Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead
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- Create Date：2023-03-11 09:55:39
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Laszlo Bock
- ISBN：1444792385
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Summary
A New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Daily Telegraph， Huffington Post & Business Insider Top Business Book to Read 'Every year， 2 million people apply for a job at Google - so what's the secret？' Guardian A compelling manifesto with the potential to change how we work and live， Work Rules！ offers both a philosophy of the new world of work and a blueprint for attracting the most spectacular talent and ensuring the brightest and best prosper。 The way we work is changing - are you？Author BiographyLaszlo Bock leads Google's people function， which includes all areas related to the attraction， development， and retention of 'Googlers'， of which there are more than 50，000 in seventy offices worldwide。 His revolutionary methods have transformed how Silicon Valley harnesses the greatest talent on the planet。 During his tenure， Google has been recognized over 100 times as an exceptional employer， including being named the #1 Best Company to work for in the US and sixteen other countries。 Laszlo has advised President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board and the Office of Personnel Management， and been featured in The Wall Street Journal， New York Times， PBS Newshour and on the Today Show。 - Work Rules！ By Laszlo Bock （Paperback）
Reviews
Shannon Gray
，
Read this for a work book club。 Insightful but can tell this book was written 8 years ago， there are some things that are dated and just not as applicable in today’s world。 But still found some aspects very interesting and brought up good conversation in the book club。
Hailey Rapa
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Another required reading for work。 Not a bad book， just not as exciting as my personal reads😂
Anna K
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Work rules:- take your parents to work day is so cute - [The interviewee] is making a bigger decision than you。 Companies have many employees but a person only has one job。 - Hire someone better than you （smarter， etc in some way）- 4 distinct attributes to predict if someone were to be successful at Google - 1: General cognitive ability。 （Learning and adapting in life - not ACT/SAT scores）。 2: Leadership。 Step up and contribute， and recede back into the team once the time for your specific neede Work rules:- take your parents to work day is so cute - [The interviewee] is making a bigger decision than you。 Companies have many employees but a person only has one job。 - Hire someone better than you （smarter， etc in some way）- 4 distinct attributes to predict if someone were to be successful at Google - 1: General cognitive ability。 （Learning and adapting in life - not ACT/SAT scores）。 2: Leadership。 Step up and contribute， and recede back into the team once the time for your specific needed skills has passed。 （We don’t want people who use “I”more than “We”， or focus more on “what” they accomplished， rather than “how。”） 3: Googliness。 Not neatly defined but includes: enjoying fun， intellectual humility （hard to learn if you can’t admit that you might be wrong）， a strong measure of conscientiousness （we want owners not employees）， comfort with ambiguity， and evidence that you’ve taken courageous or interesting paths in life。 4: Role-related knowledge （By far least important attribute）。 - Maslow: “I suppose it is tempting if the only tool you have is a hammer， to treat everything as if it were a nail。” You miss the opportunity to create something new if you aren’t open to learning！- In contrast， curious people who are open to learning will figure out the right answers in almost all cases。 And have a much greater chance of creating a truly novel solution。 - The best candidates for leadership leave subordinates excited and inspired。- If you expect little， that’s what you’ll get- Richard Bock: “Argue for your limitations， and sure enough， they’re yours。”- In the absence of clear evidence， everyone became an expert。 - The structural holes between social groups: “people who stand near the holes in a social structure are at higher risk of having good ideas。 People with tight social networks often have similar ideas and ways of looking at things。 Over time， creativity dies。 But the handful of people who operate in the overlapping space between groups， tend to come up with better ideas and often， they’re not even original。 They’re an application of an idea from one group to a new group。- The usual image of creativity is that it’s some sort of genetic gift， but it’s an import/export game。 。。。more
David Robillard
，
Very interesting， lots of great ideas that one can implement at work even without Google's financial strength。 A tad old now as some details have shifted quite a lot since it was published in 2015。 Massive layoffs at Google and Jawbone went bankrupt。 But still， well worth the read。 Thank you Mr。 Bock。 Very interesting， lots of great ideas that one can implement at work even without Google's financial strength。 A tad old now as some details have shifted quite a lot since it was published in 2015。 Massive layoffs at Google and Jawbone went bankrupt。 But still， well worth the read。 Thank you Mr。 Bock。 。。。more
Andrew Njoo
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This book is about Google’s people management。Some points are pay unfairly， nudge and pay attention to hiring the best。I thought this book was ok only。
Sophie
，
The author demonstrates ten rules for hiring， managing， human operation， and forming a company's culture by letting employees recognize the value they contribute to their work。 This is especially a must-read when preparing for job interviews。 The author demonstrates ten rules for hiring， managing， human operation， and forming a company's culture by letting employees recognize the value they contribute to their work。 This is especially a must-read when preparing for job interviews。 。。。more
Taloot S。
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New work rules to become big & better
Diana
，
Варто прочитати
Juan Tejasa
，
Este libro es de obligada lectura para persona que trabaje en la actualidad en un área de recursos humanos
Jolyn Moh
，
I bought this book due to the raving reviews and it was such a tedious read。 Content Granted， there are great and valid points， but most of these are bogged and clouded with unnecessary and excessive history about Google， other research points and lengthy detailed experiments that they have conducted in the day-to-day life of an HR executive。 Definitely would have been much better condensed to a 100+ pages book instead of the current 406 pages it has。 Context I also read that the book was copyri I bought this book due to the raving reviews and it was such a tedious read。 Content Granted， there are great and valid points， but most of these are bogged and clouded with unnecessary and excessive history about Google， other research points and lengthy detailed experiments that they have conducted in the day-to-day life of an HR executive。 Definitely would have been much better condensed to a 100+ pages book instead of the current 406 pages it has。 Context I also read that the book was copyrighted in 2015， and maybe that's why most of its contents are not that relevant in the modern world today， especially if you are already immersed in a similar US tech company culture yourself。 Unless you are only familiar with the 1990s management style， the way the company conducts itself is not that groundbreaking， especially after the unprecedented covid crisis that forced every company to adapt to more flexible work arrangements （well almost）。 A lot of the examples Laszlo brought up are either only actionable in the HR realm， or a super unique company like Google， or both。 Google is different because of the outstanding position it has on its margins and revenue。 Not every company can go to the extent of what Google does - which is arguably overboard with its benefits - whether is it giving you a $5，000 subsidy if you want to buy an electric car or having bicycles in the workplace， they don't necessarily help to retain the employees。 In fact， they might be bolstering the entitlement that Googlers might feel。 Summary of my highlights - Organising information and making it accessible and useful is a good thing- Aim to give purpose and meaning to the work you do， this significance transcends careerism and money- There are people who are mediocre performers and then went on to greatness， but that is due to changing the type of work they do and the context， rather than more training- The top performers in most industries aren't actually looking for work， because they are enjoying their success right where they are- What matters is what you bring to the company and how you've distinguished yourself: resilience and an ability to overcome hardship- Each of us is susceptible to the conveniences and small thrills of power- Micromanagement is mismanagement， some people feel better if they are continuously directing/controlling the actions of others。 This reveals emotional insecurity on their part- Pick an area where your people are frustrated， and let them fix it。 If there are constraints， limited time or money， tell them what they are。- Star performers suffer an immediate and lasting decline in performance when they move to a new company because their prior success had been dependent on co-workers， resources， fit with company's culture and even the personal reputation and brand they had built up。- Reward thoughtful failure- Celebrate accomplishment， not compensation- Most companies celebrate promotions but do nothing to reach out to the people who just missed the cut。Predictors of Performance from a 1998 study based on 85 years of research- Work Sample test （29%）- General Cognitive Ability （26%） - the combination of raw intelligence and learning ability will make most people successful in most jobs- Structured Interviews （26%） - "Tell me about a time your behaviour had a positive impact on your team。 What was your primary goal and why？ How did your teammates respond？ Moving forward， what is your plan？" - "Tell me about a time when you effectively managed your team to achieve a goal。 What did your approach look like？ What were your targets and how did you meet them as an individual and as a team？ How did you adapt your leadership approach to different individuals？ Key takeaway ？" - "Tell me about a time when you had difficulty working with someone。 What made this person difficult to work with for you？ What steps did you take to resolve the problem？ Outcome？ What could you have done differently？"On the topic of upgrading your employees， you can consider the writings of K。 Anders Ericsson， who is a professor of psychology at Florida State University who has studied the acquisition of expert-level skill for decades。 Suggestions include: - teaching employees to shard their activities into tiny actions， and make minor adjustments for improvements- This is known as deliberate practice: intentional repetitions of similar， small tasks with immediate feedback， correction， and experimentation- This helps to elevate the specialised skills that employees are trying to hone- An example of such training is How to respond to a furious client， to which McKinsey had a labour-intensive way of providing the training， but it works because it employed the principles of deliberate practice。French Fry MomentAn adaptation from an episode of 30 Rock， an actor was furious when his staff only brought him the hamburger he ordered， and not the fries that he did not ask for。 The message is that people （especially executives） are delighted when you anticipate what they didn't think to ask for。 However， as you think about your own french fry moments， keep in mind that they are thankless。 。。。more
Tawnya Sanders
，
Several years ago the teachers at my sons district talked about google and the district trying some of the things google did。 The special project my sons school did for several years was dropped。 Looks like the district and teachers could have used this book。
Javier Duran
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Un lujo para los profesionales de RRHH。 Algo a lo que toda organización debería aspirar a ser。
Will
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Great book from an executive of People Operations at Google。 A significant portion of the book is intermediate management skills that are written about by other authors such as Peter Drucker。 Ultimately I think what makes Google special is the focus on data and pragmatism to getting great work done。 Recommend for beginner to intermediate managers for a book to keep on your shelf to reference。
Frank
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Work Rules！ is an interesting history about Google and how it has tried to become a more productive company through culture， recruiting， interviewing， training， performance management， pay， benefits， nudging， etc。 The book is copyrighted in 2015 and much has changed about the company though the DNA has not transformed dramatically。Mr。 Bock concludes with the fundamental question about whether people are good。 He asserts that people are good and that is the foundation for how Google operates。 But Work Rules！ is an interesting history about Google and how it has tried to become a more productive company through culture， recruiting， interviewing， training， performance management， pay， benefits， nudging， etc。 The book is copyrighted in 2015 and much has changed about the company though the DNA has not transformed dramatically。Mr。 Bock concludes with the fundamental question about whether people are good。 He asserts that people are good and that is the foundation for how Google operates。 But then he unconvincingly connects this to a sermon by a Christian preacher， Jonathan Edwards， from the 18th century speaking about the sinful nature of man。 Mr。 Bock says those who believe in such beliefs are the ones who manage companies with rules， rewards， and punishments。 Mr。 Bock then offers as proof the words of a famous modern psychologist and atheist， Steven Pinker。First it is ignorant to say that believing in the Christian view of the sinful nature of man leads to a business management style that is controlling。 And that believing in an atheist point of view like that of Mr。 Pinker's will lead to a management style more like Google's。 I am sure that Christians and atheists have led both styles of companies。 Also Mr。 Bock ignores the fact that Christians also believe all people are created in the image of God。Second you can believe that people are good but I don't think many people will argue with the fact that Googlers are among the most entitled people in Silicon Valley。 One only has to look at the questions at TGIF over the last twelve months to see that。 And the daily grumblings from Googlers about how the food sucks， how the snacks suck， how they are underpaid， how they don't have this benefit or that， etc。Third it is rather curious to me that only a chapter before， Mr。 Bock spoke about the controversy of the Free Tibet pie。 He said that probably 1 billion people believe that Tibet should be free and another 1 billion believe it is part of China。 I guess his conclusion was that you should be able to say whatever you want because in his final chapter he decided， without an intellectually valid reason， to take out of context and stigmatize a faith of billions of people。 。。。more
Bethany
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This was nicely written with a “here’s how we did it， think it’s good because， here’s how you can try it” format。 Got a few good ideas， thought about a few things differently （like pay）。 Felt a bit inspired to try to change the world。 Hopefully more of this stuff continues to catch on。 The book is older and my company is just starting to try some of these same ideas。 We aren’t going crazy， but making things better one small thing at a time， can add up to be a lot。 I hope google continues to infl This was nicely written with a “here’s how we did it， think it’s good because， here’s how you can try it” format。 Got a few good ideas， thought about a few things differently （like pay）。 Felt a bit inspired to try to change the world。 Hopefully more of this stuff continues to catch on。 The book is older and my company is just starting to try some of these same ideas。 We aren’t going crazy， but making things better one small thing at a time， can add up to be a lot。 I hope google continues to influence the world of work in such momentous ways。 。。。more
Yanal
，
Blinks:1。 The secret to Google's culture is its mission， transparency， and voice2。 Hire the best people by looking beyond their degrees and focusing on the right kind of training3。 Let your people - with the help of data - run the show4。 Both your best and worst employees represent opportunities for your company - seize them！5。 Stop wasting resources on bad training， and use the best teachers within your own company6。 Sometimes Google rewards failure and pays people unfairly。 Why？7。 Google confr Blinks:1。 The secret to Google's culture is its mission， transparency， and voice2。 Hire the best people by looking beyond their degrees and focusing on the right kind of training3。 Let your people - with the help of data - run the show4。 Both your best and worst employees represent opportunities for your company - seize them！5。 Stop wasting resources on bad training， and use the best teachers within your own company6。 Sometimes Google rewards failure and pays people unfairly。 Why？7。 Google confronts the dark side of its culture head on 。。。more
Marc Wilson
，
Awesome to hear an inside view of Google from the top。
Phlu
，
Extra credit for being candid。 The struggles ring true and you can sense and feel that the author loves what they do and genuinely tries to solve problems。 There are some clunky moments and there is a lot of clarity in hindsight but I thought there was value in this book。 It attempts to talk to and not talk at - I think it does a pretty good job of that。 And it is one of the rare books that age well。 In fact a lot of the things it talks about that seemed out of reach and revolutionary are now co Extra credit for being candid。 The struggles ring true and you can sense and feel that the author loves what they do and genuinely tries to solve problems。 There are some clunky moments and there is a lot of clarity in hindsight but I thought there was value in this book。 It attempts to talk to and not talk at - I think it does a pretty good job of that。 And it is one of the rare books that age well。 In fact a lot of the things it talks about that seemed out of reach and revolutionary are now common practice or at least things a lot of companies aspire to do。I recommend this book to people outside the people function。 。。。more
Юлія Гордійченко
，
Напевно， усім би хотілося мати таку роботу， де витрачаєш мінімум зусиль， а отримуєш максимум; керівництво погоджується на всі твої найбожевільніші ідеї та пропозиції， а колеги - це кльові друзі， з якими ніколи не буває конфліктів。 Що ж， навіть в Google такого не існує。 Автор детально розповідає， як Google намагається бути такою ідеальною організацією， впроваджуючи масу цікавих і важливих елементів: опитування всередині команд， вільний доступ до будь-яких ресурсів та до найвищого керівництва， дош Напевно， усім би хотілося мати таку роботу， де витрачаєш мінімум зусиль， а отримуєш максимум; керівництво погоджується на всі твої найбожевільніші ідеї та пропозиції， а колеги - це кльові друзі， з якими ніколи не буває конфліктів。 Що ж， навіть в Google такого не існує。 Автор детально розповідає， як Google намагається бути такою ідеальною організацією， впроваджуючи масу цікавих і важливих елементів: опитування всередині команд， вільний доступ до будь-яких ресурсів та до найвищого керівництва， дошки оголошень скарг і пропозицій， тисячі можливостей для спрощення роботи。 І що ці принципи можуть втілити навіть найменші компанії （ех。。 якби ж）。Для мене цінними були декілька тез。 1。 Наймати потрібно тільки найкращих людей。 Нехай це забере від 1 до 6 місяців пошуку， але воно того варте， якщо людина - ідеальний кандидат。2。 Людям треба давати якомога більше свободи。 Вони знають， що з нею робити。 Якщо набирати найкращих кандидатів， звісно。3。 Цінності компанії мають поділяти усі без виключення。 Керівник і рядовий солдат на одному рівні。4。 Треба винагороджувати своїх найкращих людей， бо буде дуже боляче якщо вони підуть。 І допомагати найгіршим， бо усім можуть помилятися。5。 Гроші - це дуже погана мотивація。 Людей об'єднує спільна ідея та мета。Читаєш і переосмислюєш свої попередні місця роботи і радієш， чому пішов_ла。 І задумуєшся， як покращити теперішнє， бо дійсно є ідеї， які не потребують великих коштів та часового ресурсу。 Головне - це бажання та ініціативність， як звичайних працівників， так і керівників。 。。。more
Jake
，
4/5Really enjoyed this， and frankly wasn’t sure I even wanted to read it at first。 This resonated with many of the views I have about what makes a good workplace and how to structure a team or company （and more importantly how to build a self sustaining culture of） “great place to work”
Priit Tohver
，
I'd been wanting to read this book for the longest time， and after the first few chapters I was unimpressed。 Laszlo emphasizes early that his advice is universal and doesn't only apply to tech giants， but coming from a miniature country and working in a field that is short some 15 million workers globally， I could hardly relate to having a byzantine multi layer process of recruitment that spans months and ends up with each candidate being vetted by the CEO。 That said， the further into the book I I'd been wanting to read this book for the longest time， and after the first few chapters I was unimpressed。 Laszlo emphasizes early that his advice is universal and doesn't only apply to tech giants， but coming from a miniature country and working in a field that is short some 15 million workers globally， I could hardly relate to having a byzantine multi layer process of recruitment that spans months and ends up with each candidate being vetted by the CEO。 That said， the further into the book I got， the more I found myself jutting down notes and sending samples of paragraphs to colleagues like hey， why the hell don't we do this？ I particularly liked the part about building a learning organization， which really hit home the importance of peer education in a large highly specialized workforce。 By the time I finished the book， I found myself quoting Laszlo near constantly。 Here is one quote I am happy to finish the review with:"We talk about values。 A lot。 And we’re daily confronted with new situations that test those values。 We are held accountable by employees， our users， our partners， and the world。 We aspire to make the right decisions every time， but ultimately we’re an aggregation of fifty thousand people。 Sometimes some of those people make mistakes， and sometimes we as leaders make mistakes。 We are far from perfect。 The test of the company， and of the management style I’m advocating in this book， is not whether it delivers perfection。 It’s whether we stay true to our values and continue to do the right thing even when tested。 And whether we come through those challenges with a more refined commitment， shared among all Googlers， to our beliefs。" 。。。more
Anton Tkalich
，
Одна з найбільших за об'ємом та найвідоміших книг， про одну з найуспішніших технологічних компаній。 В книзі описуються устрій， побут та вся "внутрішня кухня компанії"。 І хоча вона написана в далекому 2015 році， її актуальність навряд буде втрачено。 Описані принципи і культура компанії можуть виглядати суперечливими， занадто оптимістичними і далекими від реальності。 Однак якщо ви знаходитесь в середовищі технологічних компаній， ця книга зможе служити вам як історичний посібник того як було， я яку Одна з найбільших за об'ємом та найвідоміших книг， про одну з найуспішніших технологічних компаній。 В книзі описуються устрій， побут та вся "внутрішня кухня компанії"。 І хоча вона написана в далекому 2015 році， її актуальність навряд буде втрачено。 Описані принципи і культура компанії можуть виглядати суперечливими， занадто оптимістичними і далекими від реальності。 Однак якщо ви знаходитесь в середовищі технологічних компаній， ця книга зможе служити вам як історичний посібник того як було， я яку культуру чи принципи потрібно формувати， для того щоб досягати таких висот 。。。more
Bethany Grubbs
，
Definitely enjoyed！ A good read for anyone pondering systemic change at their org。 There’s even some thought-provoking advice for managers。 Don’t take this as a step-by-step tutorial， as many of the rules are too simplistic to be used at every company; but it’s a good primer to thinking outside the box！
Elson
，
Great overview of Google’s HR
Szabolcs Lőrik
，
fú gecc， a későkapitalista biopolitika csodái 10/10 de közben hidegrázós elidegenedés xd
Archit
，
An insightful read from a Google HR head's perspective ; the author has provided a crisp summary of the practices followed at Google for building teams， retaining employees， performance appraisals and compensation。 And he has contrasted these practices with the industry practices。 Many "best practices" are not followed at Google viz。 Bell Curve （Normal distribution）， 70:20:10 etc。Welch and Conaty had implemented a 20-70-10 performance ranking system，where GE employees were sorted into three grou An insightful read from a Google HR head's perspective ; the author has provided a crisp summary of the practices followed at Google for building teams， retaining employees， performance appraisals and compensation。 And he has contrasted these practices with the industry practices。 Many "best practices" are not followed at Google viz。 Bell Curve （Normal distribution）， 70:20:10 etc。Welch and Conaty had implemented a 20-70-10 performance ranking system，where GE employees were sorted into three groups: the top 20 percent， themiddle 70 percent， and the bottom 10 percent。 The top workers were lionizedand rewarded with choice assignments， leadership training programs， and stockoptions。 The bottom 10 percent were fired。 Under Immelt， the forced distributionwas softened and the crisp labels of “top 20 percent，” “middle 70 percent，” and“bottom 10 percent” were replaced with euphemisms: “top talent，” “highlyvalued，” and “needs improvementOver time I learned that Wegmans and Google weren’t alone in theirapproach。 The Brandix Group is a Sri Lankan clothing manufacturer， with morethan forty plants in Sri Lanka and substantial operations in India andBangladesh。 Ishan Dantanarayana， their chief people officer， told me that theirgoal is “inspiring a large female workforce” by telling employees to “come asyou are and harness your full potential。” In addition to making their CEO andboard accessible to all employees， they provide pregnant women withsupplemental food and medicine; offer a diploma program that allows employeesto learn as they work and even trains them to be entrepreneurs and start theirown businesses; appoint worker councils in all plants to help every employeeinfluence the business; offer scholarships for children of employees; and more。They also give back to the community， for example through their Water &Women program， which builds wells in employees’ villages。 “This elevates thestature of our employees in the community， and they are then privy to cleanwater， which is scarce。”Google’s approach is to cleave the knot。 We deliberately take power andauthority over employees away from managers。 Here is a sample of the decisionsmanagers at Google cannot make unilaterally:Whom to hireWhom to fireHow someone’s performance is ratedHow much of a salary increase， bonus， or stock grant to give someoneWho is selected to win an award for great managementWhom to promoteWhen code is of sufficient quality to be incorporated into our software codebaseThe final design of a product and when to launch itEach of these decisions is instead made either by a group of peers， acommittee， or a dedicated， independent team。Dr。 Kamal Birdi of the University of Sheffield and six other researchersstudied the productivity of 308 companies across twenty-two years and came toa similar conclusion。 These companies had all launched traditional operationsprograms like “total quality management” and “just-in-time inventory control。”Birdi found that these programs sometimes improved productivity in onecompany or another， but “we found no overall performance effect” when thecompanies were looked at in aggregate。 In other words， there was no evidencesuggesting that any of these operations initiatives would reliably and consistentlyimprove performance。So what did？ Performance improved only when companies implementedprograms to empower employees （for example， by taking decision-makingauthority away from managers and giving it to individuals or teams）， providedlearning opportunities that were outside what people needed to do their jobs，increased their reliance on teamwork （by giving teams more autonomy andallowing them to self-organize）， or a combination of these。 These factors“accounted for a 9% increase in value added per employee in our studyThe Web in 1996 was a chaotic mess。 In simplest terms， search engineswanted to show the most relevant， useful Web pages， but ranked them mainly bycomparing the text on a Web page to the search query that was typed。 That left aloophole。 The owner of a Web page could boost his rankings on search engineswith tricks like hiding popular search terms in invisible text on the page。 If youwanted people to come to your pet food site， you could write “pet food” in bluetext on a blue background a hundred times， and your search ranking wouldimprove。 Another trick was to repeat words again and again in the source codethat generated your page but was invisible to a human reader。Larry reasoned that an important signal was being overlooked: what usersthought of the Web page。 The most useful Web pages would have lots of linksfrom other sites， because people would link only to the most useful pages。 Thatsignal would prove to be far more powerful than the words written on the pageitself。But creating a program that could identify every link on the Web and thentabulate the strength of every relationship across all websites at the same timewas an inhumanly complex problem。 Fortunately， Sergey found the problemequally captivating。 They created BackRub， a reference to the backlinks reachingback from the site you saw to the site you had just been on。 In August 1998，Andy Bechtolsheim， one of the cofounders of Sun Microsystems， famouslywrote a $100，000 check to “Google， Inc。” before the company was evenincorporated。 Less well known is that they moments later received a second$100，000 check from Stanford professor David Cheriton， on whose porch theyhad met Andy。24A more recent， and less morally ambiguous， example is Mervin J。 Kelly， whojoined Bell Labs in 1925 and served as president from 1951 to 1959。31 Duringhis tenure， Bell Labs invented lasers and solar cells， laid the first transatlanticphone cable， developed crucial technologies that made possible the rise of themicrochip， and created the foundation for information theory through its work onbinary code systems。 This built on Bell Labs’ earlier work， which included theinvention of the transistor in 1947。A mission that mattersGoogle’s mission is the first cornerstone of our culture。 Our mission is “toorganize the world’s information and make it universally accessible anduseful。”40 How does our mission compare to those of other companies？ Here area few excerpts from other companies in 2013 （emphasis added）:IBM: “We strive to lead in the invention， development and manufactureof the industry’s most advanced information technologies， includingcomputer systems， software， storage systems and microelectronics。 Wetranslate these advanced technologies into value for our customersthrough our professional solutions， services and consulting businessesworldwide。”41McDonald’s: “McDonald’s brand mission is to be our customers’ favoriteplace and way to eat and drink。 Our worldwide operations are alignedaround a global strategy called the Plan to Win， which center on anexceptional customer experience—People， Products， Place， Price andPromotion。 We are committed to continuously improving our operationsand enhancing our customers’ experience。”42Procter & Gamble: “We will provide branded products and services ofsuperior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’sconsumers， now and for generations to come。 As a result， consumers willreward us with leadership sales， profit and value creation， allowing ourpeople， our shareholders and the communities in which we live and workto prosper。”43These are all perfectly reasonable， responsible missions。But two things are immediately obvious from reading these。 First， I owe youan apology for making you slog through corporate mission statements， perhapsthe worst form of literature known to man。 Second， Google’s mission isdistinctive both in its simplicity and in what it doesn’t talk about。 There’s nomention of profit or market。 No mention of customers， shareholders， or users。 Nomention of why this is our mission or to what end we pursue these goals。Instead， it’s taken to be self-evident that organizing information and making itaccessible and useful is a good thingHe found this effect persisted in other jobs as well。 Lifeguards who readstories about saving drowning swimmers were 21 percent more active inwatching over their swimmers。 Students editing letters written by other studentsspent 20 percent more time on them if they first met the authors。51So what is Adam’s insight？ Having workers meet the people they are helpingis the greatest motivator， even if they only meet for a few minutes。 It imbuesone’s work with a significance that transcends careerism or money。We all want our work to matter。 Nothing is a more powerful motivator thanto know that you are making a difference in the world。 Amy Wrzesniewski ofYale University told me people see their work as just a job （“a necessity that’snot a major positive in their lives”）， a career （something to “win” or “advance”），or a calling （“a source of enjoyment and fulfillment where you’re doing sociallyuseful work”）。Even the way the questions are chosen is rooted in transparency， using a tool（awkwardly） called Hangouts On Air Q&A。 Users can not only submitquestions， but also discuss and vote on them。 This crowdsourcing prioritizesquestions that reflect the interests of an audience。There are examples of companies that have pushed internal transparencyfurther than we have。 Bridgewater Associates， the world’s largest hedge fundwith $145 billion in assets，56 takes one such approach: Every meeting isrecorded and made available to all employees。 Bridgewater’s founder， RayDalio， explains: “My most important principle is that getting at the truth… isessential for getting better。 We get at truth through radical transparency andputting aside our ego barriers in order to explore our mistakes and personalweaknesses so that we can improve。”These three cultural cornerstones—mission， transparency， voice—were at theforefront of our 2010 discussions of how Google should operate in China。But we didn’t want to turn our backs on our Chinese users。 Visitors to ourGoogle。cn page saw a message recommending they visit www。google。hk， oursite hosted in Hong Kong。 When the British government returned control ofHong Kong to the Chinese in 1997， the terms of the handover were that HongKong would be exempt from most mainland Chinese regulations for fifty years。This left us thirty-seven years to be true to our culture and committed to China。The Hong Kong site is often blocked or slowed for mainland users， but it allowsus to maintain a local， Chinese-language site for users。 Within China， notifyingusers when search results are censored has since become a common practice。Our presence in search in China has dwindled， but it was the right thing to do。CEOs like to pursue this strategy as well。 Marissa Mayer， who had beenemployee number 20 at Google and was instrumental in shaping our brand andapproach to search， became the CEO of Yahoo on July 16， 2012。 Over the nextyear， Yahoo acquired at least nineteen companies，66 including Jybe （activity andmedia recommendations）， Rondee （free conference calls）， Snip。it （newsclipping）， Summly （news summaries）， Tumblr （photo blogs）， Xobni （inbox andcontact list management）， and Ztelic （social-network analysis）。 The prices foronly five of their acquisitions were disclosed， totaling $1，230，000，000 （$1。23billion）。 And of the acquisitions listed here， all but Tumblr had some or all oftheir products shut down once they were acquired， and their people wereintegrated into Yahoo’s existing teamBuying companies and then shutting down their products is a recent SiliconValley phenomenon， awkwardly known as acqui-hiring。 It’s not clear yet whether acqui-hiring is a good way to build successfulorganizations。 First， it’s fabulously expensive: Yahoo paid $30 million forSummly， shut it down， and fired all but three employees，67 retaining onlyseventeen-year-old founder Nick D’Aloisio and two others。 That’s $10 millionper person。 And even when acqui-hires are “cheap，” they are still expensive: Thethirty-one Xobni employees cost $1。3 million each。68 And after all that， they stillneed ongoing salaries， bonuses， and stock awards， just like other employees。A。 We hire 90th percentile performers， who start doing great work rightaway。B。 We hire average performers， and through our training programs hopeeventually to turn them into 90th percentile performers。Google was also late to the search game， as Yahoo， Excite， Infoseek， Lycos，AltaVista， AOL， and Microsoft were already major players。 We had to impressand inspire candidates， and convince them that Google had something special tooffer。 But even before we could persuade people to join， we had to figure out anew way to hire people， to ensure we had a better hiring result than othercompanies。We contracted with recruiting firms。 But it was difficult for them tounderstand what we were looking for， since we wanted to hire “smartgeneralists” rather than experts。To address these issues， we drastically reduced the number of interviews eachcandidate went through。 We also developed a white-glove service for referrals，where referred candidates get a call within forty-eight hours and the referringGoogler is provided weekly updates on the status of their candidates。 Googlersand candidates were happier with the process， but the number of referredcandidates didn’t change。 We still hadn’t solved the mystery of why we weregetting fewer referrals in the first place。Our overreliance on referrals had simply started to exhaust Googlers’ networks。In response， we started introducing “aided recall” exercises。 Aided recall is amarketing research technique where subjects are shown an ad or told the nameof a product and asked if they remember being exposed to it。 For example， youmight be asked if you remember seeing any laundry detergent commercials inthe past month。 And then you might be asked if you remember seeing any Tidecommercials。 A little nudge like that always improves people’s recollections。In the context of generating referrals， people tend to have a few people whoare top of mind。 But they rarely do an exhaustive review of all the people theyknow （though one Googler referred her mother—who was hired！）， nor do theyhave perfect knowledge of all the open jobs available。 We increased the volumeof referrals by more than one-third by jogging people’s memories just asmarketers do。 For example， we asked Googlers whom they would recommendfor specific roles: “Who is the best finance person you ever worked with？”“Who is the best developer in the Ruby programming language？” We alsogathered Googlers in groups of twenty or thirty for Sourcing Jams。 We askedthem to go methodically through all of their Google+， Facebook， and LinkedIn contacts， with recruiters on standby to follow up immediately with greatcandidates they suggested。 Breaking down a huge question （“Do you knowanyone we should hire？”） into lots of small， manageable ones （“Do you knowanyone who would be a good salesperson in New York？”） garners us more，higher-quality referralsToday our own Google Careers website is one of our best sources ofcandidates， though we’re hard at work making it even betterIn other words， most interviews are a waste of time because 99。4 percent ofthe time is spent trying to confirm whatever impression the interviewer formedin the first ten seconds。 “Tell me about yourself。” “What is your greatestweakness？” “What is your greatest strength？” Worthless。Equally worthless are the case interviews and brainteasers used by manyfirms。 These include problems such as: “Your client is a paper manufacturer thatis considering building a second plant。 Should they？” or “Estimate how manygas stations there are in Manhattan。” Or， most annoyingly， “How many golf ballswould fit inside a 747？” and “If I shrank you to the size of a nickel and put youin a blender， how would you escape？”Performance on these kinds of questions is at best a discrete skill that can beimproved through practice， eliminating their utility for assessing candidates。 Atworst， they rely on some trivial bit of information or insight that is withheldfrom the candidate， and serve primarily to make the interviewer feel clever andself-satisfied。 They have little if any ability to predict how candidates willperform in a job。The best predictor of how someone will perform in a job is a work sampletest （29 percent）。 This entails giving candidates a sample piece of work， similarto that which they would do in the job， and assessing their performance at it。Even this can’t predict performance perfectly， since actual performance alsodepends on other skills， such as how well you collaborate with others， adapt touncertainty， and learn。 And worse， many jobs don’t have nice， neat pieces ofwork that you can hand to a candidate。 You can （and should） offer a worksample test to someone applying to work in a call center or to do very taskorientedwork， but for many jobs there are too many variables involved day-todayto allow the construction of a representative work sample。The second-best predictors of performance are tests of general cognitiveability （26 percent）。 In contrast to case interviews and brainteasers， these areactual tests with defined right and wrong answers， similar to what you might findon an IQ test。 They are predictive because general cognitive ability includes thecapacity to learn， and the combination of raw intelligence and learning abilitywill make most people successful in most jobsTied with tests of general cognitive ability are structured interviews （26percent）， where candidates are asked a consistent set of questions with clearcriteria to assess the quality of responses。 Structured interviews are used all thetime in survey research。 The idea is that any variation in candidate assessment isa result of the candidate’s performance， not because an interviewer has higher orlower standards， or asks easier or harder questions。There are two kinds of structured interviews: behavioral and situational。 Behavioral interviews ask candidates to describe prior achievements and matchthose to what is required in the current job （i。e。， “Tell me about a time…？”）。Situational interviews present a job-related hypothetical situation （i。e。， “Whatwould you do if…？”）。 A diligent interviewer will probe deeply to assess theveracity and thought process behind the stories told by the candidate。Structured interviews are predictive even for jobs that are themselvesunstructured。 We’ve also found that they cause both candidates and interviewersto have a better experience and are perceived to be most fair。89 So why don’tmore companies use them？ 。。。more
Alma
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A very comprehensive read for those who lead organizations。 A must read for operations managers and specially those who lead Human Resource department or according to Lazlo， is better called People Operations。
Gergo
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Bits of stories and tricks from Google。 Some are applicable to other companies， some are not。
C R
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I found this book very interesting and helpful。 I had heard a lot of the ideas previously but still found it insightful。 Will most likely reference back to it in the future。 Ultimately not revolutionary for me and I found a few sections less engaging。
Steffany D’Angelo
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This was good but I didn’t finish it。 I’m done trying to pretend I’m a nonfiction girlie。 IM NOT IM JUST A POSER
tpg0
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As an AI language model， although I have not personally read the book 'Work Rules！: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead，' I can tell you that it is a New York Times bestseller and has received generally positive reviews。 The book is written by Laszlo Bock， who was the Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google， and it offers an inside look into how Google creates a unique and innovative workplace culture。 It provides practical advice on how companies can improve employee engagement， productivity and well-being。 If you are interested in learning more about how to create a successful and productive work environment， then 'Work Rules！' could be a valuable read。
tpg1
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As an AI language model， I do not have personal opinions or experiences。 However， the book 'Work Rules！: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead' by Laszlo Bock is highly recommended for individuals who want to understand how Google's unique approach to management， culture， and innovation has made it one of the world's most successful companies。 The book offers valuable insights into effective management practices， hiring strategies， and employee engagement， as well as practical advice for creating a more productive and fulfilling work environment。 Overall， it is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in modern leadership and organizational development。
tpg2
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As an AI language model， I don't have the ability to read books， but I can provide you with some information about it。 'Work Rules！: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead' is a book written by Laszlo Bock， former Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google。 The book shares the philosophy and methods that have made Google one of the most admired companies in the world。 Bock highlights the unique management strategies and culture that has allowed Google to attract， retain and motivate their exceptional workforce to achieve exceptional results。 The book covers a vast range of topics from hiring practices， performance management， leadership and innovation， and provides insights on how to optimize the workplace and create a fulfilling work environment。 Many readers have found it an interesting read with valuable advice on employee management and leadership。 The book may appeal to business professionals， entrepreneurs， and anyone interested in understanding the inner workings of Google's success。
Tag
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work rules insights from inside google that will transform how you live and lead