Google's success has surprised many people, but we can learn a great deal from the philosophy and goals the search giant pursues.
Ken Auletta, author of Googled: The end of the world as we know it, shared the insights that resonated with him after his journey exploring Google's history.
1) Determination to win to the end
Let’s begin with Larry Page’s advice to businesses when speaking to new graduates at Stanford University: “Don’t be complacent.” This determination and courage became the driving force enabling Page and Serget Brin to inspire all Google employees to embrace the principle of “maximizing users’ interests,” take new risks and be ready to radically improve the search engine.
Michael Moritz, an investor in both Yahoo and Google, told Ken Auletta that Google was a “rare” company: “I have long been a close partner of Yahoo, where I have deep feelings and want to maintain a lasting bond. But after joining Google, I began realizing it was very different from Yahoo. It emerged from its founders' exploratory research. Yahoo, meanwhile, was built by Jerry and David out of personal interest. That is a very big difference.”
A lack of passion, Moritz said, was why Jerry Yang and David Filo did not devote themselves full-time to the company they had created.
2) Focusing on a specific goal is key
Passion without direction leads you astray. After spending days visiting the software giant's headquarters, Bill Campbell, head of software company Intuit, said Google's success lay in knowing how to have ‘focused passion.’ This highlights the especially important role of Google's third key figure, CEO Schmidt. Although he arrived later, Schmidt contributed significantly to Google's development and success as we know it today.
3) Take the long view
Without vision, plans lead to a dead end. Internet users have often displayed slogans hoping Google will not become a “devil” like other technology giants. Meanwhile, with the original aim of putting the world’s information into users’ hands, Page and Brin have worked hard while always remembering that serving the “customer as king” comes first and foremost.
With this direction, Google quickly won the trust of millions of users by helping them find information, news, books, music… online. Google is also willing to reject advertisements unrelated to users’ searches. Offering the best, inexpensive, convenient options in search, online storage, email, and calendars, Google remains true to its original direction of serving users.
4) Collective intelligence is vital
Google gives employees 20% of their working time to plan and seek solutions of their own choice. By embracing open source and choosing final solutions through collective intelligence, Google has created a scientifically and systematically organized and managed workplace from top to bottom. As a result, its search engine continually improves and its empire keeps expanding across different fields.
Larry Page shared with a twinkle: ‘Every company has its own characteristics, even technology companies. You certainly want your company to have a culture where people work, and scientists and engineers are empowered to make decisions and proposals. All are managed by people who deeply understand their employees and know what they are doing.’
5) Value engineers and employees
In Silicon Valley, engineers are likened to television producers, film directors or even writers. They are truly creators. At Google, engineers are allocated 20% of their working time to freely explore creative ideas and pursue personal passions.
Thus, creativity—the foundation of Google's success—emerged while engineers were free to work to their hearts' content. Valuing employees, a workforce whose work requires creativity, can be said to be the most important factor determining a company's development.
Google succeeded with a “gentle approach, strong bonds” strategy. It is no coincidence that Page, Brin, and Schmidt spend so much time each week meeting and talking with engineers. At most traditional media companies, engineers are rarely valued so highly.
6) The customer is king
A major reason Google has soared to become one of the world's most trusted brands is that the giant always treats customers as king. Online advertising may generate 97% of Google's revenue, but users seem unconcerned. Google's services remain completely free, friendly and easy to use, like listening to music on an iPod.
While studying at prestigious Stanford University, Larry Page was fortunate enough to read Donald A. Norman's book The Design of Everyday Things. The Google chief thoroughly applied its enduring lesson to resounding success: build service systems that earn customers' trust naturally.
To understand how Google earned customers’ trust, go back to its first public bond offering in 2004. Google repeatedly asserted: ‘The company believes users also want to contribute to Google’s long-term success. That is an important foundation for building lasting trust.’.
Focusing on users, Page and Brin established organizational principles for their staff based on Sam Walton’s maxim: ‘If you do not listen to your customers, a competitor certainly will.’
7) Every competitor can be a partner
Sometimes it is hard to identify a potential competitor, friend or foe. Business is even more complex. Starting as a search engine, Google quickly realized it could sell advertising effectively, provide news, support book searches, use its infrastructure to develop cloud computing services and enter online video after acquiring Youtube. It also kept an eye on the mobile device opportunity.
The Google AdSense advertising program has helped hundreds of online newspapers survive, while AdWord opens promotional opportunities for partners. Youtube has become a support platform for TV networks, and Android provides operating system software to numerous telecommunications companies.
Ambitious as it is, Google continually strengthens customer trust and takes every opportunity to become a partner to all its rivals, cooperating while competing.
8) Do not put too much confidence in… machines
Google has succeeded in earning customer trust, building a teamwork culture, and maintaining a long-term development strategy. Yet it has also failed many times in efforts to improve the world in… unconventional ways!
Page was wrong to think Google could immediately digitize humanity’s store of books, as well as to propose new advertising ideas and solutions to sell newspaper and radio advertising better. Both efforts are still encountering problems.
Google has repeatedly shown insufficient tact to avoid a series of disputes, becoming embroiled in copyright and personal privacy issues or trouble with authorities.
9) Nothing is perfect
Today, Google seems very difficult to beat. But a decade ago, AOL was number one.
Thus, nothing is certain. Remember that IBM once held as much as 70% of the global PC market. After the US government intervened, IBM began facing a series of difficulties, especially with the emergence of many formidable competitors. IBM disappeared from the PC market long ago.
Google surely understands this too. It has poured a great deal of money into areas beyond online search, particularly Youtube, Android and cloud computing. The lessons of AOL and IBM remain.
10) “Life is long, but time is short.”
That is what CEO Schmidt shared. He believes life is long when we have unforgettable memories. Yet time is short, and we must make the most of every moment. According to Schmidt, every difficulty can become an opportunity.
That is also why Google, as always, continually takes investment risks and develops services in different fields to move forward, instead of ‘anchoring’ itself in memories of past success.
1) Determination to win to the end
Let’s begin with Larry Page’s advice to businesses when speaking to new graduates at Stanford University: “Don’t be complacent.” This determination and courage became the driving force enabling Page and Serget Brin to inspire all Google employees to embrace the principle of “maximizing users’ interests,” take new risks and be ready to radically improve the search engine.
Michael Moritz, an investor in both Yahoo and Google, told Ken Auletta that Google was a “rare” company: “I have long been a close partner of Yahoo, where I have deep feelings and want to maintain a lasting bond. But after joining Google, I began realizing it was very different from Yahoo. It emerged from its founders' exploratory research. Yahoo, meanwhile, was built by Jerry and David out of personal interest. That is a very big difference.”
A lack of passion, Moritz said, was why Jerry Yang and David Filo did not devote themselves full-time to the company they had created.
2) Focusing on a specific goal is key
Passion without direction leads you astray. After spending days visiting the software giant's headquarters, Bill Campbell, head of software company Intuit, said Google's success lay in knowing how to have ‘focused passion.’ This highlights the especially important role of Google's third key figure, CEO Schmidt. Although he arrived later, Schmidt contributed significantly to Google's development and success as we know it today.
3) Take the long view
Without vision, plans lead to a dead end. Internet users have often displayed slogans hoping Google will not become a “devil” like other technology giants. Meanwhile, with the original aim of putting the world’s information into users’ hands, Page and Brin have worked hard while always remembering that serving the “customer as king” comes first and foremost.
With this direction, Google quickly won the trust of millions of users by helping them find information, news, books, music… online. Google is also willing to reject advertisements unrelated to users’ searches. Offering the best, inexpensive, convenient options in search, online storage, email, and calendars, Google remains true to its original direction of serving users.
4) Collective intelligence is vital
Google gives employees 20% of their working time to plan and seek solutions of their own choice. By embracing open source and choosing final solutions through collective intelligence, Google has created a scientifically and systematically organized and managed workplace from top to bottom. As a result, its search engine continually improves and its empire keeps expanding across different fields.
Larry Page shared with a twinkle: ‘Every company has its own characteristics, even technology companies. You certainly want your company to have a culture where people work, and scientists and engineers are empowered to make decisions and proposals. All are managed by people who deeply understand their employees and know what they are doing.’
5) Value engineers and employees
In Silicon Valley, engineers are likened to television producers, film directors or even writers. They are truly creators. At Google, engineers are allocated 20% of their working time to freely explore creative ideas and pursue personal passions.
Thus, creativity—the foundation of Google's success—emerged while engineers were free to work to their hearts' content. Valuing employees, a workforce whose work requires creativity, can be said to be the most important factor determining a company's development.
Google succeeded with a “gentle approach, strong bonds” strategy. It is no coincidence that Page, Brin, and Schmidt spend so much time each week meeting and talking with engineers. At most traditional media companies, engineers are rarely valued so highly.
6) The customer is king
A major reason Google has soared to become one of the world's most trusted brands is that the giant always treats customers as king. Online advertising may generate 97% of Google's revenue, but users seem unconcerned. Google's services remain completely free, friendly and easy to use, like listening to music on an iPod.
While studying at prestigious Stanford University, Larry Page was fortunate enough to read Donald A. Norman's book The Design of Everyday Things. The Google chief thoroughly applied its enduring lesson to resounding success: build service systems that earn customers' trust naturally.
To understand how Google earned customers’ trust, go back to its first public bond offering in 2004. Google repeatedly asserted: ‘The company believes users also want to contribute to Google’s long-term success. That is an important foundation for building lasting trust.’.
Focusing on users, Page and Brin established organizational principles for their staff based on Sam Walton’s maxim: ‘If you do not listen to your customers, a competitor certainly will.’
7) Every competitor can be a partner
Sometimes it is hard to identify a potential competitor, friend or foe. Business is even more complex. Starting as a search engine, Google quickly realized it could sell advertising effectively, provide news, support book searches, use its infrastructure to develop cloud computing services and enter online video after acquiring Youtube. It also kept an eye on the mobile device opportunity.
The Google AdSense advertising program has helped hundreds of online newspapers survive, while AdWord opens promotional opportunities for partners. Youtube has become a support platform for TV networks, and Android provides operating system software to numerous telecommunications companies.
Ambitious as it is, Google continually strengthens customer trust and takes every opportunity to become a partner to all its rivals, cooperating while competing.
8) Do not put too much confidence in… machines
Google has succeeded in earning customer trust, building a teamwork culture, and maintaining a long-term development strategy. Yet it has also failed many times in efforts to improve the world in… unconventional ways!
Page was wrong to think Google could immediately digitize humanity’s store of books, as well as to propose new advertising ideas and solutions to sell newspaper and radio advertising better. Both efforts are still encountering problems.
Google has repeatedly shown insufficient tact to avoid a series of disputes, becoming embroiled in copyright and personal privacy issues or trouble with authorities.
9) Nothing is perfect
Today, Google seems very difficult to beat. But a decade ago, AOL was number one.
Thus, nothing is certain. Remember that IBM once held as much as 70% of the global PC market. After the US government intervened, IBM began facing a series of difficulties, especially with the emergence of many formidable competitors. IBM disappeared from the PC market long ago.
Google surely understands this too. It has poured a great deal of money into areas beyond online search, particularly Youtube, Android and cloud computing. The lessons of AOL and IBM remain.
10) “Life is long, but time is short.”
That is what CEO Schmidt shared. He believes life is long when we have unforgettable memories. Yet time is short, and we must make the most of every moment. According to Schmidt, every difficulty can become an opportunity.
That is also why Google, as always, continually takes investment risks and develops services in different fields to move forward, instead of ‘anchoring’ itself in memories of past success.
According to Tuổi Trẻ
