Tag: google

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Building a Better Boss

Can you build a better boss? According to the brilliant minds at Google, you can.  It’s odd because I personally  thought that Apple would beat Google to the punch on this one (i.e. iBoss) I am sure as we speak, the big brains/egos down at 1 Infinite Loop are being told by their perfect boss to come up with the perfect boss. But I digress.

The New York Times’ Adam Bryant recently reported on Google’s Project Oxygen. Bryant explains that starting in 2009 Google “began analyzing performance reviews, feedback surveys and nominations for top-manager awards.” From this information “…they correlated phrases, words, praise and complaints” to come up with their Eight Habits of Highly Effective Google Managers.

Since Google has attempted to reinvent the wheel (and succeeded) over the past few years, you might be expecting some ground breaking and life changing stuff to be on this management list.  Gems like “Take this green pill and you will become the world’s greatest leader” or “stop using Bing, it will kill you”. Sadly, this is not the case (I am not 100% sure about the Bing thing, but I am guessing you will be fine). Instead, the list is filled with common sense ideas such as:

1. Be a good coach

2. Empower your team and don’t micromanage

3. Express interests in team members success and personal well being

4. Don’t be a sissy: Be productive and results oriented

5. Be a good communicator and listen to your team

6. Help your employees with career development

7. Have a clear vision and strategy for the team

8. Have key technical skills so you can help advise the team

Nothing earth shattering here, but after reading this list I bet you can find a few that you (or your boss) fail to do on a daily basis. And therein lies the rub: leaders today are ignoring the obvious.

After decades of convoluted leadership training, bosses and the bossed are confused and lost. Did we really need a detailed statistical study to tell us that it’s a swell idea to “be a good communicator and listen to your team”? I guess we do, because we are so bogged down by leadership mantras and how-to-lead books (type leadership books into Amazon and you get 57,602 results) that we don’t know which way is up.

The fine people at Google spent untold amounts of time to  create a list that  basically is telling us, “don’t be a jerk, don’t be stupid, and get your head out of your backside”.  The sad part is that we needed them to do so.

What do you think? Did you need to be told how to lead? Or for that matter did you need to be called a sissy by a bunch of four-eyed geeks? (full disclosure, I am wearing thick  glasses and writing a blog so…)

Take a look at the list, read Adam Bryant’s outstanding article, make up your own mind and please tell us what you think. We want to listen and we worry about your well being.

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BLG Leadership Insights Leadership On the Edge

10 Must-Read Social Media & Leadership Stories From July 19-23

1. Here’s a video that illustrates the moods of Twitter users across America. Fascinating project that begins to reveal what we can learn from social networks.

2. A lesson in smart advertising in the age of social media.

3. Steve Jobs’ iPhone 4 launch report card. He’s going to have to stay after class.

4. Advice on how to recover from misunderstandings. Hope you don’t have to refer back to this constantly.

5. Intern’s can give startups a great competitive edge. Here’s why.

6. 5 major ways businesses leak money.

7. Good book review on Charlene Li’s new book, Open Leadership and how it evaluates leadership’s changing structure.

8. A good example of a politician using social media to invigorate his campaign.

9. Learn the history of Rome on your iPod. Great podcast that all leaders should subscribe to.

10. Sound advice: What to do when your blog is dropped from Google search.

Bonus: Scientists have discovered several hundred earth-like planets: video explanation.

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The Case for Online Distractions

It’s easy to blame Google and PowerPoint for distracting us and making us employ bullet points. But, as Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard, argues in last week’s New York Times, we shouldn’t get worried about technologies’ power of distraction. Perhaps, he says, we should be thankful since “technologies are the only things that will keep us smart.”

Pinker states that new forms of media usually meet initial skepticism. The printing press, radio, television, comic books and, of late, video games have all been labeled dangerous in one way or another during their admission into popular culture. With time, each medium eventually finds acceptance and praise.

Today’s critics of new technologies like Twitter, PowerPoint, e-book previews, and blogs worry that we’ll all suffer from information overload. We often hear the line that computer and smart phone users will get lost, confused, and increasing unproductive in a content-filled cyberworld.

Pinker doesn’t see it that way. People who seek to increase their knowledge on a particular subject will and be able to do so with greater ease with new technologies and won’t necessarily be driven to idle distraction. While the computer age has bred a new variety of time-wasters, it has also created a powerful learning tool.

Ultimately Pinker thinks we must approach new technologies with caution. Exploit its benefits while diligently abstaining from its idle pleasures. He advocates turning off smart phones at dinnertime and logging out of your email for hours. For Pinker, with great internet access comes great responsibility.

The internet has cataloged great amounts of information and Google (and sites like it) have become its sponsored librarian. Pinker argues that if we stay in the smarter sections of the library for a prescribed amount of time, we won’t suffer from information overload all that much. If we start wasting time in the general interest and entertainment sections, we’ll distract ourselves and not get anything meaningful done.

Perhaps, but wandering has its benefits and charms.

While new technologies make it easier to waste time, they aren’t responsible for time wasting. Pinker’s conclusions are welcome among worried headlines technology critics who fear the loss of rational thought in the age of Twitter. We don’t have to fear the perpetual distraction of new technologies since they can inform progress, help rational thought, and aid analytical research in exciting ways.

Artwork by: Hotdiggitydogs

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BLG Leadership Insights

10 Must-Read Leadership & Social Media Links From the Past Week

1. The US military relies on great management and leadership strategies to get people motivated and on-task. Wally Bock outlines three essential military leadership techniques that your organization can easily benefit from.

2. Getting your idea across isn’t always easy. Keep these 7 rules in mind the next time you need to get to point clearly.

3. According to some there are three keys to success. The trick is knowing you only need two.

4. This guy used Google Ads to market himself and get a job. Check out his amazing video.

5. When I read the title, What Han Solo Can Teach You About Informal Leadership I laughed. In fact, I’m still laughing, but it’s a great read and a surprisingly apt comparison.

6. Use Twitter in your PowerPoint presentations! Great tool and a strong way to lead the way with social media.

7. How exactly do you know when a leader is ineffective? Here are 8 warning signs.

8. Facebook, argues Stanley Bing, is teaching young people business skills. Too bad it can’t teach math & science as well.

9. Google can make or break your reputation, especially if you are always trying to meet new clients. This company will make sure the most flattering sites appear when your name is searched…for a price.

10. If you haven’t been able to follow the Net Neutrality battle of late, here’s a really good  guide…for dummies.

Bonus: How to make your Facebook account private in 2 minutes. The fact that we need third parties telling us to make Facebook private is not a good sign.

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BLG Leadership Insights

10 Must-Read Leadership & Social Media Links

1. How do you start a trend and move an agenda forward? Get some ideas from the guy who brought us…Yoga.

2. Yeah, I’m talking to you. Leadership and its odd relationship with ‘tough talk.’

3. The varying definitions of ‘leadership’ explored and explained. Don’t worry, it’s not a Dictionary.com link.

4. In these dire times it’s always good to take a deep breath and read Mark Twain. If you don’t have time for that, read these great leadership and management Twain quotes.

5. Google has given itself a face-lift and tweaked its search algorithm. I’m not a big fan of the new side bar, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

6. Corporate social media campaigns can be an awkward, cringe-inducing, train explosions or they can be funny, honest, and entertaining. The good thing is, we can learn from all of them.

7. Orwell didn’t just loathe the possibility of Big Brother. He also hated purple prose.

8. Google Chrome has been trying to master the art of the viral video. This time, they’re close. Watch Chrome vs. Potato.

9. We all know the generation gap has been compounded, squared, and inflated by the internet. Can we still work with 20-somethings?

10. What’s color got to do with it? More than you might think. Here’s a must-see chart that explains what different cultures think of different colors.

Bonus: For all you LaTeX geeks out there: Google Docs + LaTeX = Finally!