Snippets about: Organization
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The Foundation: Freedom And Responsibility (F&R)
Netflix aimed to foster flexibility and innovation, avoiding the stifling rules common in growing companies. The core idea evolved into 'Freedom and Responsibility'. Instead of control processes, Netflix focused on:
- Building up talent density: Hire and retain only high performers, removing the need for rules designed to manage mediocrity.
- Increasing candor: Encourage constant, honest feedback loops so employees hold each other accountable and improve performance.
- Reducing controls: With high talent and candor, remove policies (vacation, expenses) and approvals, trusting employees to act responsibly.
Section: 1, Chapter: 0
Book: No Rules Rules
Author: Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer
How To Organize Your Office (And Your Hard Drive)
Many office gurus recommend organizing documents by category, like financial, legal, HR, etc. But this "group like with like" approach isn't actually optimal.
Instead, for physical filing systems, use the "Noguchi Filing System." Named after Japanese economist Yukio Noguchi, it dictates:
- Place all incoming papers in a single location, like an inbox tray.
- Whenever you need to find a document, search the pile from top to bottom.
- After you find it, place the document back on top of the pile.
This simple approach ensures that the most frequently and recently used documents naturally rise to the top, while rarely used ones sink to the bottom. No complex categorization needed.
Section: 1, Chapter: 4
Book: Algorithms to Live By
Author: Brian Christian
Freedom Yields Speed And Innovation
Removing complex approval processes for expenses, even if it leads to slightly higher spending sometimes, yields significant gains. Strict rules frustrate employees and stifle creativity. Freedom enables speed and flexibility.
A junior engineer, seeing a potential crisis with a high-profile product review, spent $2,500 on a replacement TV without approval because he knew it was in Netflix’s best interest. This quick action saved the review. In contrast, cumbersome procurement processes at other companies can take weeks for approvals, killing momentum and innovation.
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: No Rules Rules
Author: Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer
The Surprising Benefit Of Clutter And Mess
While we often aspire to Marie Kondo levels of tidiness and order, there are benefits to some degree of clutter. That's because keeping things organized takes time - time that's wasted if you never access the items again.
For any storage system, like a filing cabinet or computer memory, there's an inherent tradeoff between "search" and "sort." The more time you spend organizing up front (sorting), the less time you'll spend trying to find something later (searching). But if you never look for the item again, that up-front sorting was all wasted effort.
That's why the optimal approach is to "err on the side of messiness." Only sort and organize things that you're confident you'll need to retrieve later. The less likely you are to search for something, the more clutter you should tolerate.
For example, don't bother organizing tax receipts that you'll never look at again. But do file away important contracts you may need to reference.
Section: 1, Chapter: 4
Book: Algorithms to Live By
Author: Brian Christian
The Power Of Talent Density
A crisis in 2001 forced Netflix to lay off a third of its staff, keeping only the top performers. Surprisingly, the remaining smaller team achieved more, faster, and with higher morale. This revealed the power of talent density.
A company filled solely with high performers creates an environment where everyone is motivated, learns more from colleagues, and achieves more. One or two adequate performers can drain energy, lower discussion quality, reduce efficiency, and signal that mediocrity is acceptable, ultimately bringing down the entire team's performance.
Section: 1, Chapter: 1
Book: No Rules Rules
Author: Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer
