A Lesson from the Founder of Netflix
For industries engaged in creative work, there's an under-appreciated yet powerful panacea for low morale, long working hours, low wages, and staff retention issues.
"TALENT DENSITY"
Netflix founder Reed Hastings discovered this unintentionally when he had to lay off a high percentage of his workers. Instead of driving morale to all-new lows, his business surprisingly took off. The remaining top performers represented a higher talent density. He and his remaining staff started loving going to work, meetings got sparky, and productivity soared. Everything got better.
However, he also came to see that he had to fix the culture for his new approach to work. That meant:
- Paying top of the market.
- Letting go of staff who were merely adequate.
- Trusting employees with the whole business context.
- Effectively communicating high-level goals.
- Encouraging exceptional candour and feedback (especially to managers and leaders)
- Dismantling rules and procedures (even fixed holiday allowances)
- and granting employees almost complete freedom.
As an employer of the most talented and creative knowledge workers, the architecture industry must thrive. The pursuit of high talent density promises to raise the bar and deliver the fulfilling life its practitioners seek.
Above all else, Cloud 49 desires to elevate architecture.
