This was such a great clip to watch and really interesting. I think I learned more about what is important during the hiring/recruiting just by watching this video than I have in taking business classes. From the information I have learned about in the video, I will be addressing and answering the following five (5) questions in this video blog.
Does Schmidt's description of the Google Culture make sense to you?
I found that the Schmidt’s description of Google’s culture did make sense and it is something to live by. When you are designing a start-up company you want to pick the best people to be in the organization from the ground up and those people have to want to be there. Furthermore, you want to continue to influence the organization with people who continue to promote the organization from within. I think that most hiring and recruiting personnel are always trying to achieve Google’s mindset in that they want to pick people who want to be in organization, who love their jobs, and don’t need to be managed because it’s known that they will do exactly what they are hired to do.
Is this a reasonable way to view the work that most people are doing in your workplace?
Currently the way business runs at my workplace is not how Schmidt runs his organization but I would like to think that my department runs very similarly. I am blessed to work in a small department that is filled with people who actually loves what they do and when we come to work we don’t need to be managed we just need to be left alone to do our craft. My direct supervisor doesn’t believe in micromanaging. He understands that we are all designers and he you want us to generate the best work we have to be given a task and then left to fulfill the requirements and then some. I know that for me I manage a full university program (BS in Transportation), along with all the Campus Director Training modules and two smaller programs (Physics/Weather). If my boss was constantly telling me how to do my job I would no longer be a designer I would be a robot doing what I was told with no creativity. I find that for me and many other employees, when you allow for them to be creative, their productivity levels skyrocket and it in turn makes the working environment a better place for all.
As a leader, does it take courage to have and to implement this point of view?
I think making any type of change to a person or organizations point of view a reality takes a lot of courage. Schmidt stated that most of the interview processes were up to 15 or more and even then that employee might not get hired which to me would scare me away from the organization even if I was selected (Schmidt, 2011). So it takes courage from both sides; the new hire and the organization. Organizations need to hire for a multitude of reasons but I think that a good way to screen out people is not by excessive interviews but instead to see how their personalities match with the others in that department or team they will be working it. You don’t just want the best of the best who don’t talk to one another but you want and need the best who also like working with each other day in and day out. I know that when I was hired for this job one of the questions during the interview was how would I get to know my fellow colleagues and how would I fit in and in short my answer was I would be me and slowly get to know each person. I am not the type to throw myself at people because I have a strong personality so I like it when people warm up to me and then we can begin to build a working relationship. Unfortunately with my team we are all individual designers so sometimes we don’t have time to socialize or see eye to eye so we implemented a Party Planning Committee to help with those times where we don’t have many interactions with one another.
Could this approach backfire?
Any approach could backfire; nothing is 100% fail proof. I think that this type of environment works for Google and I think it could work for many organizations but it was take such a change that the culture shock alone could ruin the organization. I believe if any organization wanted to implement this type of culture into their existing organization, the best way to go about making those changes would be to pilot this culture in a new department (possible a new department within organization that is in the beginning stages of hiring). You don’t want to disrupt a successful organization with this type of culture change if it’s unnecessary.
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
There are many different things I can take away from this exercise. I believe that if I am ever on a hiring committee I would use what I have learned from this video in those situations.
References
Schmidt, E. (2011, May). [interview]. Eric schmidt on business culture, technology, and social issues., Retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/strategy/eric_schmidt_on_business_culture_technology_and_social_issues
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