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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
All of the usual weaknesses of business books are here, but it's an unusually useful book because of how widely and deeply it discusses the existing literature and Google's own research.
It is interesting and readable, though 4 years is enough time in techland for this to be woefully out of date. Also, no mention of all the executive-level sexual misconduct coverups! Shocking.
ANYWAY, this passes my most important test of business books, which is: if a powerful person were to read this book and take subsequent action informed by their reading, they would probably improve the lives of the people subject to their power. At least on the net.
It is interesting and readable, though 4 years is enough time in techland for this to be woefully out of date. Also, no mention of all the executive-level sexual misconduct coverups! Shocking.
ANYWAY, this passes my most important test of business books, which is: if a powerful person were to read this book and take subsequent action informed by their reading, they would probably improve the lives of the people subject to their power. At least on the net.
informative
If you're a business owner (whatever scale), a manager, working in HR, or merely curious of why Google remains in the top ranks of places to work lists, this is a must read. I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by the author himself, and while I enjoyed the additional content provided in pdf, I'll be sure to add it in my library in print real soon.
But the real reason for a high rating is, me and the author are of the same opinion on which is the greatest video game of all time. What can I say, I'm partial like that.
But the real reason for a high rating is, me and the author are of the same opinion on which is the greatest video game of all time. What can I say, I'm partial like that.
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This book was kind of boring... and that's a mark a high praise.
I've worked at Google for a decade, as a manager for nearly half of that. This book really does describe the way that Google structures the workplace to create an innovative environment. If I hadn't been a bit bored, if I had been surprised, it probably would have been because the book didn't ring true. Instead, this book explores examples of what has worked and what hasn't worked at Google to create a strong culture.
The first two chapters of the book set up some framing philosophy. If you want to create an innovative environment, think like a founder. Feel like you have responsibility for and power to change the culture and working conditions around you, even if it's just for your team. Then give people freedom to do the same for themselves. Freedom and it's closely related sibling, transparency, can be intimidating boons to grant. It will be abused from time to time, but the net gains in innovation, productivity, and happiness will offset those occasional losses.
The next three chapters talk about hiring and it's role in creating a culture of innovation. Find the best people for the job, even if it takes more time. Move away from interviewing on instinct; standardize the interview process. Google does this by having candidates interview with multiple interviewers, some to all of them not on the team the candidate will be working on (it varies by role), and then having the hiring decision made by a committee that is separate from the interviewers.
Once good people are hired, allow them to be innovative. It's not uncommon for hiring to look for the best people and then constrain them until they are no more than average. A key action is to take power away from managers and spread it out. Managers are important. Laszlo discusses Project Oxygen which determined the attributes that make a manager great and helped Google understand why good managers are important[1][2]. But to foster a culture of ownership and innovation, it's important to take away potentially destructive sources of power that managers have such as sole discretion over hiring, firing, salary, and promotion. The book also goes into detailed discussion about Google's philosophy in some of these areas.
Google is known for its benefits, and Laszlo spends a fair amount of time talking about some of our benefits and why they matter. Google targets its benefits so that they increase employee efficiency, community (both internal and external), and innovation; some benefits, such as the survivor benefit for an employees death, we have because they're just the right thing to do. If a benefit doesn't have a positive impact in one of these areas, it's not useful. Another interesting thing is that most of these benefits are not expensive. Food and transportation certainly are, but many other benefits are cheap or free.
The most interesting thing to me is that many of these benefits stem from a single core benefit: giving employees the freedom and time to act on their ideas. Whether it's arranging talks from internal or external speakers on a diverse array of topics, diversity groups setting up both bridging and boding activities, or culture clubs setting up fun events like regular live music performance by Googlers, a lot of what makes Google googley comes from people whose job description doesn't say anything about culture.
Even if I was a little bored at times, I'm glad I read this book. Although things are always changing -- some of the details in this book are already out of date -- the core ideas are worth understanding for anyone who wants to foster a culture of innovation.
(As an aside, this book is probably still worth reading even if you are a Googler. It brings together a lot of the philosophy and history behind why Google does People Ops the way it does. For those who didn't live through the development of these systems, it's good to learn the bigger picture. For those that did, it's good to remember.)
[1] https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/managers-identify-what-makes-a-great-manager/steps/learn-about-googles-manager-research/
[2] It's a pity the gteams research wasn't ready to be part of that book. The research about what makes great teams is even more important than Oxygen, in my opinion: https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/
I've worked at Google for a decade, as a manager for nearly half of that. This book really does describe the way that Google structures the workplace to create an innovative environment. If I hadn't been a bit bored, if I had been surprised, it probably would have been because the book didn't ring true. Instead, this book explores examples of what has worked and what hasn't worked at Google to create a strong culture.
The first two chapters of the book set up some framing philosophy. If you want to create an innovative environment, think like a founder. Feel like you have responsibility for and power to change the culture and working conditions around you, even if it's just for your team. Then give people freedom to do the same for themselves. Freedom and it's closely related sibling, transparency, can be intimidating boons to grant. It will be abused from time to time, but the net gains in innovation, productivity, and happiness will offset those occasional losses.
The next three chapters talk about hiring and it's role in creating a culture of innovation. Find the best people for the job, even if it takes more time. Move away from interviewing on instinct; standardize the interview process. Google does this by having candidates interview with multiple interviewers, some to all of them not on the team the candidate will be working on (it varies by role), and then having the hiring decision made by a committee that is separate from the interviewers.
Once good people are hired, allow them to be innovative. It's not uncommon for hiring to look for the best people and then constrain them until they are no more than average. A key action is to take power away from managers and spread it out. Managers are important. Laszlo discusses Project Oxygen which determined the attributes that make a manager great and helped Google understand why good managers are important[1][2]. But to foster a culture of ownership and innovation, it's important to take away potentially destructive sources of power that managers have such as sole discretion over hiring, firing, salary, and promotion. The book also goes into detailed discussion about Google's philosophy in some of these areas.
Google is known for its benefits, and Laszlo spends a fair amount of time talking about some of our benefits and why they matter. Google targets its benefits so that they increase employee efficiency, community (both internal and external), and innovation; some benefits, such as the survivor benefit for an employees death, we have because they're just the right thing to do. If a benefit doesn't have a positive impact in one of these areas, it's not useful. Another interesting thing is that most of these benefits are not expensive. Food and transportation certainly are, but many other benefits are cheap or free.
The most interesting thing to me is that many of these benefits stem from a single core benefit: giving employees the freedom and time to act on their ideas. Whether it's arranging talks from internal or external speakers on a diverse array of topics, diversity groups setting up both bridging and boding activities, or culture clubs setting up fun events like regular live music performance by Googlers, a lot of what makes Google googley comes from people whose job description doesn't say anything about culture.
Even if I was a little bored at times, I'm glad I read this book. Although things are always changing -- some of the details in this book are already out of date -- the core ideas are worth understanding for anyone who wants to foster a culture of innovation.
(As an aside, this book is probably still worth reading even if you are a Googler. It brings together a lot of the philosophy and history behind why Google does People Ops the way it does. For those who didn't live through the development of these systems, it's good to learn the bigger picture. For those that did, it's good to remember.)
[1] https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/managers-identify-what-makes-a-great-manager/steps/learn-about-googles-manager-research/
[2] It's a pity the gteams research wasn't ready to be part of that book. The research about what makes great teams is even more important than Oxygen, in my opinion: https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/
All things Google fascinate me, which is one of the reasons I read this book. I'm also interested in company cultures and how we create our environments. This book delivers an insider's perspective of Google's strategy for creating and keeping a happy workplace. Some tips will apply elsewhere; some won't. Biggest takeaway: Trust your people. Assume the best, and they (mostly) will give you their best.
So I'm not in HR, not a manager, and I don't even work in a traditional corporate field. That being said I still thought it was pretty interesting. It was a lot less of the history of Google and more the nitty gritty of how Google runs itself and how the same principles can be used it different companies. If I was an HR person or I owned a company I would totally have loved it.
Btw disclaimer, this post is 90% story time, 10% book review š„ø This is my second reading of the book. First time I read it was back in 2015 when I was just one year into my career in HR. Hungry from some guidance, I read the book. And now, 8 years later, I decided to read it again. I have been working for 9 years now in HR and i thought well, maybe the years gone by allow me to pick up new things from the book! So I read it again! Hahah.
I would say, it is still a good reference and I noticed that the parts I didnāt understand in my first reading, NOW I understand. And the parts that I found boring previously, is now interesting. And I noticed that this time around, I donāt really focus on the findingsā¦but rather on how they conduct their research. See, the thing that truly amazes is the way HR team of Google works. It is very highly scientific, imho. They do a lot of people analytics, A/B testing, and experimentations. Only recently am I delving into a large scale experiment and I really enjoyed this aspect of my work. And reading the way Google goes about this is very mindblowing.
The I thought to myself, āwell maybe it is not too late for me to be like Prasad Setty (Google VP of Prople Analytics)ā¦ let me see what kind of education I need to have to be like him!ā So I went to his LinkedIn and damn, the man is an IIT graduate. And then Carnegie Mellon. And then Wharton Business. Wah. Different already ššš
I would say, it is still a good reference and I noticed that the parts I didnāt understand in my first reading, NOW I understand. And the parts that I found boring previously, is now interesting. And I noticed that this time around, I donāt really focus on the findingsā¦but rather on how they conduct their research. See, the thing that truly amazes is the way HR team of Google works. It is very highly scientific, imho. They do a lot of people analytics, A/B testing, and experimentations. Only recently am I delving into a large scale experiment and I really enjoyed this aspect of my work. And reading the way Google goes about this is very mindblowing.
The I thought to myself, āwell maybe it is not too late for me to be like Prasad Setty (Google VP of Prople Analytics)ā¦ let me see what kind of education I need to have to be like him!ā So I went to his LinkedIn and damn, the man is an IIT graduate. And then Carnegie Mellon. And then Wharton Business. Wah. Different already ššš
Disappointing, upon re-reading seven years later. In hindsight, "Work Rules" is a microcosm of the hubris of Big Tech companies. Silicon Valley's accidental re-invention of trainsābut worseāhas become a meme over the last decade. Similarly, Bock rediscovers old knowledge about human behavior and how to treat people well,* and remarks upon how much happier and more 'productive' people can be under these new rules.
Bock's rebranding of "Human Resources" to "People Operations" is another demonstration of the inconsequential aesthetic innovations Big Tech performs to persuade employees (and the public) that what they're doing is revolutionary, and that Google et al. are proud of breaking the rules.
Bock's rebranding of "Human Resources" to "People Operations" is another demonstration of the inconsequential aesthetic innovations Big Tech performs to persuade employees (and the public) that what they're doing is revolutionary, and that Google et al. are proud of breaking the rules.
One of four business books I remember ever reading in my life (3 of them in the last 4 months, all of them in the last 2 years or so). It's a pretty engaging book, though it doesn't solve all the problems of leading great teams at work or anything, but there's some stuff I'll go back to. I dog-eared maybe 30 pages for later review. It's neat to get an inside peek at some of the ways Google has succeeded and failed, and the content seems to be offered sincerely with a desire to help -- it's not just marketing for Google (though it is undoubtedly also marketing for Google). I like that there's emphasis on data and that there are a few short case studies, though I think it'd be hard if not impossible in most companies to reproduce the sorts of things Google can do with data and personnel experimentation. It's the most pleasant, enjoyable, polished of this sort of book that I've read, and I'm glad I read it. Three stars because, ugh, business book, but a pretty palatable one.