It’s Google’s world.
They’re just nice enough to let us live in it.
When Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched Google out of a dorm room in 1998, they had no thought that it would one day worker 32,000 people, process one billion searches a day, and earn over US$ 30 billion a year.
What they had, instead, were some very non-traditional view on how to run a affair.
Rule #1: Stay Simple
Google’s home page is a perfect example of the company’s commitment to simplicity.
For Google, simple means quicker, simpler to use, and higher quality.
That’s why software developers who work at Google are taught that the best harvest “include only the facial appearance that people need to accomplish their goals.” When they’re making a new product, they don’t try to stuff it full of as many facial appearance as possible.
“Simplicity is powerful.”
Google Company Way of life
What a Tangled Web We Weave…
For some reason, it’s human nature to make things more complex than they need to be. As a writer, I’m always resisting the temptation to use long words and complex sentences.
But simple writing is usually more effectual – and the same goes for affair models.
Rule #2: Work together
The first day Larry Page met Sergey Brin, they got into a long argument. According to Page, they “both really disliked each other.”
But their studies at Stanford soon led them to respect one another as intellectual peers. It was this mutual respect that brought them together in 1995 to work together on Page’s doctoral thesis: an algorithm that could rank websites based on their shared hyperlinks.
Even though it was Page’s thought (hence the name PageRank), he couldn’t have made the algorithm without the algebraic wizardry of Sergey Brin. Without a math prodigy like Brin on board, Google might have been just another thesis.
It was the joining of two very strong brains and personalities that made the algorithm what it was: a search engine so effectual that it place Lycos and Excite to shame.
Google’s PageRank system rocket-propelled Page and Brin to the top of the upper echelons of Silicon Valley. Abruptly, their small search algorithm was duking it out with industry titans like Yahoo! and Microsoft… and winning.
Part of the reason for Google’s success was the collaboration they clear among their employees. Since the beginning, they’ve implemented something called open source software enhancement, “where innovation takes place through the collective effort of many programmers.”
But as the company grew even larger, Page and Brin realized that had to bring another brain into the trust: this time, someone who could lead Google as a corporation and offer the boys “adult supervision.” In 2001, they hired Eric Schmidt as CEO and started running Google as a triumvirate. Schmidt started running Google like a affair – and bought YouTube in the process.
Even though Schmidt stepped down as CEO, he still serves as Google’s executive chairman, and Google continues to emphasize a spirit of collaboration in all they do.
Going it alone?
Having a partner to work together with isn’t a condition. Many very successful businesses are founded, owned, and operated by one person.
With that said, two complementary affair partners will motivate one another, brainstorm innovative thoughts together, and each allow the other to do what they’re best at.
I can speak from private encounter on this subject. My affair partner has been absolutely elemental to our company’s success and I feel thankful for him daily.
Rule #3: Fantastic Just isn’t Excellent Enough
“We see being fantastic at something as a starting point, not an endpoint.”
Google Company Way of life
When Google launched its search engine in 1998, it was already fantastic. The PageRank algorithm was simply better than the struggle, which focused too much on words and often returned beside the point results.
It was this greatness that allowed Google to grow without costs millions on a marketing battle like Yahoo! and Question Jeeves. Google was so fantastic that it spread nearly completely by word of mouth.
But fantastic wasn’t excellent enough. Google believes, “It’s best to do one thing really, really well.” So, instead of diffusion out into different industries, the company kept perfecting their search engine.
“The essential search engine would in the end be with you everything in the world, and it would always give you the right thing. And we’re a long, long ways from that.”
Larry Page
The above quote is from 2004, by which point Google had cemented their position as market leader. Not only were they the world’s top search engine, they were about to unleash their IPO to a market capitalization of a cool US$ 23 Billion.
But even at that point, Larry Page was not ready to rest on his laurels. As he said, they were a “long, long ways” from where they wanted to be.
Thanks to this attitude, Google has been churning out huge improvements to its search engine year after year. Innovations (i.e. the spelling suggestions Google gives you when you misspell a word) are a huge part of the reason they’re still the world’s top search engine.
How Can You Improve?
I don’t care how excellent you are at what you do, you can always get better. That’s why I’ve suggested that you spend 20 minutes actively learning every day.
Rule #4: Give Value for Free
“Our goal is to develop air force that much improve the lives of as many people as possible.”
Larry Page and Sergey Brin
People don’t expect to have to pay for much of no matter what thing online. But that’s not a problem for Google, which offers more free value to their users than any other online company.
Just reckon of all of their free software and air force: Gmail, Google Docs, Google Analytics, Google Website Optimizer, Google Earth, Google Chrome… the list goes on and on.
Collectively, these harvest have cost Google millions and millions of dollars to develop. Some, like Gmail, breed revenue through exposure, but many do not make Google any money at all.
What they do is more valuable: build brand loyalty. Thanks to all they’ve given away, Google has an army of devotees keen to use their latest air force, share them with their friends, and shell out cash when Google releases something that really costs money (like a Chromebook).
Count me among the converts: I’ve been so impressed with Gmail and Google Chrome that I just assume everything Google does meets a high ordinary of quality.
Giving / Getting
When people receive something of fantastic value for free, it instills in them a sense of gratitude to the giver. It’s human nature to want to return the favor.
Start being more giving with your affair and you will find that you’re getting more referrals, making more sales, and getting a warmer rejoinder on social networks.
Rule #5: Protect Your Market
Nikola Tesla was one of the utmost inventors of his time. He laid the foundation for radio communication, wireless equipment, and electric power. Without his advances, Google couldn’t exist.
Yet Tesla died with hardly a penny to his name.
When Larry Page read a biography of Tesla as a kid, he learned an invaluable lesson: protect what makes you valuable. This is an especially hard task your value comes from simple-to-steal thoughts.
As CEO of Google, Page has been sure not to follow in Tesla’s footsteps. Google has kept a close guard on their huge competitive advantage: the PageRank algorithm that Page and Brin had labored over as graduate students at Stanford Academe.
While Stanford really owns the PageRank patent, Google bought the exclusive rights to use it for 1.8 million shares of stock (later sold by Stanford for $ 336 million).
No other company is able to use their patented method for ranking pages. That’s a huge reason Google still sits at the top of the heap.
In recent years, Google has been more active working with the regime to protect their wellbeing. They spent about US$ 10 million on lobbying the US regime in 2011 and took part in a successful battle to deter the SOPA/PIPA legislation in January 2012.
How to Protect Your Huge Thought
Every thought is different and there’s a excellent chance that yours won’t require a patent.
But that doesn’t mean you need to be telling your struggle your secret formula:
“There are two rules for success. 1) Never tell everything you know.”
Roger H. Lincoln
Rule #6: No Hype Necessary
“Part of our brand is that we’re pretty discreet in what we do. If you look at other equipment companies, they might preannounce things, and it will be a couple years before they really happen, and they don’t happen in the way they said they would.
Google tends to release things without announcing them in beta, or no matter what. We wait until they get really huge and really excellent, then we start talking about them. And so that’s a really different way of doing affair.”
Larry Page
Google doesn’t do hype. They let their innovative harvest and air force speak for themselves.
I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs who talk a huge game. They’d have you believe that they’ve got all of the most valuable connections and that their next project is the next huge thing. Talk to those same entrepreneurs in six months and chances are that last project fizzled out and they’re already onto talking up the next one.
Talk is cheap. It’s always better to let your actions speak for themselves.
Three Excellent Reasons Not to Hype Yourself Up:
You Make a Stronger First Depression
Every person knows how valuable first impressions are. When a bigwig’s first depression of your project is you talking about it before it’s ready, then you wasted that first depression on mere talk.
It’s tempting to tell all of your friends, relatives, and colleagues about your brilliant thought. But reckon about how much more powerful it will be if you wait until your project is concluded, successful, and has a few mentions in the media.
Be patient – and wait until the time is just right to share your affair with the world.
You Don’t Box Yourself In
Until a project is set in stone, it should always be evolving. Keeping silent also allows you to be more versatile with your affair.
If you realize that it would be better to evolve in a vaguely different management than you had at the start plotted, you don’t want to be constrained by the expectations of the people who already know your original plot.
You Boost Your Commitment
At a more private level, talking up your plans too much can really make you less likely to follow through with them.
When we tell someone what we hope to achieve, we feel some of the satisfaction of really accomplishing that goal – and it really makes us less hungry to pursue them.
Rule #7: Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously
“You can be serious without a suit”
Google Company Way of life
Google may be the world’s most powerful website, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a small bit of fun. Since 2000, Google has been playing April Fool’s Day jokes on the world.
Their first prank was a new search feature called Google MentalPlex – which claimed to scan your “private aura and brainwave activity” and then establish which website you were trying to reach.
In 2002, they “exposed” that their search results were single-minded by “data coops” full of trained pigeons. They’ve since announced job openings on the moon and unveiled a sports drink called Google Gulp. Sounds tasty.
Google’s really ramping up their pranks. In 2011, they pulled a monstrous 17 of them on April 1st.
Why does Google spend so much time joking around? The pranks earn Google plenty of press and a small bump in traffic. But more importantly, it brings a sense of fun and real personality to their brand – both for their users and for their employees.
Nobody Likes a Robot
When you cooperate with a bigwig online, they could be all the way on the other side of the globe. Just because you’re distant from one another, that doesn’t mean you have to act abstractedly.
Every website visitor, every Facebook sharer, and every email subscriber is a flesh-and-blood person, just like you. A private touch goes a long way.
#8: Don’t Be Evil
“We have a mantra: don’t be evil, which is to do the best things we know how for our users, for our customers, for all. So I reckon if we were known for that, it would be a wonderful thing.”
Larry Page
In a 2004 meeting, Google employees were brainstorming an unofficial company motto. Proposition after proposition was met with small enthusiasm. Then one finally stuck: “Don’t Be Evil.”
Huge companies like Google can often make more money in the small-term by taking advantage of their customers and employees, damaging the background, or ignoring human rights. Google’s adoption of the “Don’t Be Evil” motto meant that they were committed to being a different type of company – one guided by a strong moral compass.
This way of life has had a huge impact on Google’s ad policy. Their search results only turn up relevant ads, clearly marked as “sponsored.” They also refuse to use pop-up ads or any other flashy ads that would interfere with “your ability to see the content you’ve requested.”
Google also does excellent through philanthropy. In 2004, they launched Google.org, a not-for-profit establishment that looks to solve the harms of global health, poverty, and climate change.
“We believe fervently that in the long term, we will be better served – as shareholders and in all other ways – by a company that does excellent things for the world even if we forgo some small term gains.”
Larry Page and Sergey Brin
Still Not Evil?
Pledge power corrupts absolutely – and Google has become very, very powerful in the last few years. In 2009, Google quietly dropped “Don’t Be Evil” as their authoritative motto.
That doesn’t automatically mean that Google’s gone to the dark side. The slogan was simply attracting too much negative attention.
The company has drawn criticism for allowing their search results to be censored in China and for making a deal with Verizon that some journalists thorough damaging to net neutrality.
Today, in 2012, Google is getting a ton of heat for their new privacy policy, which will allow the company to more easily merge private in rank it has collected from across its many platforms. This means more powerful, embattled advertisements and more money for Google, but it also represents a new low in online privacy.
Do Excellent, Make Money
“You can make money without doing evil.”
Google Company Way of life
We could argue all day about whether Google’s doing a excellent job of involved what it preaches. It’s a worthwhile conversation to have, especially given the immense amount of our private data sits on Google’s servers.
But here’s something where, in my opinion, there’s no room for debate: doing excellent is excellent affair.
It’s not just about being a better person or getting that warm, fuzzy feeling; businesses that do excellent are simply more likely to be successful in the long haul.
Do You Follow Google’s 8 Simple Rules?
Google’s doctrine are pretty idealistic. I reckon this clarifies why they’ve become so well loved but also why they sometimes have distress living up to their own values.
Take a moment to reflect on our own businesses. Are there any of the rules above that you reckon your affair does a fantastic job of embodying? Are there any areas where you reckon you could improve by being a small bit more like Google?
In person, I see a lot of Google in my own affair (an emphasis on collaboration and a daily desire to improve the service), but there’s still a lot for me to learn (keeping things simple and protecting my share of the market).
This article has left me more energized than ever to apply Google’s doctrine to my company and my website.
I hope it does the same for you. The more people who follow Google’s lead and make simple, shared, value-packed websites, the better off we’ll be.