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I am always amazed that corporate culture is such an afterthought for most companies. I’ve studied hundreds of companies as an equity analyst, and worked at a few Wall Street firms along the way. A small percentage of companies understand the value of culture, but most don’t.

One company that does seem to get it is Netflix. A remarkable success story, Netflix disrupted the well-established video rental business and almost single-handedly buried Blockbuster. Over the past five years, it has tripled sales, more than quadrupled earnings, and seen its stock price increase more than ten-fold. Whether or not it continues to thrive over the next five years, its recent rise has been impressive.

Netflix’s co-founder and CEO, Reed Hastings, treats culture as a cornerstone in the company’s success. A while back, he shared a slide deck discussing the company’s thinking around culture. The deck, titled “Reference Guide on our Freedom & Responsibility Culture” and found below, is 128 pages long, but it’s an easy read and well worth flipping through and contemplating if you have a few minutes.

In the deck, Hastings has a list of nine “behaviors and skills” that Netflix values in its colleagues, and in no uncertain terms declares “We Want to Work with People Who Embody These Nine Values”.

They are:
• Judgment
• Communication
• Impact
• Curiosity
• Innovation
• Courage
• Passion
• Honesty
• Selflessness

I doubt that anyone would argue that these nine traits are counter-productive. A team is not likely to function at a higher level by including people who have poor judgment, lack courage, or are dishonest. I don’t know if these particular traits are the most important ones (I am an enthusiast, not an absolutist), but I’d suggest they are among the characteristics shared by most high-performing organizations. I’d also suggest they have greater impact when serving as cornerstones than when used as accent pieces.

Think for a minute about your life and the company you keep. Consider whether you or not exhibit these—or similar—traits. What about your co-workers…friends…family?

I think we can raise our individual and collective performance by weaving these cultural elements into our day-to-day lives and decisions. As you structure your relationships—with colleagues, business partners, friends, neighbors, family members, etc.—strongly consider what behavior you are reinforcing and what that means for your expected outcome.