Another Googler Shares Google Insights
August 3, 2011
“Former Google CIO Says Business Misses Key People Marks,” reports ITworld. The problem, says Douglas Merrill, lies in outdated management practices. Dr. Merrill was speaking at this year’s CA Expo in Sydney when he praised the environment at his former company for its innovative atmosphere. He stated:
“Don’t be afraid to do dumb things. [Google cofounders] Larry [Page] and Sergey [Brin] developed a search product called ‘Backrub’ – don’t ask me how they got that – and shortly after that launched Google as part of the Stanford domain. Most of the early Google hardware was stolen from trash and as the stuff they stole broke all the time they built a reliable software system. Everyone knew we shouldn’t build our own hardware as it was ‘dumb’, but everyone was wrong. Sometimes being dumb changes the game.
Besides embracing “dumb” choices, Merrill advocates a couple other tactics. For one, don’t listen to your customers, at least not exclusively. They might not know they want something until you offer it. Also, hire lots of different types of people. Ones who annoy you are especially promising. Finally, unless it involves IT security or HR files, don’t keep secrets.
So, keep an open mind, be flexible, and try out some of those dumb ideas. Then your business might just be the next Google. We have finished reading I’m Feeling Lucky by Douglas Edwards. Look for some quotes to note from this book.
Cynthia Murrell, August 3, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com, publishers of The New Landscape of Enterprise Search
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