It takes a conscious effort for me to choose a book and to spend the time read it through. It is especially rare for me to write a review because that is a dedication of couple of uninterrupted hours (almost an impossible feat in my family with a relentless toddler). With that being said, this book compelled me to share my opinion because I think it gives an extraordinary first person (Laszlo Block) account of how a company (Google) excel with its talent acquisition, retainment, development, and sometimes termination. And most importantly, its continuous improvement to anticipate the needs of an ever-expanding company.
I believe the book itself attracts three primary types of audience;
(1) Managers and Executives who are looking to build a stronger team/company
(2) Human Resource personnel looking to develop themselves and their organization
(3) And finally, people who are interested in innovation/new ideas
I happen to fall into both the first and last category.
I really like this book because it helps explain why I felt connected to some companies versus others regardless of the company size, team dynamic, or manager style. I have spent time at companies that value their employee, others less so. I have seen very strong/cohesive and very poisonous departments operating at the same time within the same company. Right now I am a consultant working for a great company partnering with a not so great company that is riddled with bureaucratic mumbo jumbo.
In short what this book helps me realize is that culture is most important in a company. From the founders to the janitor, everyone at Google seems to be free from the typical corporate constrains, as a result gains and produce much more. It is that foundation and ongoing system that this book attempt to give outsiders a glimpse of the inner workings of the People Operations at Google (HR in most companies).
Google as a whole seems to be a big university lab and encourages people to think, not just to work, as a result it spurs further innovation and the process becomes a chain reaction replicating onto itself. The normal Plan, Do, Study, Act model of performance improvement seem to be taken with a twist, it appears that they apply the scientific method to the process; Realizing/anticipating the need/problem, formulating the options, designing experiments on a small sample size, collecting data and interpreting the results, and most importantly putting it into action for the whole population of Googlers (employees).
What I find fascinating about the way the People Operation follows Google's mission statement of "...organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". They have the capability, capacity, and ability to collect data, understanding it, and make use of it to "Nudge" Googlers to do more beneficial acts such as eating healthier, adapting to the on-boarding process quicker, or saving more on retirement.
One of the resounding topic is Google's hiring process, which essentially is a way for them to hedge the hiring risk by systematically spending enormous amount of time and resources at the beginning of the hiring process to hire the very best. This way, they spend far less time/resources developing an average pool of employees. Rather, they focus on improving the lagging and rewarding "Unfairly" (enormously) to the leading employees.
One of the stories that was most memorable to me is the one about the "Free Tibet Goji-Chocolate Creme Pie". Essentially it was a new lunch item at the Google cafe, however because of the name "Free Tibet...", it was a very sensitive subject amongst Googlers, thus creating an email storm with thousands of responses. The chef who came up with the name was suspended as a result. In the end, the suspension was reversed by Laszlo because he realized that this was an opportunity to reinforce the company culture. Such that if a trivial matter such as a name of a pie causing an uproar, suspending the chef would cause enormous harm to the culture because people will be afraid to express their opinions, and thus stifle future innovation within the company.
So...after my review, you must be wondering why I am only giving this book a four star? It's because I am an iOS user...Actually it's not because of that, but rather it is because Laszlo believes that any company can do what google has done (in terms of its People Operations). I on the other hand think that is not the case. I cannot see how an established company (medium business and up) can achieve all or even most of these cultural changes. I would equate that a typical HR department is like an average person, and operating like google is like competing (and finishing) the Ironman Triathlon. Like most people, putting in real effort will get them through a 10k run, training really hard will get them through a marathon, and giving their all and training every day may allow them to finish that Triathlon. But is it possible for an established company to do that even with all their dedication? I don't think it is possible because of the existing gene pool. Established organizations already have an "average" gene (talent) pool, so the question is can they remove everyone who are below average like the town of Lake Wobegon (where everyone is above average)? That's for you to judge if you choose to read this book, thus my four stars on an otherwise great book.
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