The Best of the January-February Issue

 

Are you having trouble viewing this email? If so, click here to see it in a web browser.

February 07, 2014 By Best of the Issue Spotlight How Netflix Reinvented HR Patty McCord Donald Rumsfeld famously said "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time." But that's not how things work at Netflix, says its former head of HR. Its strategy can be summed up in two sentences: Hire only A players. Let them go when their skills are no longer applicable, to make way for the next set of A players geared to the new challenges. To get that top talent, Netflix is willing to pay enough to lure the best people away from the likes of Google and Amazon (and then subject them to as few arbitrary processes as possible while they're there – no fixed vacation times, no formal reviews). To soften the blow if they're let go, Netflix offers generous severance packages. This might be an expensive strategy, but employing people fully formed with the requisite skills to do what's currently needed enables Netflix to successfully execute complicated business models with an agility few companies can match. Take a look at what Sheryl Sandberg called "one of the most important documents ever to come out of Silicon Valley" – the 127 slides that make up Netflix's culture deck. Managing Yourself Find the Coaching in Criticism Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone You may think that there are a thousand ways in which feedback can push your buttons, but in fact there are only three, say these two negotiation teachers from Harvard Law School. Feedback -- whether justified or not -- is hard to judge impartially when it doesn't square with what you think is true, when you don't trust the person providing it, or when it threatens your basic sense of yourself. To take a more objective stance, you need to recognize when those buttons are being pushed; separate out what's being said from who's saying it; focus on feedback aimed at improving, rather than just evaluating, your performance; and ask for more details. Even better, ask for very specific feedback before it's even offered, and then try out some small-scale changes to see if things improve. Life's Work Salman Khan Interviewed by Alison Beard In just nine years, with only 51 paid staffers, Kahn Academy has developed more than 5,000 uniquely effective on-line video lessons reaching millions of students worldwide. So it's fair to expect that its founder has learned a thing or two about what enables people to learn and what they should be studying. He'll offer up specific subjects, if you press him. Everyone should know how to program a computer, and know more about the law and about statistics, he says. But far more fundamentally, he stresses, the most important lesson anyone should learn is to be the agent of their own learning. "Anyone in any industry will tell you there's new stuff to learn every week," he says. You have to ask yourself, "What do I need to learn? What information and people do I have at my disposal to help me? How can I gauge whether I've really understood what I've been taught?" In the full interview Khan gives his take on why he's such a good teacher, and why every company should use videos instead of memos. Feature The Big Lie of Strategic Planning Roger L. Martin The term strategic planning is an oxymoron. Planning is about laying out the details of what you intend to do -- how you'll invest existing and new assets and capabilities to reach your targets. But strategy is the step before that -- making difficult and uncomfortable decisions about what targets to aim at in the first place. Too many executives confuse strategy with planning, seeking solace in detailed spreadsheets that project (mythical) costs and revenues far into the future. But if you're entirely comfortable with your strategy, chances are it isn't very good. Rather than the result of careful planning, strategy should arise from a rough-and-ready process. It should start with a simple strategy statement identifying a value proposition that's superior to competitors' – that is, a statement that explains why customers should decide to spend their money with your company and not another. Then, to increase the odds that the strategy will work out, you need to test the logic behind it. Ask yourself, "For this strategy to work, what would have to be true about my customers, the evolution of my industry, my competition, and my own capabilities?" Write down the answers (so you can't rewrite history after the fact). Then if you compare your expectations to what actually happens, you'll be able to see whether your strategy is working or needs to be adjusted. Human nature being what it is, planning will always dominate strategy unless you make a conscious effort to prevent it. Watch Roger Martin explain the two choices to make in strategy in this three-minute video.

BEST SELLERS HBR's 10 Must Reads: The Essentials | HBR's 10 Must Reads Boxed Set | HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations | HBR Guide to Better Business Writing | HBR Guide to Getting the Right Work Done

FEATURED PRODUCT The First 90 Days App for iPhone and Android MAKE YOUR NEXT CAREER TRANSITION A SUCCESS. Download The First 90 Days App today to help you stay ahead of the game. Download on the App Store Download on Google Play

FEATURED PRODUCT HBR Guide to Office Politics HBR Paperback Series EVERY ORGANIZATION HAS ITS SHARE OF POLITICAL DRAMA: Personalities clash. Agendas compete. Turf wars erupt. It can make you crazy if you're trying to keep your head down and get your job done. The problem is, you can't just keep your head down. You need to work productively with your colleagues--even the challenging ones--for the good of your organization and your career. How can you do that without crossing over to the dark side? By acknowledging that power dynamics and unwritten rules exist--and by constructively navigating them. "Politics" needn't be a dirty word. You can succeed at work without being a power grabber or a corporate climber. Whether you're a new professional or an experienced one, this guide will help you. Buy It Now

ADVERTISEMENT

HBR.ORG | THE MAGAZINE | BLOGS | BOOKS | CASES | STORE | SUBSCRIBE TO HBR UNSUBSCRIBE | NEWSLETTERS PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT Copyright © 2013 Harvard Business School Publishing, an affiliate of Harvard Business School. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing 60 Harvard Way Boston, MA 02163 CUSTOMER SERVICE: 800-545-7685 (US/Canada) 1-617-783-7600 (outside the U.S. and Canada)