Eric and Jonathan cover a vast territory in their engaging discussion of Google's leadership in our software driven era. While their Google specific comments are singularly informed and compelling, I suspect their most valuable lessons are those applicable to virtually any venture. Many of these are recurring thematics within discussions of modern leadership, but rarely have so many useful concepts been so well and accessibly summarized as in "How." Despite 30 plus years in the business I furiously jotted margin notes throughout the book, reminding myself for instance, of the primacy of purpose, as illustrated by the story of a company, beginning with why it is important that it exists; the defining competitive separation afforded by traction and momentum or, get big fast; speed kills; iteration informs. This is a great read; informative, smart and wise, as reflected by their admiration of John Wooden and his aphorism "it's what you learn after you know it all that counts." For those interested I'll summarize below my 'Top 10' of the books many quality, illustrative elements. There are abundant actionable insights in this book and of course, the occasional tendril of presumption. Overall, my sentiment about the book is summarized by my ordering copies for my sons, nieces and nephews, regardless of the sectors they work within, or majors they are pursuing.
My 'Top 10' of appreciated observations:
1. Crowded work spaces fuel contagious energy and spontaneity; the physical presence of team members matters.
2. Keep management lean, with numerous direct reports per manager to assure leadership is crisp and micro-management rare.
3. Ignorance is not bliss, knowledge is instructive; share virtually everything about the company's business with all employees.
4. Smaller teams for building products; larger to sustain and grow.
5. Deliver transformative products, driven as much or more by insight as evident market demand. PS: platforms with leverage win.
6. Leaders don't delegate hiring; hire smart, curious learners and pay handsomely for impact.
7. Be mindful of your career objectives; sketch the larger ambition, then plan its execution, while remaining smartly opportunistic.
8. Spend 80% of your time on the stuff that generates 80% of your revenues; the new is seductive, but keep your focus balanced.
9. There are only a few truly important messages; assure they are heard: to quote Eric: "repetition doesn't spoil the prayer."
10. It's what you do that counts.
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The book re-introduced Google to me
The book “How Google Works” showed readers how to deal with product positioning, corporation cultural and high IQ employee management at the founding stage of Google. There are few details I am very interested in. Google came up with a unique algorithm for their search engine which is ranking the most relative results first, no based on the fees you paid to them. This rule creates a fair environment for all businesses and therefore creates a healthy cyber competition style. Google believes that a perfect search engine will give you all you need. That is the way they position their product which is also their core strength. They also believe that a perfect search engine should work well with other devices. For example, Google’s search product-Google Now can remind people when to leave home for your flight based on the traffic. It involves Gmail, Google Map, Google Flight and Google Calendar. It seems a very complicated process. But Google is working in this way to create the perfect search platform in their mind. I really enjoy reading this book because it reveals how an excellent corporation is making innovation for everyone in the world. They are not just following the old business model to make profits for shareholders. They are learning from customers all the time to predict people’s behaviors. At the same time, they are creating a perfect online platform for all the customers.
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2014
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Top reviews from other countries
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chrisReviewed in France on June 30, 2024
L'innovation au coeur de la culture d'entreprise
Le livre explore en profondeur la culture unique de Google, y compris son approche de la transparence, de la prise de décision décentralisée, et de la valorisation des idées par rapport à la hiérarchie. Eric Schmidt et Jonathan Rosenberg partagent des leçons précieuses et des stratégies pratiques basées sur leur expérience chez Google. J'ai adoré ce livre et n'ai pas regretté de le prendre en anglaischrisL'innovation au coeur de la culture d'entreprise
Reviewed in France on June 30, 2024
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- Macaque RougeReviewed in Canada on November 20, 2019
Makes me want to work for Google
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