A recent article over on Fortune by Ken Auletta lists 10 things Google has taught us. Now, it’s obvious the 10 lessons provide a path to success (as you just have to look at where Google stands), but did Google teach us well? Before we can answer that, we have to review the 10 lessons.
- Passion Wins
Larry Page and Sergey Brin are involved with Google full-time, unlike Jerry Yang and David Filo of Yahoo. They see Google as a defining company and give it everything they’ve got. - Focus is Required
The founders never let themselves get defocused by the crowd or the other 100 good ideas that they could be working on. - Vision is Required Too
Page and Brin want to make “all the world’s information available”. That’s quite a vision! - A Team Culture is Vital
Google’s allocation of 20% of employee time to projects of their own choice give employees a sense of proprietorship. - Treat Engineers as Kings
For most Valley companies, engineers are the equivalent of the television writer, a dime a dozen. Not at Google. - Treat Customers Like a King
Google is among the world’s most trusted brands because it conveys a sense that the user comes first. Google services are free and user friendly. - Every Company is a Frenemy
Google understands that a medium like the internet blurs the borders between companies, sometimes making it more difficult to sight a potential rival or to distinguish between ally and foe. - Don’t Ignore the Human Factor
Google has been wise in winning the trust of its users, in building a team culture, and in thinking long-term. But when you start from a blanket assumption that the old ways of doing things are probably wrong, as Google does, you’re bound to make unwise mistakes. Page was unwise to assume Google could immediately digitize all books, just as Google was wrong to assume that it could devise formulas to better sell ads for newspapers and broadcast radio, two efforts it has since abandoned. - There Are No Certitudes
There is nothing about the Google model that makes them invulnerable. While they made it big as a search engine, the money they’ve poured into new ventures like YouTube, Android, and cloud-computing has not yet paid off. - Life is Long But Time is Short
You need to think and act quickly and move with the markets, which will change many times over your life time.
So has Google taught us well? Yes, they have. In fact, they have taught us very well. All the lessons apply to your supply chain. Specifically:
- Passion Wins
In order to build a better supply chain than your competitor, you have to work long and hard. This will require passion. - Focus is Required
Since the average, well-planned, supply chain transformation takes 18 to 36 months in a large multi-national, you need unwavering focus so you don’t get led astray. - Vision is Required Too
You have to see the end result to get there. - A Team Culture is Vital
Success will require the commitment of a cross-functional team that represents every unit of the business. - Treat Engineers as Kings
Your supply chain professionals, who are re-engineering the supply chain, need to have the full support of the C-suite who need to treat them like Kings for the value their efforts can bring. - Treat Customers Like a King
Since sourcing / procurement / supply chain needs the support of the other internal divisions of the company, their “customers”, they need to treat their customers like a king if they want to make big wins. - Every Company is a Frenemy
Your supply advantage today could be a supply risk tomorrow without the right IP protection when your contract manufacturer starts working for your direct competitor. - Don’t Ignore the Human Factor
The projects with the largest returns won’t succeed if everyone isn’t on board. - There Are No Certitudes
The markets are changing. The perfect supply chain today will not be the perfect supply chain tomorrow. You will have to improve continuously. - Life is Long But Time is Short
Especially where consumer products are concerned.