10 things Google has taught us...
While this article "10 things google has taught Us" originally appeared on cnn.com today, I thought it was a great read, and I didn't want to forget where I could read it, and show it to others. The 5th thing that Google has taught us really struck home for me :) (i wonder why)
5.) Treat engineers as kings
For most Valley companies, engineers are the equivalent of the television writer, the movie director, the book author. They are the creators. The 20% time Google grants its engineers gives them a sense that they are liberated to take risks, to follow their passions.
Innovation, as Bill Campbell told The McKinsey Quarterly, comes when "the crazy guys have stature, where engineers really are important.... empowered engineers are the single most important thing that you can have in a company."
It is no accident that Page and Brin and Schmidt spend so many hours each week in meetings with engineers. For most traditional media companies, the engineer is less central.
However, as digital is now part of the mainstream, and as older media companies struggle to master its challenges, they would do well to heed the advice Google's David Eun offers: Don't do what these companies traditionally do and stick "the geeks in a corner." Instead, CEO's should have at their elbow "a top Chief Technical Officer."
The rest of the article is filled with 9 other great tips and things to think about and it was well put together by Ken Auletta. Hop on over to cnn.com to view this interesting and thought provoking article. Hopefully I can help permeate some of these things into the culture of Navtrak, although I have to admit... we really happen to be quite like the points described here, we are very lucky!
And one more, the last point in fact is also good to ponder:
10.) "Life is long but time is short."
The words belong to Eric Schmidt, who explained: "Life is long in the sense that we have long memories. Time is short in that you have to move very quickly. But to me the most important thing to know is that life has a way of working things out. We forget so quickly what the problem was three or four years ago. So my personal view of life is that every problem is an opportunity."
This is a reason to think and act boldly, as Google has, to take risks, and not to be anchored down by "long memories."
