Innovation is managed chaos, w/Eric Schmidt of Google/Alphabet

Managing Chaos

Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, emphasizes the importance of managing chaos to foster innovation. He believes that managers should not dictate how employees innovate but rather create an environment where ideas can flourish. This approach allows employees to pursue unconventional ideas without immediate judgment, fostering a culture of experimentation. Reid Hoffman notes, "If you want an innovative company, your job is to manage the chaos."

Managing chaos may sound like a contradiction in terms. Shouldn't it be the opposite? Isn't the manager's job to wring order out of chaos. Not always.

--- Reid Hoffman

Eric's experience at Novell taught him the value of rapid decision-making, a skill he applied at Google to scale operations quickly and effectively 1 2.

   

20% Time Policy

Google's 20% time policy is a cornerstone of its innovative culture, allowing employees to dedicate a portion of their workweek to projects of their choice. Eric Schmidt explains that this policy empowers employees to challenge management and explore new ideas, leading to groundbreaking products like Gmail and Google Maps. This freedom fosters a balance of power and encourages persistence in innovation. Reid Hoffman highlights, "The tendency of high performing employees to use their 20% time productively is the well documented genius of the program."

Part of your compensation was your ability to try new ideas and fail. The value of that failure is incalculable because you tried something, it didn't work.

--- Eric Schmidt

This approach not only nurtures creativity but also ensures that decisions are made swiftly, maintaining Google's competitive edge 3 4.