Google After the IPO
1+714.673.8578 www.mixnerstrategy.com
Two people said it was time. Luckily, they were the ones who count.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, decided to have a look at their strategy. They really didn't like process that much, but the IPO forced their hands (Battelle, 231).
The Tablets
Page and Brin sat by themselves and came up with notes on a tablet that formed the basis for the Google strategic effort. Batelle says the included "high-level stuff" ... about ... "principles and values (Battelle, 231)."
Then, with the help of their resident strategist, Shona Brown, they began a longer process of examining all of Google's processes (Battelle, 231).
The result? A methodology to grow the company from three thousand employees pre-IPO to a company ten times that large in the future (Battelle, 231).
The impression I get from reading the press is that Google has a pretty centralized management structure. Maybe it hasn't really changed that much since the IPO. My bet, however, is that the structure allows individuals to take action based upon company values and principles in ways that will continue to support the growth of the firm.
In a few years, we'll have more evidence. For now, things seem to be working.
The point is that strategy makes sense even if things are firing on all the cylinders. If things have slowed, it makes even more sense.
Reference
Battelle, John. The Search. How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture. Portfolio. 2005.