Front cover image for How Google works

How Google works

Eric Schmidt (Author), Jonathan Rosenberg (Author), Alan Eagle (Contributor)
"Jack Welch's Straight from the Gut was once the essential primer for managers, but today's leaders need a new playbook. In HOW GOOGLE WORKS, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg distill their decades of working in the high-tech industry into a practical and fun-to-read guide for those who want to succeed in an ever-changing business landscape. The book offers how-to advice on strategy, corporate culture, talent, decision-making, innovation, communication and dealing with disruption. The authors explain how the confluence of three seismic changes--the internet, mobile, and cloud computing--has shifted the balance of power between consumer and corporation. The companies that thrive will be the ones that create superior products and attract a new breed of multi-faceted employees whom the authors dub "smart creatives." The management maxims are illustrated with previously unreported anecdotes from Google's corporate history. "Back in 2010, Eric and I created an internal class for Google managers focusing on the lessons the management team learned the hard way," says Rosenberg. "The class slides all said 'Google confidential' until an employee suggested we uphold the spirit of openness and share them with the world. This book codifies the recipe for our secret sauce: how Google innovates and how Google empowers employees to succeed.""-- Provided by publisher
eBook, English, 2014
First edition View all formats and editions
Grand Central Publishing, New York, NY, 2014
eBook
1 online resource
9781455530922, 9788892525511, 9781322151496, 1455530921, 8892525514, 1322151490
883317810
Intro; Title Page; Table of Contents; Welcome; Dedication; Foreword; How Alphabet Works; 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 highestExile 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 DoThe 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'tsCareer-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