How Google Works
by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Schmidt, Eric, Rosenberg, Jonathan, Ofer Kober, Alan Eagle, Larry Page · first published 2014
32% recommend57% neutral11% critical
Why HN recommends it
Readable account of Google's culture and management, including the Smart Creative idea and hiring. Recommended for founders, product managers and aspiring leaders wanting lessons from inside a successful company.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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There are tons of books written about Google's culture, but my favorite is ”How Google Works” by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg.
on “Don't let Google take over Berlin” ↗…Gives a very interesting view of- behind the scenes at Apple during its inception and early years. I was really moved by how humble Woz was/is and I am inspired by his problem solving approach. 6. How Google Works (Eric Schmidt, Alan Eagle & Jonathan Rosenberg) - A very good book to read after/before this: "In the Plex" by Steven Levy. Hands down the two most important / influential books while you are starting…
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗There are tons of books written about Google's culture, but my favorite is ”How Google Works” by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg. With regard to resources, Google has by far has the most sophisticated access to future tech (quantum, ML for example), the most infrastructure (GGC, oceanic…
on “Don't let Google take over Berlin” ↗"How Google Works" by Eric Schmidt is a good place to start. A bigger question is why was he brought in? Does he need to do a turnaround? Has something gone badly wrong? What stage are they at? Is there a user base?…
on “Ask HN: Reccommended reading to get up to speed on Hacker/Startup culture” ↗I enjoyed these books: * Strategy Rules * How Google Works * Founders at Work
on “Ask HN: Books on the inside stories of big tech?” ↗…smartphones). After the semester ended, with the money I earned taking the class (it wasn't much at all), I bought every student one among Pragmatic Programmer, Algorithms to Live By, Deep Work, Outliers, How Google Works, Why We Sleep. In the hope that it inculcates in them the habit reading books to progress their careers.
on “Why you should teach at a Community College” ↗…does it because it is successful" is completely ignoring how Google came to be successful in the first place, which was doing what you're saying it does because it's successful. Reading something like "How Google Works" goes over this exact thing in detail.
on “Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline” ↗…bit on secrets sounds "deep" until you realize he's expressing something obvious using confusing language), and noise. If somebody wants to read a good new business book, I'd recommend Creativity Inc, How Google Works, and The Hard Thing about Hard Things long before I'd recommend 0->1.
on “Peter Thiel's Zero to One Might Be the Best Business Book I've Read” ↗…the beginning) and ask the old timers. The best books I've read (in terms of truthfully representing what it's like On the Inside) are In The Plex (hilarious because Hackers is what got me to Google), How Google Works (a bit silly, but does have some business knowledge from eric), Voices From The Valley.
on “Google Announces Layoffs: A difficult decision to set us up for the future” ↗> # The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz this is an excellent book! also i would have to recommend How Google Works. its fairly new.
on “Ask HN: I have $2k for books, training and confs. What should I spend it on?” ↗…like Spin Selling, Launch (by Jeff Walker), and Predictable Profits Playbook. If it's more general finance you want to learn coursera should be fine. If it's leadership qualities, start with the book How Google Works.
on “Ask HN: Is it worth paying for a Coursera course?” ↗…aka, "the Little book". Made me a credible editor (and documentation writer at the time) almost at zero time. - Zero to One: in-depth, honest, and non-conformist view of the tech startup landscape. "How Google Works" is a close second. - The Embedded Systems Dictionary. Not in print but the second-hand paperback is worth it. Great refresher, written with a wit. Another book I use is "The Developer's Guide to Debugging".…
on “Ask HN: What is the best money you have spent on professional development?” ↗…to your question of defining the best features, goals, and products, I recommend these books: * 20 YC Lessons * Outcomes Over Output (a lightweight version of The Lean Startup) * Strategy Rules * How Google Works Here's the rest of my Product Manager book reviews: https://www.briansnotes.io/audience/product-manager/
on “Ask HN: Good resources to become a better Product Manager?” ↗…that "best qualified" here might mean different things for different people, but you should take it literally, that is, people who are above the average in terms of abstract thinking. I suggest you read How Google Works[2], they've coined the term Smart Creative which is kind of(?) related to this. [2] - https://www.howgoogleworks.net/
on “Ask HN: Have you ever needed to invert a binary tree at work?” ↗I think there's more to the open office epidemic than mere cost. Facebook is pouring tons of money into the largest open office in the world. Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg wrote in "How Google Works" that offices should be (and I wish I were making this up) "crowded, messy, and a petri dish for creativity". I think many companies use open office formats out of principle. Misguided principles, but…
on “Ending the open office epidemic” ↗