Thursday , March 28 2024
The book of how Google has rewritten management principles in the 21st century.

Book Review: The Google Way: How One Company is Revolutionizing Management As We Know It by Bernard Girard

At an estimated value of almost $100 billion dollars, Google is one of the most powerful corporations on the planet. It has its hands into everything from advertising to mapping, to office productivity, social networking, video sharing, e-mail, and, oh yeah, searching the Internet.

As what happened with Ford after World War I, then IBM in the 1960s, and Toyota in the 1980s, Google today is reinventing how people work, how organizations are controlled, and how people are managed.

Because Google operates within the realm of distributed intelligence from the Internet, it imbues the company with a more carefree dynamic than most other companies. But, if you are competing with Google, don't get fooled into thinking that co-founders are any less capable than a Henry Ford, Tom Watson, Bill Gates, or Taiichi Ohno. Google's ways are a combination of its own innovations, and the lessons culled from other technology companies it has competed against or that have come before.

The Google Way: How One Company is Revolutionizing Management As We Know It is meant to provide you with the keys to understanding how and why the Google management system has been so successful. Along with concentrating on Google, the author also looks at and compares other companies that have adapted similar types of management styles.

The Google Way is divided into four parts. The first part looks at the economic model that was built by Google's leaders and how it came about. Part two discusses the management methods that the founders adopted. Keep in mind that these practices are far removed from the best practices that are taught in the top business schools.

Part three then looks at the environment that surrounds Google's development. Google's success has been in the understanding of their users that has led them to becoming an important role in corporation's growth. Part four closes the book by looking at the challenges that Google will face as it continues to grow.

The Google Way is a well thought-out, well-executed book that combines knowledge of the business world with extensive research to describe the rise of a corporate giant. This is not a book that is written as an "all praise Google," but rather a easy-to-read history and analysis of Google's rise to dominance.

Google has, over the last ten years, rewritten the book on management principles and has taken on, and in many cases, overtaken, the major players in the industry. They have had their share of controversies, but have had more than their share of successes. If you want to find out how they did it, then it is as easy as reading The Google Way. I highly recommend this book.

About T. Michael Testi

Photographer, writer, software engineer, educator, and maker of fine images.

Check Also

Cover Culture Decks Decoded

Book Review: ‘Culture Decks Decoded’ by Bretton Putter

Leaders of any high growth or startup company should read Bretton Putter's new book is 'Culture Decks Decoded.' It's a compelling guidebook on the need for company culture.