Mr. Hastings led the company as CEO for more than 20 years.
Netflix founder and chairman Reed Hastings recently unveiled the strategy that has increased his company’s value to $240 billion. He was speaking with entrepreneur Tim Ferriss on the podcast “The Tim Ferriss Show.” Hastings said he had three words to describe the practice, known as “dissident farming.” CNBC.
“If you’re a leader, it’s important to advocate for opposing views. Isn’t it normal to disagree with your boss?[Usually]we learn respect,” Hastings said. However, he continued, employees sometimes need to have “active discussions” with their managers, as businesses often require fresh concepts and innovative approaches to expand.
“In most companies it’s emotionally difficult to disagree with your boss, so we call it cultivating dissent,” he added. The Netflix founder said, “We’re making our managers do things like this.” [ask]: “If you had my job, what are three things you would do differently?”
Hastings led Netflix as CEO for more than 20 years before becoming chairman last year. He said that once a year, he asks “50 CEOs” what they would do differently if they were in charge of their companies. He used their comments to try several business tactics, some of which were successful and those that didn’t, were learnings.
Hastings claimed that the critical feedback came at a low point in 2011, when the company tried to rename its DVD-by-mail service to a separate business called Qwickster. He ranks this disaster as the “biggest failure” of his own career, saying it taught him the importance of seeking more opinions and ideas before making his big decisions. said.
“Back then, we weren’t doing a lot of dissent. I felt like a savior and was convinced that this was the right thing to do…and many people had serious doubts. “It turns out they had doubts, but they didn’t know other executives had doubts,” the Netflix founder said.
Hastings said the company has established a process to solicit honest feedback from dozens of Netflix managers and executives on “big decisions” the company is considering. “We give everyone a rating from 10 to -10, whether they think it’s a smart idea or not. , I would have seen a bunch of -7s, -6s, -‘s. 8 would have been shocking,” he said. He added that this is a “very positive step” that will help Netflix make better decisions in the future.
