Google's approach to collaboration and creativity

The Feb '08 issue of Fast Company contains some interesting interviews with Google staff which give an insight into the culture of the company.

One of the more interesting interviews was with Marissa Meyer (pictured right) who shared her "9 principles of innovation at Google":

1. INNOVATION, NOT INSTANT PERFECTION.
2. IDEAS COME FROM EVERYWHERE
3. A LICENSE TO PURSUE YOUR DREAMS
4. MORPH PROJECTS DON'T KILL THEM
5. SHARE AS MUCH INFORMATION AS YOU CAN
6. USERS, USERS, USERS
7. DATA IS APOLITICAL.
8. CREATIVITY LOVES CONSTRAINTS
9. YOU'RE BRILLIANT? WE'RE HIRING

There is much to agree with in there but three things stood out for me as being worthy of comment, some good, some bad:

1. Google use search internally to increase knowledge sharing. Getting people to share their knowledge is a notoriously tricky thing to get right as anyone who has ever used a corporate intranet can atest. Google's answer is to make it really easy for people to submit their knowledge which they they index and make searchable. Google merely asks that "every Monday, all employees write an email that has five to seven bullet points on what they did the previous week." This differs from most attempts at gathering and sharing information in that it is a) likely to be nearly comprehensive because b) it asks so little of employees.
2. Google use data to manage creativity. They actively discourage people from having an opinion and they believe they have the right metrics to use instead: "Some companies think of design as an art. We think of design as a science. It doesn't matter who is the favorite or how much you like this aesthetic versus that aesthetic. It all comes down to data. Run a test and whichever design does best against the user-happiness metrics over a two-week period is the one we launch. We have a very academic environment where we're looking at data all the time." Cynics might argue, however, that Google isn't exactly a leader in the field of design.
3. Google believe that creativity thrives on constraints. Marissa says that "people think of creativity as this sort of unbridled thing, but engineers thrive on constraints. They love to think their way out of that little box." Sure, but like anyone I'm sure that they also take it upon themselves to challenge any constraints placed on them first before trying to work within them.

Comments

[Amelia]

Love this! Hadn't seen it before - thanks for posting!