Lessons from Google

First a minor song which got stuck to my head after hearing it from Glee.

Now for the actual post…

Technology is the wave nowadays. In the forefront of it all, we see two main competitors: Google and Apple. We’ve had a lot of posts about Apple before, so let’s focus a bit more on Google in the time being. We have all heard about Google’s ‘creative’ environment and their natural lure for innovative employees. But what does all of that mean? And most importantly, what can we learn from the Google model?

Brin and Page? Remember those two Standford Phds who started it all? Their company has one of the most relaxed work environments ever. You have free snack bars, a gym, volley ball courts; you name it. Cafeteria food is SO delicious that even Yahoo employees sneak over to eat there! (TechCrunch is the magazine which spread this rumor) They even provide dental, health, and psychiatric professionals to help employees DURING work. ON TOP OF ALL THIS you get free time (which is paid for, and is 20% of your overall work time) to think about innovative ideas for technological change. So tell me…doesn’t this sound like a dream place to work at? Leisure activities, good food, excellent physical care, and also paid creativity. It has been reported that Google receives around 100 applicants per day. That means they get to pick some of the best and finest talent out there to work for them!

Now, I’m not trying to sell Google out to you guys. Bear with me, and look at the results. Google’s employees are motivated. They are VERY motivated. Around 1000 of Google’s employees have become millionaires through Google’s stocks. BUT THEY DIDN’T STOP WORKING THERE. They continued and continued, striving to better the company, working extremely hard for the company. Porter would say here that switching costs are high for employees. Maslow would refer to how each employee has found all five of the pyramid blocks being fulfilled by Google. I would say that Google’s culture is very deeply rooted and one that employee’s cannot and do not want to detach themselves from. The strategic alignment of employees and the company’s vision of organizing the world’s information is so highly successful. Let’s look at some visual results:

Google’s very own mobile phone:

Google’s latest internet television:

You can see them slowly dominating the information technology sector. Soon everything you see and the information you want to access will be Google dominated!

So let’s just pause.

What happened? How did they suddenly grow?

Well, the two Standford Phds quickly realized in the 1990s that information was the wave of the future. And that’s where their business opportunity seizing skill comes into play. They designed an algorithm for fun, made it faster than other search engines, and wham! Google is the most well known search engine there is now.

To maintain their growth, they relied on the powers of their employees, which enjoy seeing the company expand. They feel that their work is THEIR work. They want to do things to make the company strive. It’s an emotional stimulus which drives them more than anything. The culture has maintained Google’s growth over the years.

So what next? I guess my guess is that Google will continue expanding into different markets and finding out new ways to organize information. But we never know what those creative guys are up to there…

How did anyone think of that? Seriously, genius.