Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead by Laszlo Bock. Laszlo was the Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google.
Bock’s audience is threefold: Managers, HR professionals, and Employees. For example, Bock is suggesting as managers, hire people smarter than you. Obviously, for HR teams insights on hiring, interviewing and keeping talented people should not be overlooked. Regardless of your organization’s mission or size. Above all, Laszlo’s “be a founder” sums up the type of hire every company strives to achieve, an employee who makes a meaningful impact across the organization.
Above all, I was looking to develop insights to Google’s Objectives and Key Results that impact their operations. Laszlo shares Google’s OKRs (as the general rule) must be specific, measurable, and verifiable. Surprisingly, they indeed push a high level of OKR transparency across the company.
Google OKRs are achievable, relevant, and timed. Data mining is why Google was shifting away from SMART goals. For instance, revising OKRs each quarter proves you need to run lean. Googlers certainly expect to set OKRs that far exceed their teams’ performance. Of course, with any data driven company, all project teams are focusing to aim for the moon. Even failing to achieve, they are still delivering a very good achievement.
Work Rules certainly illustrates a very deep look at the company’s evolution. Learning how they were stumbling offers key insights. For example, adopting benefits like on campus laundry services and nail salons that seems simply over the top for any legacy, old school company.
It’s enjoyable to see how a large tech company grew up so fast. Their practices in People Operations show the world how change is possible. They are stumbling from time to time. It helps to see the luster has worn off the company.
In conclusion, throughout the book you see chapters in a very straight forward style. That is to say many should find this a very easy book to read. Work Rules mimics a Google-style checklist that summarizes each chapter. In other words, no surprise for a data driven company.
Today Laszlo is now CEO of Humu, a consulting firm leveraging machine learning to improve employee performance.