Google, with its casual, perk-filled, non-traditional approach, has re-written the code on modern company culture.
The bells and whistles so often heard ringing from the Googleplex, including free shuttles, cafes, haircuts and child care, are merely symptoms of a culture that values transparency, accountability and risk taking, all essential components to great product development and continuous innovation.
On January 24, the SLO Chamber took 50 Chamber and community members to the famed Google campus as part of its new educational program: Insight Studio. Participants got to experience the risk-taking culture and learn from the company that receives more than 2 million applications for employment each year.
“I was a little intimidated to visit THE Google, but after a day of hearing their goals and seeing their culture in action, not only was I inspired, I was actually very affirmed,” said Jacquie Johnston, a partner at Norcast Telecom Networks. “We may be smaller, but we already have many of their values in place – hire well, have transparency, celebrate big picture thinking and personal growth. Oh, and eat together. The platform for creativity is amazing when you just spend time together.”
Hosted by Cal Poly alum and current Googler Eric Hubbs, Insight Studio attendees spent the day in sessions discussing the search engine giant’s approach to driving employee engagement and success.
To achieve such an environment, Google employees are encouraged to spend up to one fifth of their time developing and implementing big, out of the box ideas. These 20 Percent Projects have resulted in some of Google’s most popular products including Google News, AdSense and Gmail.
“The company celebrates risk taking,” said Brandon Medeiros of Rick Engineering. “As many expressed that day, if you are not failing, you are not trying hard enough.”
The morning wrapped up with a panel discussion with three Google employees who shared their personal experiences with the company.
After lunch at Blaze, one of Google’s employee cafes, attendees broke into groups for workshops where presenters discussed how to use Google’s suite of services to help them thrive in the online world. One group discussed strategies for directing customers to online based businesses while the other focused on leveraging an online presence to drive customers to smaller brick and mortar businesses.
Following the trip to Google, the inaugural Insight Studio series will offer four more sessions in 2014 including three business development workshops in the spring and summer, and a speaker event in the fall.
“Exposing members of our community to exceptional businesses such as Google is one of the many ways the Chamber can educate, inspire and connect business leaders with high quality resources that generate new levels of success” said SLO Chamber President/CEO Ermina Karim. “We are proud to offer Insight Studio to help our business community continue to grow and prosper.”
Insight Studio is a business series consisting of five events created to provide educational, inspirational and relationship building opportunities for local business and community leaders.
The 2014 series is sponsored by Charter Business.
