Google's sacraments of innovation
on March 13, 2008 - Comments (View)Marissa Mayer (Vice President of Search Product and User Experience at Google) outlines Google's approach to maintaining a creative, innovative organization.
No, this video isn’t new, but the ideas that Marissa Mayer (Vice President of Search Product and User Experience at Google) puts forward are important for software companies that are transitioning into mature organizations.
Her main points:
1. Ideas come from everywhere: users, Google’s own researchers, business strategy, acquisitions…
2. Share everything you can: create an open culture, enable a flat organization, empower.
3. You are brilliant: we are hiring. Facilitate an environment with a lot of smart people, grow by learning from one another…
4. A license to pursue dreams. Spend 20% of your work on whatever you would like to work on. 50% of what Google built in 2005 came from this policy.
5. Innovation, not instant perfection. Iteration is key, learn from mistakes. Launch an innovation, then make it better. Iterate quickly. Let users tell you what’s important to them.
6. Data are apolitical. Understand and measure the user experience. How many people did you test? How many people had problems?
7. Creativity loves constraint. Creativity thrives when you give it boundaries or a destination (but otherwise don’t limit it).
8. Users not money. Money follows consumers.
9. Don’t kill projects — morph them. Look for what can be salvaged.
Comments
mar 13 2008 13:48
5 Reputation Points
I think there’s a neat symmetry here with several articles: Craig Fitzpatrick’s astute remarks on the McKinsey notion of Innovation Managers, Alyssa Dyer’s ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective Product Managers’, and the recent question of ‘getting an award for ignoring your boss’.
Who couldn’t love the ‘idea’ of the essence of the Google approach.
I say ‘idea’ because I think it takes extraordinary fortitude for any company to really ‘DO what they say’ and breed that culture of innovation and empowerment to keep folks engaged. It can’t be easy to plan and actually commit resources to spending ’ 20% of your work on whatever you would like to work on’, but surely more effective than a layer of ‘Innovation Managers’.
The Google approach is far more positive than the in-vogue ‘No Jerk’ policies – and they have to be doing something really well in the internal communication department. Great Product Managers can go a long way to to cultivating that creative, client focused ‘What if’culture!
Edit (for another )mar 13 2008 14:13
10 Reputation Points
There is a symmetry. But I certainly can’t take credit for it : )
What I can do, however, is create a tag for articles that reference ‘innovation’ in some way. You’ll see it in the related ideas area of the right side of this page. Or just click here.
Tim Tang has a particularly good account of its impact in terms on Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii sales.
Generally though, I try to stay away from this whole innovation thing. IBM has it right when they mock the term for being nebulous and a trendy catchphrase.
IBM Video 1
Edit (for another )IBM Video 2
mar 21 2008 13:29
5 Reputation Points
Yes, ‘innovation’ is a funny thing isn’t it – I do hesitate a little with it as it does feel somehow too pat and a little overblown…
Have to say though, would much prefer ‘innovation’ or similar nouns to the alternative – stagnation!!
Edit (for another )