Work responsibly

I recently read a book about the founding of Netflix, which promised to reveal how an idea can be transformed into a successful start-up (spoilers: you need a bit of luck, and a lot of rich and influential friends). Marc Randolph, the book’s author and also Netflix’s co-founder, is very proud of the working culture established in the early days, which he describes as ‘freedom and responsibility’. However, one anecdote suggests that that freedom had its limits.

Randolph recounts a request from an engineering manager to only work in the office three and a half days a week. His reply was to say the manager is welcome to work from wherever he likes, as long as the standard of his work doesn’t drop. Sounds reasonable. Except this is how Randolph says he phrased some of his follow-up comments: ‘Go ahead – I’m envious. Wish I was smart enough to do that’.

The anecdote concludes that the manager chose to remain in the office five days a week and his performance improved, which Randolph theorises is because he was given the freedom to choose to work in the way that suited him best.

Perhaps that was the case, but it’s not how the situation reads to me. After all, it’s a bold move to do something when your chief executive has openly doubted its feasibility.

Hidden barriers

Examples like this show how a stated office culture might not always translate to employees in the way that it’s intended. A culture that gives employees the freedom to make decisions that allow them to work more effectively (while adhering to any relevant safety or regulatory rules) is a fantastic goal to aim for. But often, there are subtle barriers in place that can prevent employees from truly exercising that freedom – for example, because they fear standing out for the wrong reason, or because it could put their job at risk.

Ensuring neurodiverse employees can work effectively is one demonstration of this. Some of the small actions that can allow some employees to work more comfortably and effectively, like using fidget toys or noise-cancelling headphones, are highly visible, especially if working in an open-plan office or lab. If you have a workplace where such items are permitted but not normalised, then employees might not feel comfortable using them. This is where activities such as neurodiversity awareness sessions, or senior managers speaking about their neurodiversity and the workplace adaptations they use, can make a big difference. (Randolph is open in his book about having ADHD.)

If you’re a manager, you have a particular responsibility to make sure the people you supervise have the freedom to make good choices. That includes ensuring they’re aware of the options available to them, and helping them to trial different ways of working if your standard environment doesn’t suit them. Or, to paraphrase Randolph – just treat employees like the responsible adults that they are.