Culture & Allyship in Theory & Practice

Is your company culture negotiable?

This got us thinking about how much company culture is performative vs deep-rooted and non-negotiable.

B. Pagels-Minor shared a talk at BoS Conference Online Fall 2021 on how people and organizations can be effective and positive allies for marginalized groups in companies, focusing on gender diverse communities.

B. shared an historical perspective, discussed some of their own personal experiences and offered some excellent ideas that would be both practical and useful for any organization that wants to create and maintain and welcoming, diverse and healthy work environment. While the talk focused on gender diversity, much of it is equally applicable to diversity more widely.

They also talked a little about their current role, in product as Games Launch Manager at Netflix where they were also a Global Lead for Netflix’s Black and Netflix’s Trans employee resource groups.

It was notable how excited B. was about working in an organization like Netflix, that has a well discussed culture and was so committed to supporting diverse groups of people in the organization.

Shortly after the conference, life changed for B. at Netflix.

Much of the story has been covered, exhaustively, often inaccurately and almost always through the lens of the commentator, on social media and the mainstream press. It is easy to find.

In short. Netflix recommissioned a comedy special from Dave Chappelle, also indicating that they would be commissioning further content from a comedian who is seen by many as hostile to trans people.

How did this square with Netflix’s commitment to diversity?

Dave Chappelle is hugely popular and his programs drive viewers and therefore revenue for Netflix. Many of their employees however were shaken, angry and upset. This felt to them as if Netflix’s culture, something that Netflix has made core to their values, was being overridden by commercial interests.

B. was one of a number of employees that was involved in organizing a worker protest.

Within days, B. and a colleague were fired. In B.’s case, reportedly for sharing viewing numbers for Dave Chappelle’s previous shows to Bloomberg, (something B. denies).

Both employees launched suits against Netflix for unfair dismissal which were later withdrawn though there is no public information about any reasons for this or potential settlement.

Culture & allyship in theory & practice

Netflix was once lauded for its culture. Some of the execs behind the famous culture deck (version one from 2009 here) appearing on the covers of magazines and in some cases carving out new careers as culture consultants.

Times change. Companies and cultures evolve. They have to.

It is often hard, as this talk at the same conference from Patrick Campbell, CEO Founder of Profitwell as of today, PaddleHQ, demonstrates. There are no easy answers.

How did a company like Netflix, that B. raved about, become one that for many people, is one they would want to avoid working for? Of course, there is plenty of other stuff going on at Netflix right now.

Was their much lauded company culture, something that became a significant factor in them hiring people across a much more diverse pool of people, performative? Was it important for them, until, in their judgement, it wasn’t?

How do you run your company?

As an entrepreneur, you make choices every day about how you run your business, the culture you create and nurture.

The truth is that culture happens whether you want it or not. How do you keep tabs on what matters to you and your organization as it grows over time?

What are the values in your business that you hold most dear and how do you protect them?

Watch B.’s talk below, or you can see the transcript and more here.

Watch Patrick’s talk below, or you can see the transcript and more here.