We may be three months into 2021, but I already have a good feeling about some of the books in queue for this year. Winter is officially wrapping up in a few days in the Garden State, but my leisure time throughout the season has largely consisted of indoor activities including playing piano and absorbing my mind in books. I’ve already got a couple of new reads under my belt for the year, and although it’s only March, That Will Never Work is shaping up to be a contender for this year’s Top 5 list.
That Will Never Work is the startup story of Netflix and how the idea for online movie rentals was born between former CEO Marc Randolph and current CEO Reed Hastings. Randolph’s (the author’s) care-free tone was authentic and relatable throughout, and it felt as though I was sitting with him enjoying a cup of coffee as he recounted his time at Netflix with me. He has a true gift for storytelling and conveyed several themes over the course of three hundred pages, but I found the ones below to be the most memorable.
The Individual: Freedom and Responsibility
Marc begins and ends his story by empowering the individual. There are several times where Marc talks about how important trust is when talking about individuals in relation to company culture, and like Tony Hsieh, Marc too believes that employee centric culture is what nurtures teams into successful companies.
“People want to be treated like adults. They want to have a mission they believe in, a problem to solve, and space to solve it. They want to be surrounded by other adults whose abilities they respect.”
The Netflix culture was born during the early days of its founding. Marc and Reed knew that the company would thrive if they focused on the individuals helping to build the company just as much as the customers they were serving. And according to Marc this culture is based on a simple formula; “handpick a dozen brilliant, creative people, give them a set of delicious problems to solve, then give them the space to solve them.” This is what Netflix was built on and it’s what continues to drive the company today.
Date Night
As we continue to overcome COVID-19, the balance of work and play while working from home couldn’t be more important. It’s a balance that we value very much in our house, therefore, Marc’s theme of date night resonated with me a lot.
“On Tuesdays, no matter what, I left the office promptly at 5:00 and spent the evening with my wife…I needed that time with Lorraine — just the two of us, no kids, no domestic duties. I needed to recharge, to be with my best friend for a few hours and not think about anything else.”
We live in an era of high productivity, and with technology constantly evolving, it’s becoming easier and easier for us to work more efficiently than ever. This is something definitely worth celebrating, but we should also recognize how easy it is to overwork ourselves with these capabilities too. Marc commented that he felt people are most productive when they’re happy, which includes having a healthy and fulfilling life outside of work, and I couldn’t agree more. Whether the pressure to grind is internal or external, taking a moment to step away from our work and spend time with those we love doing the things we love should be equally as important and celebrated.
On Entrepreneurship
If entrepreneurship could be boiled down to one sentence, it would be this one from That Will Never Work:
“You have to love the problem, not the solution”
I’ve definitely learned over the years that work (and life) is not formulaic. Just because we work hard and do all the right things doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed (excellent) results every time. And just because certain processes have produced certain results in the past doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll produce the same results in the future. That’s why I believe curiosity is king. And when you combine curiosity with results-driven thinking (plus enjoying all that comes with it in the process) you find yourself in a space where entrepreneurship (or business or problem-solving; whatever you want to call it) truly thrives.
There were several other themes that I would love to share from That Will Never Work, but I don’t want to give away too many spoilers. The great thing about That Will Never Work is that it’s a book for anyone and everyone. It’s incredibly relatable and I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for something new to read.