Eric Schmidt

How Google Works

1. IDEA 1

   Smart creatives drive success

   Schmidt and Rosenberg, former Google executives, argue that the key to modern business is attracting and managing smart creatives: people who combine technical knowledge, business sense and creativity. Traditional management can stifle them.

2. IDEA 2

   Culture shapes everything

   The authors argue that company culture should be clearly defined and lived. Google's culture emphasised openness and ambition. In the authors' view, when people know what the company stands for, they make better choices even when no manager is watching.

3. IDEA 3

   Hiring is critical

   The authors describe hiring as the most important thing managers do. Google used rigorous processes to hire talented people. In the authors' view, the people a company hires shape everything it later does, so it is worth spending much time on getting them right.

All 8 ideas from How Google Works →