Does Reed Hastings' PPT on Netflix's culture reflect reality, or is it just marketing?

It has been my personal experience that the culture deck does a really good job of laying out the core values of the ``freedom and responsibility'' environment, but it is difficult to encapsulate everything, even in a 126 page presentation. By that I mean that the environment is even better than the deck describes, but on the same token I understand why there are some people who simply aren't a good fit for the culture, and I believe over time that our Talent team has sharpened their abilities to determine over the course of a few interviews what type of person will be successful here. What is extremely refreshing for me is the lack of politics throughout all levels of the org and that if one is willing to provide facts and a well articulated reason why we should do/consider something, the suggestion is always given fair and careful thought. And, for me, personally, the lack of being encumbered by process for the sake of process,  fluctuating budgets that impede overall productivity, and draconian IT guidelines is an extreme breath of fresh air. In response to the ``quick to terminate'', I have yet to see that behavior anywhere within the company.  I also don't find that {current} employees walk around in fear of being terminated.  Jim, your mileage obviously varied.

There are a lot of in-depth answers to a similar question about the Netflix slide deck here:

I am not sure I understand the intent of your question. When you ask whether this is for real, are you asking whether leaders at Netflix consistently apply these values in their day to day operations? It would be naive for anyone to believe that everyone at Netflix believes in these values, let alone apply them habitually. The leadership is espousing certain values in no uncertain terms and that serves several important purposes. Do you share those values? If you do, then, can you think of a better recruiting tool? Imagine all the free publicity this deck has generated for Netflix . I worked briefly at Netflix and I left not because I didn't believe in the culture, but because I had an opportunity that better suited my personal needs. I believed that some of the leaders genuinely believed and strived for these values. It doesn't mean they executed perfectly. If I look back hard enough, I might be able to come up with an instance when Reed or my manager may have said or done things that created the perception of conflicting with these values. That does not mean they did not believe in these values. There there were others with various levels of maturity and experience who did not have as much success in understanding the importance of these values or executing to those values. And I am sure there were a few who never believed in them and it will be interesting to learn what Netflix is actually doing to weed them out. Perhaps we will see another deck talking about that process. I learnt quite a bit from the leadership at Netflix. It was refreshing to see a relatively young manager address core values like Honesty and Team work in a very genuine manner. For the record, I don't agree with everything in this deck or with everything Netflix does. (For instance, why isn't humility among the core values? Is there an inherent conflict with corporate goals to dominate their markets?) This doesn't mean I don't admire their leadership. Neither does it take away the importance of the values in this deck.

My take on the Netflix culture s that the thinking and how the values are positioned is essential reading for thinking leaders! Much like we used J&Js Credo to review firms, this goes beyond far ideas on how.