Reading through the transcripts of
Schmidt’s brief, I would have to take my typical stance on Google – it works
for them because they have built their company from the ground up using this
format. Let me explain: they have always
used this approach to hiring and personnel development. As a result, they have an organization that
is top to bottom in line with the way the company runs and is full of people
that are committed to the organization.
I do not know if you can say that many other companies are full of
completely committed people. Due to this, it could take years of hiring and attrition to get the people needed in place in a company that didn't start this mentality in the beginning (if they wanted to switch to a Google approach). This commitment
is exactly what allows them to take the hands off approach to management that
they do. If they didn’t, you would need
much more intrusive leadership to ensure the necessities where getting
done. Additionally, they have an
outstanding reputation in the business world which allows them to have the pick
of the litter, whereas many other companies do not.
This
approach to their company would not work in my organization (the US Navy), due
mainly to the fact that the mindset of the employees at Google is a little
different from the mindset of the average sailor. The typical junior sailor is around 19 years
old, is fresh out of high school and their follow on Navy training, has never
lived away from home, and in general knows little about the real world. As a result, there is some necessary
supervision that is required to ensure that the items that need to get done get
done in the proper fashion. If the Navy
was full of 10 year Chiefs and First Class Petty Officers, I could probably say
that the Google approach might work as most sailors at that rank understand
what needs to get done so they get it done without having to get told to do
so. Google on the other hand is full of
the best and brightest engineers/sciences people that have studied for several
years and have degrees. Don’t think that
I am saying that just because you have a degree you are automatically better
than anyone else without one, however in general there is a huge maturity
difference between a kid fresh out of high school and a recent college grad who
just spent the last 4 years of his/her life studying to make it through the
program. This only multiplies when you
are talking about the best graduates from major universities.
It
certainly does take courage to take this approach. Essentially, the management at Google is like
a parent that is telling their kids to behave and “oh by the way I won’t be
back to check on you anytime soon”. If
things don’t work out, the first statement out of anyone’s mouth is going to
be, “well why did you leave them alone unsupervised?” Google’s hands off approach is putting the
course of the company in the hands of the workers. Again, they can do this since they have only
recruited the best of the best.
Although
Google’s setup wouldn’t work in the Navy, there are still things to be
learned. First off, the more you empower
your employees, the more they will feel like their inputs really do matter,
thus increasing job satisfaction. I also
liked the discussion on meetings. Disagreement
brings out alternative solutions which leads to better developed solutions to
problems. In the future, I definitely will
attempt to create a discussion in the event that a meeting comes to an
agreement without sufficient dialogue.
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