问答题
What Small Business Can Learn from Google
When I talk to people about Google and its organizational culture, they are equally fascinated and hopeless, believing that the magic behind Google lies in the deep revenue streams that make it possible to feed its employees three meals a day. Small businesses, especially, tend to dismiss Google as a wholly unattainable model for running a business.
However, I learned core lessons at Google that transformed the way I look at problem solving and strategic thinking. There were statements that I heard early and often that guided decision-making at every level of the organization. These mantras are at the core of innovation for Google but translate readily to any business to create agility, employee engagement and ultimately, stronger business results. Google's success owes far more to these mantras than the food in the cafes, and even better, they cost no money to implement.
Launch and Iterate Even the smartest of the hyper-educated Google leaders cannot predict which products and features will attract a sizable user base. Instead, they urge teams to launch quickly and iterate—in other words, stick with, and perfect, what's working—based on what they learn from their users. Rather than spending time perfecting a product that might not work, get it out there, and let the feedback guide future development.
For a small business, this means trying out a lot of services, products, marketing, sales and other tactics in really small ways, gauging the success and then building on the ideas that work in reality. Resist the urge to perfect—if your customers understand that you truly want their feedback to shape products and services, they will enthusiastically share their opinions.
Fail Fast If you try a lot of stuff by launching early and iterating, you'll fail at most attempts. This is the secret to innovation. Failure is not a bad thing, but slow failure in the market is. Launch, iterate and declare the failures as quickly as you can. Most importantly, learn from those failures to help guide future efforts.
I recommend doing a weekly retrospective for your operations, lasting no more than 30 minutes. Ask your teams to answer three simple questions: What worked well? What did we learn? What can we do differently? Then, pick the one change that will make the most difference and put it in to play.
Focus on the User Your customers or users should be your singular focus, always. A question I ask incessantly to maintain this focus is: "What problem are we trying to solve for our customers?" Every product or service must be linked to a problem or challenge that will make their lives easier.
Ask Forgiveness, not Permission This mantra was important to mobilize every Google employee in the company to do the things they felt were right without worrying about what approvals they needed to do it. The idea is to remove barriers and to empower employees to act quickly.
Reward employees for taking initiative, and treat their missteps as any other failure—something to learn from, but not to dwell on. What is most important is they become stewards of your company to make the best decisions without seeking 100 approvals to do so.
If Yon See a Void, Fill It This is my favorite lesson from Google. It gives explicit permission to employees and the expectation that, if something is broken, everyone is empowered and responsible to fix it. If there is a spill in the kitchen, clean it up. If the copy machine is broken, file a ticket. And if you see a void in the market for an application you believe users will love, then build it.
This creates an environment in which every employee is 100% responsible for making your company better every day in little (or big) ways.
Put together, these five mantras create a responsible organization fiercely devoted to making the lives of customers better, one tiny step at a time.
【正确答案】A: Do you think that company dress policy is one important aspect of corporate culture?
B: Yes, definitely. And it is a very interesting topic to talk about.
A: What would you like to wear for work?
B: Well, that really depends. If I don't need to face customers too often, I would like to wear casual clothes in the office, like jeans and a T-shirt to make myself comfortable.
A: Maybe you can't decide what you wear in working environment. Many companies have the fixed policy on how staff across all departments are allowed to dress for work, which reflects corporate values and the morale of the whole company.
B: To a degree, I think the dress shows work attitude. Just as the saying goes, "You are what you wear." The same is true for the company. Employees' image represents the corporate image.
A: So, I think the employees of a corporate should have uniforms to reflect its image.
B: I am afraid I have opposite opinion on this point. I think that different departments have the right to decide the type of clothes staff have to wear because of their distinct function in the company. For example, people in service departments of hospitality industry, would wear formal attire. But people in manufacturing sectors can wear overalls. And employees in research and development or ad department may wear casual clothes. What's more, it should be set regarding what to wear on different business occasions. That's to say, we should base our policy on what is appropriate for the day's activities.
A: It seems that you have your point here. And it is true that formal business clothes should be worn when facing customers or at scheduled meetings. That gives people a sense of credibility and authority.
B: Yes, if people are neatly and formally dressed, it will help them to gain customers' trust.
A: Right. The company should make sure causal sandals and slippers are not allowed in workplace, since it should not only write down what should be worn, but also make clear what should not be worn in workplace.
B: Well said. So do you think it is necessary to ask staff for their views about company dress policy.'?
A: I don't think it necessary to do so and what they need to do is just to follow the company relative regulations.
B: I don't agree with you. Staff have rights to express their ideas. Furthermore, their advice can be beneficial for the improvement of the company dress policy.
A: It sounds reasonable. But the dress code may prevent one's personal style and if they can voice their views, they may refuse to accept corporate dress policy.
B: To be frank, I think it does not hurt for the staff to fill in a questionnaire and the decision makers can make good use of the feedback to improve the dress policy. And I believe the staff will feel the company respect them and regards them as the host of the company.
A: Well, I think you are right. Asking their views may also arouse staff's motivation and enthusiasm. It will encourage them to take an active part in decision-making.
【答案解析】