I’m always fascinated by the ways that other organizations, particularly those of the size and prominence of Google, approach the work they do.

Along those lines, here’s a peak into some of the brain trust of Google – a 50-minute presentation, given at Stanford University by Marissa Mayer from Google, on the topic of innovation at Google. I’ve summarized her main 9 points here below.

Google Philosophies

• Ideas come from everywhere.
  • Look for ideas in different places, find the experts and meld ideas together
• Share everything you can.
  • Come up with as many ideas as you can, and share them
• You’re brilliant. We’re hiring.
  • Surround yourself with smart and highly skilled people
• A license to pursue dreams.
  • 20%
• Innovation, not instant perfection.
  • You don’t have to get it right the first time, iterate and improve
• Data is a-political.
  • Data helps make decisions
• Creativity loves constraint.
  • When you constrain your thoughts, that’s when you see a lot of innovation happen
• Users, not money.
  • Don’t actually worry about the money in the beginning, users bring money
• Don’t kill projects. Morph them.
  • In an environment with smart people, usually any project that has made it out the door has some kernel of truth, there’s a good chance there’s something there that’s worth building on

Misc thoughts:

• Personal Success: Look over previous decisions that led to success, look for the patterns
• Do something that you’re not ready to do