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Monday, February 27, 2017

The Google Secret - And What I Learned From It



Two collegues recommended me this book and one of them was constantly quoting from it so I just couldn't help but had to read it.


Image result for google laszlo bock


And I haven't regretted doing so.
I did not only find really helpful tips for business but also for my personal daily life.
I was especially thrilled by the fact that the author of the book is a Hungarian immigrant to the USA.

The book is not about dry facts but about stories and anecdotes from within Google, as well as from other companies the author worked for or had contact with.

So here is a quick summary about the main facts:
1. Everyone wants their work to have purpose. As a teacher and also later in another field I learned that people wanted to know why it was important to learn or do that given thing. So do not be satisfied with the fact that you know the purpose, explain it to others. It may save you from lots of quarrels with your partner at home as well. :)
2. Trust your people. For some people it is easier, for others it takes more time to trust people. But you can be sure that if someone has the feeling you do not trust them, they will give up and be more and more negligent. In my opinion this again is very important in your private life: If you think your partner or child will not do this or that, after a while they will not even try.
3. Hire only people who are better than you. Many people are afraid of doing so. But how could you trust someone('s work) if you know they are not better at it than you.
4. Don't confuse development with managing performance. 
5. Focus on the two tails. There is no denial about the act that there are average, very good and very bad employees at every workplace. Focus on the strengths and weaknesses. For the good, learn everything you can from them. For the bad, help them learn, refocus or if all else fails, exit them.
6. Be generous. The book says that most of the services offered to googlers for free, do not mean a lot of  cost for the company. With good organization you can help even with only petty expenses. And what is even more important not everything has to cost money, .
7. Pay unfairly. Most of the value on your teams comes from the top employes, so pay them accordingly. However, with this rule, you should be very careful within the family.
8. Nudge. Commands normally meet resistance. Rather nudge on things you consider as important.
9. Manage the rising expectations.  Once you "give" someone something more than once, they will most feel that they deserve it and expect you to give it or even more continually. Make sure that it will not always be like that until the end of times. It might be a good trick with your teenage children as well. :)
10. Enjoy! And then go back to No. 1 and start again. “Building a great culture and environment requires constant learning and renewal.”


How about you?  Have you read it? Did you profit from it?

XX,

Pippi


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