E83: How Patty McCord Built Netflix’s Culture

"Upstream" with Erik Torenberg

This week on Upstream, former Netflix HR executive Patty McCord sits down with Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich to dive deep into the creation and impact of Netflix's renowned culture deck, hailed as a pivotal document in Silicon Valley. Patty shares the evolution of the deck over 10 years with Netflix's management team, the challenges of scaling a rapidly growing company, and the importance of building high-performance teams. They discuss the intricacies of leadership, feedback, and the evolving workplace culture, post-pandemic. Patty also offers a candid look at HR's role in nurturing dynamic work environments.

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RECOMMENDED PODCAST:

🎙️HR Heretics with Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich

What will it take to construct the next generation of incredible businesses – and where can people leaders have the most business impact?

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1WML9AfadzaH9WCR4HHqbZ?si=c40b0dd176c64e43

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hr-heretics-how-cpos-chros-founders-and-boards-build/id1712407491

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LINKS:

HR Heretics Newsletter: https://hrheretics.substack.com/

Netflix Culture Deck: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/culture-1798664/1798664

Powerful by Patty McCord: https://pattymccord.com/book/

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(00:47)The true story behind Netflix’s culture deck

(02:36) High Performance cultures actually take 4-5 years to pull off

(05:07) Why releasing the culture deck changed Netflix’s hiring immediately

(06:56) What to do when employees are averse to change and delivering effective feedback

(13:43) Dealcraft & Fundrise Ads

(15:47) Why execs need to get used to short tenures

(18:18) If you’re successful your company will change

(20:40) Retention and the truth we need to tell employees about career pathing

(22:15) How Reed Hastings hired Patty McCord

(25:54) How HR officers can get a seat at the table

(29:32) The P&L is the most important HR metric

(31:26) Are HR leaders getting soft?

(33:47) Alts & Squad Ads

(35:36) What Patty would tell her younger self

(37:16) Why an HR officer is a business leader, not a business partner

(39:47) Fixing equal pay and compensation strategy

(41:43) Why HR keeps doing stupid stuff and needs to abandon best practices

(46:25) What HR can learn from product managers

(50:59) Compartmentalization and terminations

(53:27) If Patty rewrote her book, she would change the chapter about relationships at work

(54:37) Why HR people invite inappropriate therapist-style relationships and why having arguments at work should be normalized

(01:02:43) Does Patty miss being in the arena?

(01:05:11)The portions of the workforce most impacted right now