Dec 30

Dec 30 9 things I learned about Innovation at Google

I recently attended DreamForce in San Francisco California. (Special Thanks to TMN!) I was able to sit in on a conference session by Gobi, the Chief Innovation Officer. Here's what I learned.

Innovation Comes from Anywhere. There is no innovation department at Google. It is everyone's job to innovate within the company. Google believes fast is better than slow. Google Glass took 90 min to prototype. Side Note: Google believes they have a moral obligation to help people. (Ex: People who search for suicide. First result is always the Suicide help line.)
Focus on the user. All else will follow. Is this going to change 100s of users or 1000s of users? Google believes microseconds matter, by shaving off microseconds from their searches, they save over 5,000 years of time in searching for information. Make the UX (user experience) better for the user. Google doesn't care about money, they care about helping people.
Think 10X not 10% - Google Books. Improve by 10X not 10%, You end up with amazing products when you use 10X thinking. This forces you to think outside of the box.
Bet on technical insights. - You see the world like no one else. Only you see the world in a specific way. Use those technical insights to your advantage. (Ex: Google Self Driving Cars based from Google Maps technical information.)
Ship and Iterate. - Build a prototype and reiterate your product. Listen for Product Feedback.
Freedom 20% Time. - Give people freedom to work on what they want for 20% of the time. There is a free market of ideas. This could be something to worry about however, Google finds it to be a self-regulating economy.
Default to Open. Everyone wants the best people. The smartest people will always be outside the company. Making it open allows Google to tap into those that do not work at Google. Tap into people that know!
Fail Well. There is no stigma for failure.
Have a mission that matters.