Marissa Mayer (VP at Google) looked at the best decisions that she’d ever made and came up with two commonalities:
- She works really hard – big projects are an exciting challenge.
- She surrounded herself with really smart people. That’s the best place to learn and grow – as a result, she ended up as Craig Silverstein’s assistant for her first two years because he’s one of the smartest people she’s ever met!
- She believes in doing something that you’re a little not ready to do… that’s where you really explore and find your limits.
It seems to be working for her…
I like her nine notions of innovation too…
- Ideas come from everywhere
Google expects everyone to innovate, even the finance team. - Share everything you can
Every idea, every project, every deadline – it’s all accessible to everyone on the intranet - You’re brilliant, we’re hiring
Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin approve hires. They favor intelligence over experience - A license to pursue dreams
Employees get a “free” day a week. Half of new launches come from this “20% time” - Innovation, not instant perfection
Google launches early and often in small beta tests, before releasing new features widely - Don’t politic, use data
Mayer discourages the use of “I like” in meetings, pushing staffers to use metrics - Creativity loves restraint
Give people a vision, rules about how to get there, and deadlines - Worry about usage and users, not money
Provide something simple to use and easy to love. The money will follow. - Don’t kill projects — morph them
There’s always a kernel of something good that can be salvaged
I love her style… especially as captain of the pom pom squad and debate teams!
Daniel Smith
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