(88)How Google Works by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg

Sunday, December 30, 2018


My husband and I found ourselves on an unexpected road trip recently, so of course, we had to find an audiobook to help pass the time.  Usually, I am the audiobook DJ for our road trips, but this time my husband chose the book.  I admit that I had little faith that it would be a book to hold my interest.  I was wrong.

In How Google Works Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg take us behind the scenes one of the greatest tech giants on the planet.   From fostering a creative culture to hiring practices they cover it all.  Some things I found interesting was the fact that they hire by committee and very rarely is the actual manager of the interviewee involved in the process. Culture is so important to them that everything they do goes back to culture.  The founders of the company set up a TGIF event where employees can ask them anything.  Attendance is not required, but nothing is off limits.  Now that the company is in the tens of thousands, the employees put forth the questions and those with the most "likes" get answered. That kind of transparency is rare.

One other thing that I found interesting is that Google gives their employees the opportunity to spend 20% of their time to work on passion projects.  Like a group of astronomy buffs used their 20% time to create Google Sky.  Not every project makes it to full development, but many do.

Surprisingly enough, they even discuss at length, the compensation given to employees.  To attract the best you have to pay the best.  Pay people what they are worth and they will exceed your expectations.   And you want something done - give it to your best person to do. No matter how much work is already on their plate.  Trust them to tell you when it is too much.

Bottom line - How Google Works was a really fascinating book that not only gives you a peek into such a successful company, but it gives you practical advice that can be applied to any industry.

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