Reading List: Work Rules!

It seems there’s no end to our fascination with Google’s corporate workings and zeitgeist. In this latest addition to the genre, the company’s “head of people operations” proves that, for all we know, there’s much more to learn about Google.

Laszlo Bock, the man tasked with recruiting, hiring and nurturing Google’s workforce, reveals the reasoning behind his approach to people management, which often runs counter to typical business norms. Among Bock’s work rules: Take power away from your managers and trust your people to run things; don’t trust your gut; nudge a lot (small signals can lead to large changes in behavior); pay commensurate with contribution, not seniority or position; and always hire people who are smarter than you.

Bock presents an authoritative and compelling case in Work Rules!, supporting it with—what else?—Google metrics. He also shows how these work rules can be adapted to any business.

by Lazlo Bock
April; Twelve; $30

Discover what our editor in chief learned from leadership inside Google.