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Unleash the Pirates! 🏴☠️
How to push through the doldrums by empowering your (corporate) troublemakers.
Kenna Hilburn & Brooke Rosolino
July 21, 2024
We’re back after taking a short pause last week. The news outlets have been working overtime in the last 7 days. We hope you are taking care of your wellbeing during this heightened time. ❤️
We would like to disclaim this week’s newsltter by saying, we do not condone acts of ocean piracy. Please keep all pirate behaviors within the walls of your workplace and of course, obey laws and respect people at all times. ✌️
Career Advice: Don’t Give Up In the Middle
In any transformation effort, everything looks like failure in the middle.
Here are some characteristics to look for in both stages of your journey:
A transformation that is better than expected: Progress, albeit slow, is visible. Setbacks are managed and provide learning opportunities. Motivation remains high, and commitment is sustained.
The Typical Middle: The enthusiasm felt at the beginning has tempered and the people are fatigued. People are tired, and there is “real” work to be done. There are still fundamental issues that persist without resolution. The need for a renewed commitment to the original intent.
If you’re stuck in a middle phase and progress is going slower than you’d like we have a concept that can help you shake things up!
Consider the pirate strategy - a method established by a small group of NASA engineers in the 1980’s that transformed old ways of working. The key principal being, in an organization struggling to innovate, unleash the “troublemakers” and give them a mission.
Here are some guiding principles for your pirates in residence:
Don’t wait to be told something. Figure it out!
Challenge everything, and brace yourself for the inevitable cynicism, opposition, rumors, false reporting, innuendos, and slander
Break the rules, not the law
Take risks as a rule, not as the exception
Cut out unnecessary timelines, schedules, processes, reviews, and bureaucracy
Just get started; fix problems as you go along
As a leader, here’s how you can support a culture where your pirates can be trailblazers and not anarchists:
Embrace a culture of challenge and positive dissent
Provide your pirates with initial funding, executive sponsorship, and time for experimentation
Shield your pirates from bureaucracy and politics as they emerge
Publicize their early wins and give others the permission to follow their lead
Sometimes a bit of aggressive experimentation is exactly what’s needed to get to that next breakthrough. Don’t be afraid to take risks in the middle stages because if you get stuck in the middle for too long, the middle becomes the end.
Arrrr you ready for an adventure?
Tell Me Somethin’good:
Netflix recently updated their 15-year-old code on company culture and it appears the company is trying to model its culture after a professional sports team, not a family.
If this is the first you’re hearing of this approach, we’d like to call our shot right now… the convergence of sports methodology and business is the wave of the future. You better lace up those Jordans.
welovethegame via Giphy
The Netflix culture code core principles:
The Dream Team: We aim only to have high performers at Netflix — people who are great at what they do, and even better at working together.
People over Process: You get better outcomes when employees have the information and freedom to make decisions for themselves. We hire unusually responsible people who thrive on this openness and freedom.
Uncomfortably Exciting: To entertain the world, we need to be bold and ambitious. That means embracing the thrill of what’s next — even when it’s uncomfortable.
Great and Always Better: We often say Netflix sucks today compared to where we can be tomorrow. We need the self-awareness to understand what should be better, and the discipline and resilience to get there.
At N’good Company, we believe that culture sits at the intersection of the brand, customer and employee experience:
N’good Company
Netflix serves as a brilliant example of this concept in practice.
It’s why we care so much about the Dream Team, putting people over process and creating an environment where everyone feels a sense of responsibility to make us better. We believe this approach is the surest path to excellence and long term success.
It’s also why we constantly seek to improve our culture, not preserve it. Every new employee helps shape how we work — finding new ways to accomplish more together. This creates a better experience for our members, employees, creators and partners, which in turn propels our long term growth and success. It’s how we entertain the world and build a wildly successful business.
If you’re looking to improve your company culture we can help! Many brands have turned to N’good Company to run a culture excavation which will give you an actionable analysis on the current heartbeat of your business and a practical plan that you can start using immediately to inject new life into your culture.
Email us if you’re interested in learning more!
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Resources Worth Your Click
📺 We are holding our breath (in the best way) watching Apple TV’s Presumed Innocent. Swifties, please forgive us, it’s really good!
🎧 Greg Peters, co-CEO of Netflix talks to Decoder on the company’s shifting culture.
🗞️ The New York Times profile on Scarlett Johansson is making us wonder if she’s in the market for a pair of two new girlfriends?! 👯♀️
🎵 Noah Kahan and Kacey Musgraves perform at the Ryman, yes please!
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