Netflix published its culture document in 2009 and it was downloaded millions of times. Its argument was that a company should give people the context to decide well rather than processes to follow. It included an unlimited vacation policy and an expense policy of five words: act in Netflix’s best interests.
business
The Apple design principle
American consumer technology is sold on the claim that it can be used without instruction, and products are reviewed against it. A device that needs its manual read has failed a test that was applied before it shipped.
Social partnership
Sozialpartnerschaft. Social partnership. The standard German term for the relationship between employers and unions, used by both sides and by the government. Partners, not opponents. The word frames a negotiation that is genuinely adversarial as a joint undertaking, and the framing is taken seriously enough to shape the procedure.
The spare parts store
Das Ersatzteillager. German manufacturers commit to spare parts availability for long periods after a product line ends, and hold the inventory to do it. The obligation extends decades past the sale. The stock is held against a failure that has not occurred in a machine that may already have been scrapped.
The IPO price range
An American company going public announces a range, then builds a book of investor interest, then prices the offering — sometimes above the range, sometimes below. The company does not know what it is worth. It runs a process to find out.
The procedure instruction
The Verfahrensanweisung. A controlled document with a number, an author, an approval and a revision history, describing how a defined activity is carried out. It is part of the system, and changing it means going through the system.
The proportional inspection
German case law requires more intensive inspection the greater the potential damage. For large deliveries a sample suffices. Where there is any suspicion of a defect, further examination is required.
The standard is what could reasonably be expected of a proper merchant in that particular case — which means the buyer is expected to think about what is at stake before deciding how carefully to look.
Disagree and commit
In Amazon’s 2016 letter to shareholders, Bezos described the practice directly: if you have conviction on a direction even though there is no consensus, say I know we disagree on this but will you gamble with me on it? Disagree and commit?
He added that he does it himself, all the time.
The phrase names the sequence exactly. The disagreement is voiced, and then the decision is executed as though it had not been.
Beta
American software ships in beta and says so. Gmail carried the label for years while being used by millions. The product is released unfinished, on purpose, with the unfinishedness advertised.
Public by default
American software companies commonly configure their internal messaging so that channels are open unless someone actively makes them private, and a private channel is something a colleague may ask about. The default is a policy. Whoever writes it has decided which way information should flow when nobody is thinking about it.