Then-CEO Eric Schmidt shared a simple but extremely effective framework to resolve these tensions: 70-20-10. Google would devote 70 percent of its resources to the core business, 20 percent to emerging products, and 10 percent to research and development for future products.

Figure 18. The skill-will matrix.

Fitts and Posner described their skills acquisition observations in three stages. The first is the “cognitive” phase, in which a person starts off slowly and clumsily as they familiarize themselves with a task and discover new ways to accomplish it. The second is the “associative” phase, in which the person becomes more efficient and makes fewer

What’s one thing you want to get out of this meeting?

My job was to scale the operation, which involved technology, of course, but also the people—these people!—who were building it. I firmly believed that doing so should not come at the cost of knowing the humans behind the product and fostering their careers—their personal scaling—alongside Google’s.

As Andy Grove said about goal assessment, the important thing is that “at the end, you can look without any argument and say, ‘Did I do that, or did I not do that?’ Yes. No. Simple.”

a well-articulated operating system establishes a clear foundation of trust. People grow uncomfortable when they’re unsure what is expected of them.

Leadership is disappointing people at a rate they can absorb.

Management is how you get the mechanics of the pieces coming together. And leadership is more [about creating] a culture or energy of engagement—belief in the importance of winning. It’s that ‘We can do this’ energy.”