How does Netflix inspire employee creativity?

The most important thing for enterprises to stimulate creativity is to release employees' love and passion for work. In terms of system design, we need to attract employees who are responsible for their work, give them freedom, and protect their inner motivation and sense of responsibility. In terms of corporate culture, employees should be given "trust" and "fault tolerance." 2021 is the 19th year that Netflix has been listed. Its stock price has risen from $1 at the beginning to more than $500 today, an increase of more than 500 times. "If there is anything different about Netflix, it is that it does not stick to the rules." In the eyes of Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings, the "freedom" corporate culture is the secret to the company's success. In the contemporary business society that is constantly undergoing fission around innovation, in order to fully unleash creativity, it is imperative to change the management model. Employees are free to choose their working hours, there is no funding or decision-making approval system, there are no KPIs (key performance indicators), and there are no salary levels... Can Netflix's "disruptive" management model become the prototype of future business? What kind of business management method can more effectively stimulate creativity, or can become the key to unlocking future business models? Let’s hear what Professor Li Xuhong, head of the Department of Business Management at Fudan University School of Management, has to say. Freedom and responsibility coexist, opening up new management ideas Q: Netflix has organized its internal management methods into the "Network Culture Manual", which is widely circulated in Silicon Valley. Its unique management model is called a "disruptive innovative organization". It is How does it work? A: Netflix’s management method represents a relatively new management concept and management model. The difference is reflected in the management concept of “management is control” that people take for granted, and the “strict performance” based on this. Assessment and the management system of paying labor remuneration based on assessment results pose great challenges. It emphasizes that employees can decide as little as their own working hours, working methods, vacations, as large as performance appraisals and payment methods. Employee autonomy. Compared with the management concept of "control", it can be said that it has gone to the other extreme - "freedom". Q: This management method. Is there any management theory behind its emergence? A: Some companies are already adopting similar management methods, both internationally and domestically. Why is this model practical? We need to see the concepts of "freedom" and "responsibility" at its core. The two coexist and are self-consistent. The organization gives employees autonomy and does not need to "box" employees with rigid rules; at the same time, it allows "freedom". "The conditions and premise that can produce good results are that employees should also have a sense of responsibility for the company and not abuse the freedom given by the company. For example, if the company allows employees to decide their own time for work and vacation, then responsible employees will not Choose to take a vacation at the busiest time at work. Secondly, behind "freedom" and "responsibility" are actually supported by decades of modern management experience and management philosophy. In the final analysis, the design of the management system must answer three foundations. Question: How to assess performance, how to give rewards, and how to set the relationship between rewards and performance. In modern Western management theory, for the above issues, there are two typical business management models in the United States: The first is the scientific management model. , including strict, clear, quantitative performance appraisal indicators, remuneration and performance-based rewards, and extrinsic incentives for employees. For example, General Electric (GE) in the United States is a practical representative of this management model. The company has strict end-of-year policies. The position elimination system must eliminate the employees who are in the bottom 10% of the relative rankings. The second type is the most typical of Google in the early years, which did not implement strict evaluation systems and compensation methods that were characterized by quantitative indicators and mandatory grading. It is not strongly linked to performance results, and elimination of the last place is not a mandatory system. It can be said that it is the opposite extreme of GE's approach. Netflix's management method is not limited to the two existing management systems in the market. It can be said that it is in the middle of the above two management methods: giving freedom and encouraging employees to be self-driven. At the same time, it also draws on GE's last elimination system to ensure the streamlining of the organization and avoid the "big company disease". It can be said to be the improvement of management efficiency. A management method that combines well with stimulating people's potential.