Will a strong corporate culture help Netflix, and their CEO Reed Hastings get through the tricky patch they face? Probably, yes…
Netflix has encouraged their employees to “make decisions based on the long term” which we know is good for innovation, as attention switches from the demands of meeting quarterly targets. Netflix also promote ‘curiosity’ and ‘innovation’ as core values within their teams, demanding that people say what they think, even when it’s uncomfortable as well as asking each employee to create new ideas, re-conceptualize issues to discover solutions, and challenge the prevailing assumptions. One great example of challenging the status quo relates to the implementation of the ‘download’ function, so users can download content to watch offline. The idea was first opposed by Hastings, but a team of researchers from within Netflix tested it with customers and proved its value, Hastings was quick to agree to its implementation (and I for one am grateful) – the key here is that the culture of Netflix enabled employees to work on an idea, which had originally been dismissed, and the team was comfortable to act in the company’s best interest, not the highest paid individuals.
This kind of culture gives them a fighting chance.
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