I feel lucky that  Sauder’s BCom Student Lounge has a coffee vending machine. Most employees feel lucky if their office has a snack bar. But they will be jealous when they step into Google offices. Employees get to zoom down tube slides and walk at a treadmill desk while getting work done. Better yet, engineers get to design their own workstation. Oh, and there’s no need to show you’re working – yes, you won’t get fired. Here’s my take:

1. Voluntary work and innovation 

Google’s corporate culture stands in contrast to the corporate culture of other global corporations. Google employee Alison Mooney, once a former employee at an advertising firm, said, “The culture here is to shut down on weekends. People have a life”. Of course, this would work for a company like Google that depends on innovation and collaboration. But would so much freedom thrive in a company that operates based on strict and conservative rules? I would say not. In my view, what every company should learn from Google is its ability to shape a positive community without having to use coercion.

 2. People analytics

I’ve always been amazed by the design of Google’s offices around the world. So I did a few searches online and found that their vision is “to create the happiest, most productive workplace in the world.” A study by MIT scientist Ben Waber shows that employee productivity and collaboration has to do in large part with physical space. I was surprised. Why? Because I’ve always thought that intrinsic motivation, thus higher productivity, is the result of from challenging work and recognition.

To me, Google’s offices did not look so much like a headquarter of the world’s biggest tech company as to a playground. The offices looked too fun to be true. But recall what Harvard business professor Teresa Amabile said, “In over 30 years of research, I’ve found that people do their most creative work when they’re motivated by the work itself.” Google’s corporate culture tends towards innovation and creativity. And for them, this means designing offices in a way that facilitates the process of new ideas.

If companies want their employees to be as productive as Google’s, maybe it’s time to design workplaces that shape a community.