I was impressed by the following paragraph from the competition rules:
Netflix is all about connecting people to the movies they love. To help customers find those movies, we’ve developed our world-class movie recommendation system: Cinematch(SM). Its job is to predict whether someone will enjoy a movie based on how much they liked or disliked other movies. We use those predictions to make personal movie recommendations based on each customer’s unique tastes. And while Cinematch is doing pretty well, it can always be made better.
The statement reveals an underlying culture of innovation. Here we have a company that professes to have "a ... world-class system," and then goes on to say "...it can always be made better."
In search of an innovation culture, I went off in search of more insights about Netflix. It wasn't long before I found their culture guide posted on Slideshare:
Netflix Culture
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Sure enough, Innovation is one of the Netflix core values. Now, ordinarily I'm not impressed by such statements. After all, who doesn't talk about innovation as part of their culture or important to their business? My local DIY store has a giant banner with "Innovation" plastered all over it.
But, clearly, our co-innovators at Netflix really mean it. After all, they're offering one million to better their already innovative recommendation engine. Their tapping into the brains of innovation teams beyond their four walls. Clearly, they're a no-bull company when it comes to meaning what they say about innovation.
As I repeat all too often in various circles that I travel through, it all starts with the people. So-called "Cultural Change," (a team that I HATE WITH A PASSION) is usually something that change agents like to talk about, but seldom have a clue about how to bring it about, other than endless slogans and powerpoint slides that seldom make power(ful) points.
It starts with hiring the right people. And slide 29 says it all. That's an acid test, more or less, for picking the best people. This to me, says that Netflix are fanatical about getting real with talent.
In a company where the existing culture has ossified somewhat, or is falling behind where it needs to be in order to move the company into new era of growth, attracting good people is difficult. Or, keeping them is difficult. But this is because the people aren't given the freedom to have an impact. So, slide 12 is a great value to make explicit in the company culture: IMPACT.
The problem is that too many companies are using the current credit malaise as an excuse to push in the wrong direction. Every single pen and paper clip has to be budgeted and signed off by finance. Big projects are business as usual, but new projects - especially the more experimental innovation stuff - are bottom of the list. This is back to front.
Moreover, it's no good adding the "innovation" buzzword to the corporate smorgasbord of slogans when their clearly ain't any resources being devoted to it. It ends up coming across like the tired mantra of 80s process re-engineers, who essentially demanded "more for less."
As everyone knows, short of finding the magical formula for cold fusion, you can only do less with less, not more.
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