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Google's Ten Golden Rules
selvan writes "Newsweek is running an article entitled Google's Ten Golden Rules. The article, by Eric Schmidt and Hal Varian, going into the philosophy behind the company." From the article: "Don't be evil. Much has been written about Google's slogan, but we really try to live by it, particularly in the ranks of management. As in every organization, people are passionate about their views. But nobody throws chairs at Google, unlike management practices used at some other well-known technology companies. We foster to create an atmosphere of tolerance and respect, not a company full of yes men."
ye gods. Does this have to come up with each and every time? There *are* companies out there that make a nice profit while still maintaining a high quality of both products and customer service. Making a profit does not not necessarily imply screwing over your customers over. Treating your customers with respect and catering to their wishes to create good word-of-mouth advertising(the best there is) is a perfectly viable business strategy.
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
Yes, it is true that companies must, by law, work in their shareholders' interests. However, this does not mean that the stock price must be maximized from quarter to quarter. There is nothing illegal about taking the long view and realizing that long-term profitability is maximized when the public respects your brand.
The "shareholder's interest" argument really means that you can't use the company's money to put a new deck on your house. It is not sinister.
Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
What makes you so sure that 1-10 aren't why they have huge piles of cash?
The downside is that employers like Google expect you to love your job. If you do, good for you. But sometimes you will have other things that you need to do, but the nagging feeling that you're supposed to love your job and express that love by working your ass off will always come up, and you will feel like you're not doing enough for the great ideals of the Company.
It its own way, that's a worse kind of pressure than Dilbert-style companies have, because it's ideological pressure. You can pretty much predict what a PHB wants - he wants you to do your job, make him look good, and, even though you might have to work overtime until you find a better job, it ends when you go home. If you're supposed to drink the kool-aid and live/breathe the company 'values', then the company is not just trying to take over your time, but your mind, and I for one would rather work a few extra hours at crunch time.
This is actually a fairly standard article format: they asked the head of a succesful company to write an article on what he thinks makes that company succesful. It's not meant to be an in-depth analysis, just a highlight of what they think is important/different about their company.
It gives some idea of how the management thinks of the company, and what they try to work on. Sure, it's a fluff piece, the equivilent of the society column for businesses, but it's a moderately useful fluff peice. And it can help some people, espcially if you want to understand how Google thinks about itself.
'Sensible' is a curse word.