Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead

Laszlo does an excellent job of explaining the origins, beliefs, and approaches used by Google's People Operations team. Many parallels to our own approach, which is often inspired by what they've accomplished. We documented a number of their stories in The Decoded Company, though the deeper background here is very welcome.

This is a spectacularly fascinating book about how Google manages its people. Most of us have a disdain for the Human Resources Departments in our companies -- and rightly so. They are bean counters, enforcers of rules that don't make sense when applied universally, and charged with defending even the most indefensible actions of management, protecting the company from lawsuits rather than helping employees be productive and loyal.

At Google, everything is tested and compared, whether it's a search algorithm or a scheme for distributing bonus dollars and recognition. This permits the company to test objectively whether an idea works in practice. Many of the ideas in the book can be used anywhere -- separate performance evaluations from pay raise decisions, do multi-person interviews in hiring and don't give the hiring decision to the supervisor, and recognize that value of employees is not a bell curve but a power curve. But the testing, tweaking of programs, and other features of the way Google can run its People Operations are not possible for smaller companies or less wealthy ones.

In summary,every HR person should read this book and be open tto implementing as many of the ideas as you can afford and top management will permit

This book is universally pliable. These principles can work in the public, private or nonprofit sector. I have always been a firm believer that you should love what you do. Work does not have to be boring. This book proves that. It also shows that an elite company that makes large profits can still justly reward its employees.

This book manages to find a balance between describing aspirational capabilities for an ideal People Operations organization and practical tips for how to start improving right away. Highly recommend.

I felt like this was a somewhat arrogant treatise about how amazing it is to work at Google. Fine, it's an incredibly influential and powerful company that has high employee satisfaction. But be more specific about how this applies to people who don't work there, and don't highlight nebulous qualities that Google HR looks for like the 'humble genius' thing.

Love, love, love this book! What great insights the author has....definitely a must read if you lead or plan on leading in the future. It brought back my faith that there are actually some great H/R people out there that know what they are doing!

First the store review. I really enjoy the book so far, and am about half way through. Learned a few things about teamwork, personality, success and then how to get hired at Google. The book was mostly written to explain how Google works. And then applied to various aspects of our own lives which I love. 4 starts until I read the entire book, then I'll re-adjust my rating.

Bock has written a masterpiece on how Google's People organization operates. This book should be on every managers bookshelf and is a global benchmark for HR practices. There's much to learn from Bock and Google.

The good: read about how Google view people management meant, learn some counterintuitive principles, and get a better perspective of what a meaningful workplace looks like (for management and non-management)

The bad: some points could be more precise and concise, but not so bad as to drag this down to a 4/5.

Interesting take on managing HR operations. I think to some extent the book is a boast of all that Google has managed to do in HR. Nevertheless, it also offers a approach to HR which is much desired viz. data based. While, the way Google has gone about it may not be replicable by all companies, the principles can be adopted by most companies.

Of course not all can be accomplished in your workplace but it should be a conversation starter. Look for free perks to inspire your coworkers. Remove some areas in decision making. Help them save for retirement. Learn a new skill. Create happy and creative.

The book demonstrate how a systematic approach with deep understanding of critical thinking and human behavior cold be so impactful. No one can deny Google’s success as business and employer! It is clear that with the growing complexity of the world, the difference between the extremes is growing exponentially. Everything described in the book match knowledge available to all, but they use that knowledge to systematically apply in their organization and drive a revolution. I don't remember having so much intellectual fun on a book ever. But be aware that reading the book will bring awareness of how mediocre is the average organization/ corporation today. It is enlightening and depressing at the same time. Drop what you’re doing to read this book!

It's easy to mistake this book for something only for Human Resources or as a way to gain insight to Google, but that's simply not the case. Great insights for anyone who is involved with leadership. I highly recommend it if that is you.

" ..I noticed that many of the fundamental ideas we put into place were not that groundbreaking. But they still deserve attention." Sums it up. I feel inspired that doing the right things will leave its mark and that we are all owners in the world we hope to create.

Well written. Contains many ideas for how to do things differently. A must read for any leader interested in culture and how 'new-age' companies are coming up with new paradigms of organisational design and culture

I recommend this book for those who have the determination and curiosity to improve the way they manage their job position, their team, their strategic and tactical approach at work. Not only for HR professionals. L.Bock presents a game-changing approach to the HR profession.