Netflix, Democracy, and ~Operational Excellence
Why Netflix's approach to complexity – going all the way back to 2001 – creates better results.
Clay Parker Jones
I lead Organizational Design at Airbnb. Previously: August, Undercurrent.
Five Org Design Things N° 7
Collaboration edition! Yumemi’s org design; Collaboration is dead; Elbows of data; How to make good documents; How to run good workshops
How Internal Capabilities Evolve
Platform teams are an alternative to matrix orgs and siloed, repetitive SBUs.
Activist Presentations & Corporate Structure
TLDR: Activist investors want lean SBUs, and they don't love that matrix
Undercurrent Story Forms
Five ways to structure your deck to be sure you're telling a story, not just writing action headlines and bullets powered by chatGPT.
Why Does DARPA Work?
A few standout practices: Opacity; Outsourcing for stronger internal networks; Deep technical reviews of ongoing programs.
Five Org Design Things N° 6
The 95th percentile isn’t that impressive; how DRIs worked at Apple; Effective leaders decide about deciding; Rooting out bias in decisions; AI and interest rates
Three Unexpected Practices for Better Productivity (Talk Deck/Video)
Back in 2018, I had the privilege of visiting with HR leaders at a big beer company to discuss my experiences with teaming inside large organizations.
The Founding Flaw of Matrix Organizing
Last year I was on a podcast with my friends at Zappi, and we got to talking about matrix orgs – there's an old bug inside the system, and it'll never go away.
Org Structure predicts Code Quality
Because of course it does. That said, here's some research you can show your boss.
Shopify's Meeting Diet
Shopify cancelled 76,500 hours of meetings. I think that's great.
Five Org Design Things N° 5
Excess management, Big-biz hiring stall, AI for organizing, Issues at Salesforce, and my thoughts on carve-outs 'n' central services.