Office Cultures Without Rules

I shouldn’t be surprised that a product/service I’m brand loyal to is born and maintained out of a company culture that runs counter to typical corporate structure, but I am. It’s fascinating any time I see stuff like this articulated so well:

Instead of adding rules as we grow, our solution is to increase talent density faster than we increase business complexity. Great people make great judgment calls and few errors, despite ambiguity…We have found that by avoiding rules we can better attract the creative mavericks that drive innovation…We are mitigating the big risk technology companies face (obsolescence), by taking on small risks (running without rules).
— Netflix, excerpted from 7 Great Reasons to Work at Netflix (emphasis mine)

The whole thing reads like a manifesto for Doing Amazing Things, but the specific ability for a company to grow in size and complexity without an avalanche of bureaucratic muck is rare.