Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead

All it takes is a belief that people are fundamentally good—and enough courage to treat your people like owners instead of machines. Machines do their jobs; owners do whatever is needed to make their companies and teams successful.

default leadership style at Google is one where a manager focuses not on punishments or rewards but on clearing roadblocks and inspiring her team.

Here is a sample of the decisions managers at Google cannot make unilaterally:

three defining aspects of our culture: mission, transparency, and voice.

A focus on pleasing your manager, however, means it can be perilous to have a frank discussion with her.

hierarchy in decision-making is important. It’s the only way to break ties and is ultimately one of the primary responsibilities of management.

Corporate job sites are awful. They are difficult to search, filled with generic job descriptions that don’t tell you anything about what the job really is or what the team you’ll be part of is like, and provide no feedback on whether you’d be good for a role or not.

Leadership.

Googlers are also free to solicit feedback on specific topics at any point in the year, rather than waiting for a single day.

The third key difference in our approach, therefore, is to have a subordinate interview a prospective hire.