Following last week’s controversial article on “Why Vacations Matter” I discovered this one by one of my favorite business authors Daniel Pink.
Clipped from: www.telegraph.co.uk (share this clip)
In reviewing the Netflix holiday policy (or lack there of) he sheds a very important lens on the relationship between freedom and accountability.
For instance, ever more companies are realising that autonomy isn’t the opposite of accountability – it’s the pathway to it. “Rules and policies and regulations and stipulations are innovation killers. People do their best work when they’re unencumbered,” says Steve Swasey, Netflix’s vice-president for corporate communication. “If you’re spending a lot of time accounting for the time you’re spending, that’s time you’re not innovating.”
Wow, so glad he brought that up. I’ve long believed people work so much better when they’re focused on a vision and a set of goals, not out of fear of being caught out, punished for breaking the rules, or the potential for losing something that was never theirs to begin with. Let people own their success and the success of the company and everyone wins.
Mary Gilbert 