C[omp]ute

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 09:37:28 -0400

Some of this looks good, but I'm not sure it's as great as the buzz
that's surrounding it.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/05/other-companies-should-have-to-read-this-internal-netflix-presentation/

In particular, I see very little that recognises the imbalance of
power within a company.

Example 1: They talk about employees looking for other jobs as
equivalent to Netflix looking for replacements.  But Netflix, as a
company, invests a considerable amount of time effort and money in
recruitment - it doesn't make the same investment in finding people
better jobs elsewhere!  And there is economy of scale and barriers to
entry - it's much easier for Netflix to find new people than for an
employee to find a new job.

Example 2: They don't track holidays.  But they have a culture that
emphasises getting a lot done.  As a consequence there's clear
pressure to skip holidays - even in companies with fixed vacation
limits, in my experience, almost everyone (except me) already treats
these as upper limits, not requirements.  So a holiday allocation is a
guideline that *encourages* people to take time off.  I'd bet anything
that people take less vacation as a result.

Andrew