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Generally we have cubes (as far as working space goes). It's up to the teams if they want Agile/Scrum (most don't, a few find it useful, folks are encouraged t

Generally we have cubes (as far as working space goes). It's up to the teams if they want Agile/Scrum (most don't, a few find it useful, folks are encouraged to experiment). Collaboration, in contrast to many other valley companies, isn't a big priority. Since we only hire senior (Finder) devs, each is capable of taking on one or more projects almost solo. So where you'd have an ~8 person team at Google, Netflix has a single developer. There are pros & cons to this approach, I might talk about them in a future article. The practical upshot is that everyone does what they think is best for their particular project (others are encouraged to provide feedback but the ultimate decision is left up to the project owner [who is not a manager]). Does that help?

douche 10y ago
Sounds like nirvana
p4wnc6 10y ago
If you can guarantee that non-Agile teams never have deliverables required for Agile teams (and it sounds like such a guarantee is something you strive for), then this seems reasonable. But it seems very fragile if you can't guarantee that condition. "Do what you feel is best" is the right attitude, so at least it suggests you treat employees as grown-ups. But I would worry how that "do what you feel is best" property could possibly trickle down to subordinates within Agile teams.
- RKoutnik 10y ago
  > But I would worry how that "do what you feel is best" property could possibly trickle down to subordinates within Agile teams. Simple, we don't have subordinates (at least as far as I know). Netflix only hires Sr. devs and then empowers them.
  - p4wnc6 10y ago
    Subordinate is just anybody who has to take direct instruction from someone else. Doesn't have to be codified via job title. If you have a "team" that does Agile, you thereby have subordinates (the members of that team, subordinate to whomever is reviewing e.g. burndown) even if no one calls them subordinates or explicitly thinks of them that way.
dasmoth 10y ago
The emphasis on individuals is refreshing. Saying "the team decides" isn't a huge help when "teams" get thrown together with little regard to preferred working styles.
deleted 10y ago
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pnathan 10y ago
> Collaboration, in contrast to many other valley companies, isn't a big priority. Since we only hire senior (Finder) devs, each is capable of taking on one or more projects almost solo. So where you'd have an ~8 person team at Google, Netflix has a single developer. There are pros & cons to this approach, I might talk about them in a future article. The practical upshot is that everyone does what they think is best for their particular project (others are encouraged to provide feedback but the ultimate decision is left up to the project owner [who is not a manager]). Love to hear more about this sometime.

douche 10y ago

Sounds like nirvana

p4wnc6 10y ago

If you can guarantee that non-Agile teams never have deliverables required for Agile teams (and it sounds like such a guarantee is something you strive for), then this seems reasonable. But it seems very fragile if you can't guarantee that condition. "Do what you feel is best" is the right attitude, so at least it suggests you treat employees as grown-ups. But I would worry how that "do what you feel is best" property could possibly trickle down to subordinates within Agile teams.

RKoutnik 10y ago
> But I would worry how that "do what you feel is best" property could possibly trickle down to subordinates within Agile teams. Simple, we don't have subordinates (at least as far as I know). Netflix only hires Sr. devs and then empowers them.
- p4wnc6 10y ago
  Subordinate is just anybody who has to take direct instruction from someone else. Doesn't have to be codified via job title. If you have a "team" that does Agile, you thereby have subordinates (the members of that team, subordinate to whomever is reviewing e.g. burndown) even if no one calls them subordinates or explicitly thinks of them that way.

dasmoth 10y ago

The emphasis on individuals is refreshing. Saying "the team decides" isn't a huge help when "teams" get thrown together with little regard to preferred working styles.

deleted 10y ago

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pnathan 10y ago

> Collaboration, in contrast to many other valley companies, isn't a big priority. Since we only hire senior (Finder) devs, each is capable of taking on one or more projects almost solo. So where you'd have an ~8 person team at Google, Netflix has a single developer. There are pros & cons to this approach, I might talk about them in a future article. The practical upshot is that everyone does what they think is best for their particular project (others are encouraged to provide feedback but the ultimate decision is left up to the project owner [who is not a manager]). Love to hear more about this sometime.