to give constructive feedback; how to decide whether to let someone go; how to let employees make their own limitless financial decisions and how to hire the very best. All these topics are covered, with feedback from many Netflix employees in the States and all over the world. The subject I found most interesting was how to abolish holiday allowances - sneak preview - make sure the bosses take lots of holidays and talk loudly about them when they get back.

Would I want to work for Netflix as an employee? Do I believe absolutely everything I read in this book? Should this way of working be adopted freely? The jury's out. But as far as a fascinating read goes - this book RULES.

So, it's an interesting read on the culture of working at Netflix. The bar is so high and process so open it sounds almost stressful but it also feels like a goal you'd want to be good enough to work there. Largely, you read the "rule" and think, no chance that's right, and have it deconstructed how the radical lack of rules actually allows Netflix to excel. It's different, it's surprising, it's good.