Freedom and Responsibility

At CONTINUUM 2019, an INGENO event where we explore pragmatic approaches to innovation, Jean-Sebastien from NETFLIX talks about Freedom and Responsibility.

The management style of NETFLIX and other innovation leaders focuses on Context instead of Control. Engineering teams can move fast in a frictionless environment as they self-prioritize what they feel can have a positive impact on the company.

To make this possible, teams rely on management socializing information about what other groups are doing, including the company's vision, and current alignment. The context, which is information instead of directives, flows top to bottom, while DevOps cells make educated gambles themselves.

This transparency and freedom to act autonomously come with responsibilities. Instead of being measured on efforts spent, you and your team must:

• Use data to prove the value of a product or feature.

• Be responsible for the deployment, operations, and 24/7 maintenance of what you build.

• Socialize your work throughout the company so that others benefit from it.

• Phase-out the product if its RoI is nonsignificant.

This model requires maturity, talent, and a cultural fit from your people.

A big and sincere thank you to Jean-Sebastien from NETFLIX for sharing these remarkable insights.