Take a photo of a barcode or cover
143 reviews for:
Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead
Laszlo Bock
4.03 AVERAGE
143 reviews for:
Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead
Laszlo Bock
4.03 AVERAGE
For a management book this is very well written. It has some very workable solutions for company culture and HR. I would put is as a must read for anyone who is high up in a company's management team and deals with People.
Not really useful for folks who are not in that role.
Not really useful for folks who are not in that role.
Excellent material for brainstorming in the HR field. I bought the hard copy after listening to the audio as there was so much material I wanted to highlight and reference.
The book is thought-provoking and makes you respect Google even more.
The beginning felt like a job ad - if you are super smart, like algorithms, high salaries, competitive environment, and unlimited free M&Ms, join us. I kept having this image of a 20-year-old puzzle solving chocolate destroying baby with unlimited patience that would be the perfect fit for Google. Then the information kept flowing and I understood that there is science behind the free food and the lengthy hiring. Google measures everything, A/B tests everything, makes decisions based on data, and fights again unreasonable intuition and bias. Plenty of the benefits actually make people more productive, some just are fair, and the fairness matters.
I can't be sure that everything written in the book is true, but it seems to be sincere.
The beginning felt like a job ad - if you are super smart, like algorithms, high salaries, competitive environment, and unlimited free M&Ms, join us. I kept having this image of a 20-year-old puzzle solving chocolate destroying baby with unlimited patience that would be the perfect fit for Google. Then the information kept flowing and I understood that there is science behind the free food and the lengthy hiring. Google measures everything, A/B tests everything, makes decisions based on data, and fights again unreasonable intuition and bias. Plenty of the benefits actually make people more productive, some just are fair, and the fairness matters.
I can't be sure that everything written in the book is true, but it seems to be sincere.
A thorough (but quick) read on what creating, curating, and compensating extraordinary work teams and lives on a larger scale beyond just the office space.
The really cool perks that Google has are expensive. The book mentions the free ones multiple times- but those require lots of employees and/or employee money. Also, some are too progressive for companies that need to worry about appearances. I found just a few ideas in this book that companies haven't already adopted and that were somewhat reasonable.
Their recruiting seems to be successful. However, with the amount of time and money they put into it, any company doing the same would be successful.
I disagree with the notion that training dollars are wasted. Yes, you should come in qualified, but how to stay current? How to retain people? It is a necessary benefit most companies don't do enough of- and hopefully this book won't be an excuse to do less.
Their recruiting seems to be successful. However, with the amount of time and money they put into it, any company doing the same would be successful.
I disagree with the notion that training dollars are wasted. Yes, you should come in qualified, but how to stay current? How to retain people? It is a necessary benefit most companies don't do enough of- and hopefully this book won't be an excuse to do less.
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Ok so I actually haven't finished this but it's time to return it to the library. Hopefully I can find it in my new library since the kindle version is crazy expensive at $17! I'm comfortable giving this 4 stars even though I haven't finished it since the info was that interesting. Lazlo links statements to actual recent research which is great. I'll be interested in how Google keeps up some of their key tenets in reality as they grow.
This book held my interest, and made some great points, however, a lot of it is aimed at businesses that are massive or will be massive in time. Now, don't get me wrong - I had assumed this would be the case going in, but some of the stats and suggestions were essentially useless to a small business that will never likely get above 25 employees.
That said, I did find value in some of the perspectives gained here, and it did give me a lot to consider. I especially appreciated the lineup of key points at the end. Had this been a book I bought, having that guide in the back to refresh myself would give me more reason to check back in with it as time went on.
In the end, this is like a 3.5 star read, but as goodreads refuses to allow that, I'm opting to round down to 3 because of a few of the things in the book that felt like double speak. Most notably, the thinly veiled jabs at other companies and folks in similar roles at other companies. It felt a bit icky to me to witness someone talking people up, and sharing that sometimes someone doesn't fit for you, but they are great in other roles at other orgs, and then witness a near immediate punching down of those same groups.
That said, I did find value in some of the perspectives gained here, and it did give me a lot to consider. I especially appreciated the lineup of key points at the end. Had this been a book I bought, having that guide in the back to refresh myself would give me more reason to check back in with it as time went on.
In the end, this is like a 3.5 star read, but as goodreads refuses to allow that, I'm opting to round down to 3 because of a few of the things in the book that felt like double speak. Most notably, the thinly veiled jabs at other companies and folks in similar roles at other companies. It felt a bit icky to me to witness someone talking people up, and sharing that sometimes someone doesn't fit for you, but they are great in other roles at other orgs, and then witness a near immediate punching down of those same groups.
A book to come back to again on people, workplace culture and development.