This question was asked at one of my recent workshops. Well, to the person who asked the question, in the video below Lars Bratsberg, the Head of Branding at Google Norway, identifies some of the core principles within Google’s culture.
What are those principles?
Though Google’s core principles have been talked about in this Google Think Insights article, the image above, as well as most recently in Fast Company, here is a summary of what Lars said:
- Google employees, must understand the vision of the company
- The user is always put first
- Test first and quickly
- The best ideas can come from anywhere, so anyone can contribute
- Google has adopted the improv philosophy of ‘yes, and…’ when it comes to crazy ideas and contribution, where one acknowledges the idea and adds on to it, rather than shooting it down and killing ideas and energy.
- Data must support everything
- Always hire the best person at any given time
To sum it up: Google empowers its employees to be great.
Bottom line: To increase creativity and innovation in an organization, reward people for trying new things and don’t punish them for failure!
