Management Lessons fm Google #1

from BusinessInsider.com 5/12 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz

1. Dont be afraid to be Tough.
This comes from a former Google manager: “Don’t be afraid to be as tough about hiring only really smart people who have achieved something extraordinary in their careers. Put another way, don’t fall prey to hiring people just because you have an opening and no one can come up with anything negative to say about the person.
Founder Larry Page is the banner-carrier for this principle at Google. In general, he’s not afraid to be tough! He’s willing to state uncomfortable truths in public, even if there are people whose feelings get hurt.”

2. Focus on the Long Term.
“Google’s always been focused on the long term and looking out beyond the horizon that many companies focus on. The way they position themselves for the future from investing in people to cutting edge infrastructure to software infrastructure like Big Table, to investing in their brand by focusing on the user. Certainly a company that focuses on the long term, and for that reason I still really believe in the company,” says Gil Elbaz, who spent 3.5 years at Google working on Adsense, and is now running data startup.

3. Allow the employees on the Fringe to be free to develop World Class products
Elbaz also said, “A deep culture of trust & respect, specifically for engineers. It’s well known that a great deal of innovation is coming from the fringes of the organization, primarily these engineers that often have a very sharp sense of what users need, and are also the ones that need to be inspired to develop “world class” new apps. So much of it is about creativity, whether it’s user experience or about the infrastructure need. It really has to be about inspiration, not some stick.”

4. Make decisions based on data.
When someone comes up with an idea, it’s really the data you need to visualize and understand, in order to make a good decision. It’s all too easy, to just do everything based on instinct. Sometimes you’re have to use a little bit instinct to decide what you’re going to test. But in the end, testing & analysis teaches you if you’re going in the right direction.”

(#5-13 continued on Premium Content)