Schmidt Eric, Rosenberg Jonathan. How Google Works

Grand Central Publishing, 2014. — 304 p. — ISBN: 9781455582341.Google Executive Chairman and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt and former SVP of Products Jonathan Rosenberg came to Google over a decade ago as proven technology executives. At the time, the company was already well-known for doing things differently, reflecting the visionary-and frequently contrarian-principles of founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. If Eric and Jonathan were going to succeed, they realized they would have to relearn everything they thought they knew about management and business.
Today, Google is a global icon that regularly pushes the boundaries of innovation in a variety of fields. How Google Works is an entertaining, page-turning primer containing lessons that Eric and Jonathan learned as they helped build the company. The authors explain how technology has shifted the balance of power from companies to consumers, and that the only way to succeed in this ever-changing landscape is to create superior products and attract a new breed of multifaceted employees whom Eric and Jonathan dub "smart creatives." Covering topics including corporate culture, strategy, talent, decision-making, communication, innovation, and dealing with disruption, the authors illustrate management maxims ("Consensus requires dissension," "Exile knaves but fight for divas," "Think 10X, not 10%") with numerous insider anecdotes from Google's history, many of which are shared here for the first time.
In an era when everything is speeding up, the best way for businesses to succeed is to attract smart-creative people and give them an environment where they can thrive at scale. How Google Works explains how to do just that.Welcome
Dedication
Foreword
Introduction—Lessons Learned from the Front Row
“Just go talk to the engineers”
The Finland plan
When astonishing isn’t
Speed
The “smart creative”
A fun project for the two of us
Pyramids unbuilt
Culture—Believe Your Own Slogans
Keep them crowded
Work, eat, and live together
Your parents were wrong—messiness is a virtue
Don’t listen to the HiPPOs
The rule of seven
Every tub (not) on its own bottom
Do all reorgs in a day
The Bezos two-pizza rule
Organize the company around the people whose impact is the highest
Exile knaves but fight for divas
Overworked in a good way
Establish a culture of Yes
fun, not Fun
You must wear something
Ah’cha’rye
Don’t be evil
Strategy—Your Plan Is Wrong
Bet on technical insights, not market research
A period of combinatorial innovation
Don’t look for faster horses
Optimize for growth
Coase and the nature of the firm
Specialize
Default to open, not closed
Default to open, except when…
Don’t follow competition
Eric’s Notes for a Strategy Meeting
Talent—Hiring Is the Most Important Thing You Do
The herd effect
Passionate people don’t use the word
Hire learning animals
The LAX test
Insight that can’t be taught
Expand the aperture
Everyone knows someone great
Interviewing is the most important skill
Schedule interviews for thirty minutes
Have an opinion
Friends don’t let friends hire (or promote) friends
Urgency of the role isn’t sufficiently important to compromise quality in hiring
Disproportionate rewards
Trade the M&Ms, keep the raisins
If you love them, let them go (but only after taking these steps)
Firing sucks
Google’s Hiring Dos and Don’ts
Career—Choose the F-16
Treat your career like you are surfing
Always listen for those who get technology
Plan your career
Statistics is the new plastics
Read
Know your elevator pitch
Go abroad
Combine passion with contribution
Decisions—The True Meaning of Consensus
Decide with data
Beware the bobblehead yes
Know when to ring the bell
Make fewer decisions
Meet every day
“You’re both right”
Every meeting needs an owner
Horseback law
Spend 80 percent of your time on 80 percent of your revenue
Have a succession plan
■ The World’s Best Athletes Need Coaches, and You Don’t?
Communications—Be a Damn Good Router
Default to open
Know the details
It must be safe to tell the truth
Start the conversation
Repetition doesn’t spoil the prayer
How was London?
Review yourself
Email wisdom
Have a playbook
Relationships, not hierarchy
Innovation—Create the Primordial Ooze
What is innovation?
Understand your context
The CEO needs to be the CIO
Focus on the user…
Think big
Set (almost) unattainable goals
70/20/10
20 percent time
■ Jonathan’s Favorite 20 Percent Project
Ideas come from anywhere
Ship and iterate
Fail well
It’s not about money
Conclusion—Imagine the Unimaginable
From Downton Abbey to Diapers.com
Who succeeds and who fails in a world of platforms?
The emergence of the social web (and a start-up called Facebook)
Ask the hardest questions
The role of government
Big problems are information problems
The future’s so bright…
The next smart creativeA Note About the Authors
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