An Year Since Google

You hear it said in Google...... Once a Googler, always a Googler.  Today, it's an year since I quit, so for an acknowledgement of what the seven years there meant to me, and for enabling the move beyond in more ways than one, this one's to Google.

I have this doc called random jottings in which I put down anything interesting I come across, in books, meetings, talks, workshops, anywhere. I'll put a few of those that are Google specific here:

1) Hiring: I think Google's really cracked this one.

When hiring or interviewing, what's kept in mind: Hire at the level of potential rather than skills. In the long term, already acquired skills won't hold through, a self motivated and enthusiastic individual will.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious” – Einstein 

A self check test that works brilliantly: would you want to spend a long long flight next to this person?  (I personally love this one)

We need great people, not people who are great at doing one thing. 

2) Managing: At Google managing is more about inspiring and enabling

The most important attribute in an organization is its ability to get out of the way

As French writer Antoine de Saint Exupery wrote: "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up men to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." 

3) Communication: Some key concepts that are ingrained in the culture

Over communicate in all ways all the time: There's no such thing as too much communication. When you think you have communicated something too much, you're probably just beginning to get through.
There is no better way to inspire employees and build loyalty than to overcommunicate.

Transparency: It’s complete transparency across the field, the default setting is to share information at every level, everyone aligns into ultimate mission of the company

You have to trust people to do this, and people appreciate it when you trust them. A trusted work force is a loyal work force.

Each word matters:  Communicating a lot doesn't mean rambling on in long-winded emails. Put in the effort to make it easily readable and retainable. Be crisp and direct and choose each word wisely

4) Disproportionally reward risk-takers and performance.

Management's job is not to prevent risk but to build the capability to recover when failures occur.

5) Decision Making: It's all about consensus and not unanimity.

None of us is as smart as all of us. And remember, there's no consensus without dissent. 

If you’re stuck and you don’t know what the right answer is, say “Focus on the user”

6) Where there is harmony, there is no innovation.

Consider Jewish yeshiva students. They are in an institution for studying the traditional Jewish texts. They are not there to memorize the texts, they are there to discuss and argue about them. So even though they are reading texts that are thousands of years old, they argue about the meaning of those texts... and in doing so, they uncover new ideas, and reach new consensus, based on the same words that Jewish people have been reading for centuries. 

7) A good crisis is a terrible thing to waste: Many management challenges and crises are in fact teaching opportunities. The crisis is the built in narrative! Use it.

Seven for seven years :)

This is visual memory of my first trip to Google MV

Dorota, Maciek (pronounced magic), Mike, Elena and Me

Thanks Google ! Learnt much and Had loads of Fun too !