How Google Works
Some Tidbits
Attraction-Selection-Attrition Model
- models the emergence of organizational characteristics as three processes that reflect a member’s decisions to join (attract), remain in (selection), and ultimately leave (attrition) an organization
smart creatives
- Googlese for the sort of new knowledge worker that Google wants to attract
She is an expert in doing. She doesn’t just design concepts, she builds prototypes.
She is analytically smart. Let data decide, she thinks, but doesn’t let data take over.
She is business smart. She understands the direct line between technical, product and business, and can bridge all three.
She is competitive smart. She is driven to be the best at what she does, and is willing to put in the work to get there.
She is user smart. She has a deep obsession with understanding the consumer’s perspective.
She tinkers with different projects on the weekend and gets her hands dirty out of pure curiosity.
She is creative. She’s always questioning, going against the status quo, and isn’t afraid to be irreverent. She is risky creative. She isn’t afraid to fail, and knows that even if she does she can just try a different approach and keep going.
She is self-directed creative. She doesn’t wait for her boss to tell her what to do, or for the perfect information. She just takes action on her own and gets shit done.
She is open creative. She openly shares information, ideas, and collaborates freely. She is not political, and judges ideas based on their merit.
She is thorough creative. She knows the details, not because she remembers them but because she understands them.
She is communicative creative. She knows how to get her message across, sometimes with flare and humor.
Horseback Law
- many things don’t require you to dismount your horse, i.e., jump in and do a detailed analysis. It’s enough to mosey on up and quickly check things then move on
Google’s Dos and Don’ts for Hiring
Do hire people who are smarter and more knowledgeable than you are. Don’t hire people you can’t learn from or be challenged by.
Do hire people who will add value to the product and our culture. Don’t hire people who won’t contribute well to both.
Do hire people who will get things done. Don’t hire people who think only about problems.
Do hire people who are enthusiastic, self-motivated, and passionate. Don’t hire people who just want a job.
Do hire people who inspire and work well with others. Don’t hire people who prefer to work alone.
Do hire people who will grow with your team and with the company. Don’t hire people with narrow skill sets or interests.
Do hire people who are well rounded, with unique interests and talents. Don’t hire people who live only to work.
Do hire people who are ethical and who communicate openly. Don’t hire people who are political and manipulative.
Do hire only when you’ve found a great candidate. Don’t settle for anything less.
Habitually Overcommunicate
- Focus on the following:
- does the communication reinfroce core themes that you want everyone to get
- is the communication effective
- is the communication interesting, fun, or inspirational
- is the communication authentic
- is the communication going to the right people
- are you using the right media
- tell the truth, be humble, and bank goodwill for a rainy day
If you are a router, make sure you are a good one.
70/20/10
- 70% of projects related to core business
- 20% to emerging products that had achieved some success
- 10% for completely new things that have high risk of failure
20% time
- different than 70/20/10, which covers operational time
- this is more conceptual, where employees have a 20% dedicated bandwidth to work on completely speculative projects
- examples are gmail
- failure is OK as long as you learn
Other kernels
- Spend 80 percent of your time on 80 percent of your revenue
- every meeting needs an owner
Thoughts
Google is perhaps the most successful business of the last 50 years, and the things they needed to do to scale as quickly as they needed to might not be applicable to everyone else. The Google brand allows for a certain approach that other, less innovative companies just can’t get away with. I wonder how much of what Google can do is because of their absurd margins and revenue numbers. They can overcome sunk cost much more easily because their bottom line is so enormous.