Work Rules!
Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead
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4.3 • 42 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From the visionary head of Google's innovative People Operations comes a groundbreaking inquiry into the philosophy of work -- and a blueprint for attracting the most spectacular talent to your business and ensuring that they succeed.
"We spend more time working than doing anything else in life. It's not right that the experience of work should be so demotivating and dehumanizing." So says Laszlo Bock, former head of People Operations at the company that transformed how the world interacts with knowledge.
This insight is the heart of Work Rules!, a compelling and surprisingly playful manifesto that offers lessons including:
Take away managers' power over employees Learn from your best employees-and your worst Hire only people who are smarter than you are, no matter how long it takes to find them Pay unfairly (it's more fair!) Don't trust your gut: Use data to predict and shape the future Default to open-be transparent and welcome feedback If you're comfortable with the amount of freedom you've given your employees, you haven't gone far enough.
Drawing on the latest research in behavioral economics and a profound grasp of human psychology, Work Rules! also provides teaching examples from a range of industries-including lauded companies that happen to be hideous places to work and little-known companies that achieve spectacular results by valuing and listening to their employees. Bock takes us inside one of history's most explosively successful businesses to reveal why Google is consistently rated one of the best places to work in the world, distilling 15 years of intensive worker R&D into principles that are easy to put into action, whether you're a team of one or a team of thousands.
Work Rules! shows how to strike a balance between creativity and structure, leading to success you can measure in quality of life as well as market share. Read it to build a better company from within rather than from above; read it to reawaken your joy in what you do.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bock, Google's head of people operations, debuts with a book about how Google hires and manages its employees. Most people know about the company's free lunches and shuttle services, but, according to him, there is more behind Google's five-time Fortune ranking as "Best Company to Work For." The company aims to "keep people in an environment of freedom, creativity, and play." However, there are rules underlying this culture, and values underlying these rules, to each of which Bock devotes one of the book's 14 chapters. Its bedrock is trust in the fundamental goodness of people. Some rules are easier to accept than others. For example, "given limited resources, invest your HR dollars first in recruiting." Less obvious is, "Swallow hard and pay unfairly." No matter the rule, however, its explanation is thorough. Regarding pay, Bock cites a "power law distribution" that proves "your best people are better than you think, and worth more than you pay them." This book is for those who are curious about Google, but especially for business leaders, all of whom, according to Bock, would benefit from adopting these rules themselves. Anecdotes about Google's founding and history mingle with discussions of management theory, psychology, and behavioral economics to create a fascinating and accessible read.
Customer Reviews
Great balanced approach but yet radical and practical
I have a friend that works at Google. He started in mountain view and just relocated back to San Antonio to join google fiber. As we dialogued about the company and the culture I was drawn to this book after reading some of the authors posts on LinkedIn. I'm a married father of 4 with 3 of the 4 ranging from 3 years old to 9 months (3 under 3). With all my work, business travels and family time I was able to read this full book in less than a week and purchased the audio book for my wife. It was and is a great read. I must disputed the authors daughter.... :-)
What’s missing
The book is different from what I would expect most books about HR or People Ops are. There’s plenty of good ideas in here, but I think it is a pretty sanitized (almost political) narrative. The author doesn’t really address some of the challenges in DEI recruitment and gender inequities that affect the wider world of tech.