Netflix: When flip flopping is good leadership
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings isn't afraid of changing course, which can be a real strength
A Netflix DVD envelope and Netflix on-screen television menu are shown in Surfside, Fla. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says the company is abandoning its widely panned decision to separate its DVD-by-mail and Internet streaming accounts.
Wilfredo Lee/AP
Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, gave subscribers some good news yesterday:
We are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs. This means no change: one website, one account, one password 鈥� in other words, no Qwikster.
As a long time subscriber, I can only say Hallelujah.
But I am not surprised. Hastings has changed course sharply before. Most famously, he killed off a set-up box鈥搕he Netflix Player鈥搄ust weeks before its scheduled launch. I take that as a sign of great leadership. :
Reed Hastings is not a man who gets locked in by sunk costs: he鈥檚 willing to kill projects 鈥� even if he鈥檚 got years invested in them.
That鈥檚 a real strength. I am sure he regrets the decision to move toward Qwikster, but kudos to him for reversing course.
P.S. Netflix鈥檚 corporate culture was the subject of one of Favorite line: 鈥淎dequate performance gets a generous severance package.鈥�