How Google Works

By: Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle

Narrated by: Holter Graham, Jonathan Rosenberg

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

Google Executive Chairman and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt and former SVP of Products Jonathan Rosenberg came to Google over a decade ago as proven technology executives. At the time, the company was already well-known for doing things differently, reflecting the visionary - and frequently contrarian - principles of founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. If Eric and Jonathan were going to succeed, they realized they would have to relearn everything they thought they knew about management and business.

Today, Google is a global icon that regularly pushes the boundaries of innovation in a variety of fields. How Google Works is an entertaining, pause-resistant primer containing lessons that Eric and Jonathan learned as they helped build the company. The authors explain how technology has shifted the balance of power from companies to consumers, and that the only way to succeed in this ever-changing landscape is to create superior products and attract a new breed of multifaceted employees whom Eric and Jonathan dub "smart creatives". Covering topics including corporate culture, strategy, talent, decision-making, communication, innovation, and dealing with disruption, the authors illustrate management maxims ("Consensus requires dissension", "Exile knaves but fight for divas", "Think 10X, not 10%") with numerous insider anecdotes from Google's history, many of which are shared here for the first time.

In an era when everything is speeding up, the best way for businesses to succeed is to attract smart-creative people and give them an environment where they can thrive at scale. How Google Works explains how to do just that.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2014 Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg (P)2014 Hachette

There are useful ideas in this book

I would say 20% of the book can be put to use in any business. 30% of the rest of the book can be considered useful and explored to be put to use in any business. Rest is about interesting stuff at Google. Well 50% useful is a terrific for a book like this. There are some examples on hiring and unleashing creativity which are awesome.

Non-traditional corporate culture that works

Would you listen to How Google Works again? Why?

Yes I will listen to this book again. This well-narrated book provides an excellent summary of Google's culture to a non-Googler such as myself. How Google Works has inspired me to find my inner "smart creative" that has thus far been suppressed by corporate politics and meaningless buzzwords. I will listen to this book again because it describes a successful business strategy in the fast-paced market of software and platforms. This book is highly informative, well written, and expertly narrated.

A Disapointment

No insight as to how Google really works. Very simplistic read on management "best practices." I don't need a book to tell me how to write or read corporate emails. The narrator reads Like Capt. Kirk on Quaaludes. A disappointment overall.

An excellent and thought provoking book.

Where does How Google Works rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the top 5 of >180.

What other book might you compare How Google Works to and why?

Predictably irrational by Dan Ariely because it makes you think about every day things in a counter intuitive way.

Which character – as performed by Holter Graham and Jonathan Rosenberg – was your favorite?

Both were equally good. Well read and "performed".

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

Any additional comments?

A good read. Once this book is read go back and read What Would Google Do by Jeff Jarvis and In The Plex by Steven Levy.

Embrace this Culture!

Would you listen to How Google Works again? Why?

I gained so much from this book, If you are in leadership or simply want to be someday this book will do wonders for how you work and lead people. If I could get just half of the great things discussed in this book instituted I believe it would transform my own operations. I will listen to this a few more times so I can be reminded of how greatness is achieved by paying attention to your companies best assets....The people!

What did you like best about this story?

All of the points on building a great culture.

Beautiful yet a lot of bragging and inflated ego

The book is wow. It has so many tips and useful ideas. Also, it will explain Google's philosophy about things people don't really understand and MIS interpret such as all the free coffee, food and snacks. Also, one can understand different team sizes setup and what worked with them. Plus, organizing 1:1s and coaching CEOs. If you are opening your own business, this book is an inspirational.

Few things are annoying in the book:
*) toooo long and can easily be shortened.
*) a lot of bragging about values they claim to have such as "be no evil" and other idealistic values they don't fulfill. We know they work with NSA, so please spear the irony. Also, they make you feel that the company has no goals to collect money and increase wealth and hide it behind things like changing the world.

Not bad, but not great

One needs to read the book just because it's about Google and because it does contain an occasional interesting story or tip. But I felt the book was poorly done. I was hoping to get more information on the difficult decisions Googlers had to make, their thinking and choices they made, their reflections on how it worked out, things they wish they did, things they wish they didn't do, and words of wisdom for future generations of entrepreneurs. I wanted to hear more about Google Plus. Why it didn't take off they predicted it would. I wanted to hear more about Google Video, and how it later was merged with YouTube. I wanted to hear more about the monetisation models they tried, what worked, what didn't, and why what they have now eventually succeeded. There was some of it, but very little. Too much focus on how great Google is and only a discussion of successful outcomes. Not a complete waste of time, some good info on how Google hires people (though mentioned their sting with riddles only briefly). But I expected much more.

Exceeded expectations

There are so many details and data I ingested while reading this book, I find that I can't wait to action them. Between recruiting, hiring, promoting, building a culture, product development, and platform strategy, I am eager to put these learnings to use... and to read this book all over again.

Inspiring story about unique corporate culture.

It was amazing to hear the inner workings of one of the most revolutionary companies in the history of the technology revolution. There are numerous key insights about management, hiring and investing in multiple areas of expertise. Great book. I hope to read and listen to it again. Every HR manager should read this book.

Not what it says on the cover

This is a management book really - it loosely couples a lecture on how to run businesses and uses anecdotes from google to justify it Skip.