work rulesIt was a recruiter’s dream: Google had found a small team of “brilliant” engineers that had sold off their previous company and were looking for their next project. There was just one problem: They lived in Aarhus, Denmark, and they didn’t want to move.

Microsoft lobbied them to come to Redmond, but Google took a different approach, asking them to start a new office for the company in Denmark. They agreed and went on to become a top team for Google, building the JavaScript engine for Google Chrome.

That story, illustrating Google’s culture of freedom and flexibility, is one of many anecdotes in the new book, Work Rules! Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead. The author is someone who knows the company’s practices first-hand: Laszlo Bock, Google’s senior vice president of people operations.

Laszlo Bock
Laszlo Bock

The book explains Google’s approach to some of the biggest challenges facing executives and managers at any company —finding and hiring top talent, getting the most out of employees, and creating a culture of innovation. Bock explains many of the company’s counter-intuitive discoveries, such why referral bonuses don’t work, why a huge training budget is nothing to boast about, and why it’s often better to hire a candidate who was top of the class at a state college vs. an above-average Ivy League grad.

It’s hard to argue with the company’s success. Google is a “self-replicating talent machine,” in the words of former Intel CEO Paul Otellini, as quoted in the book.

To be sure, elements of the book can be read as Google propaganda, including the gratuitous mentions of free meals and the laid-back dress code. But the common thread is the company’s culture of freedom — including its famous “20 percent time” policy, which gives employees the ability to spend 1/5 of their time on projects of their choosing.

“The use of 20 percent time has waxed and waned over the years, humming along at about 10 percent utilization when we last measured it,” Bock writes. “In some ways, the idea of 20 percent time is more important than the reality of it. It operates somewhat outside the lines of formal management oversight, and always will, because the most talented and creative people can’t be forced to work.”

There are parts of the Google culture that have permeated the broader tech world, such as in-house chefs at startups. But there are real insights to be gleaned from the company’s approach to community-based decision-making, and managers who work for the team instead of the other way around.

Work Rules! is available now in hardcover, Kindle and audiobook starting at $16.99. It’s worth a read for managers and founders looking to attract people not just with perks, but with a culture of innovation, transparency and freedom.

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