Google's Model for Change

     As stated in K&K, “change” can sometimes be very difficult for organizations to implement because of the different internal and external forces present within a certain company. With that said, Google’s organizational culture embraces change at every level within the company. Over the years Google has made it extremely easy for employees to embrace change. First, Google gives every engineer one day a week to work on their own project, no matter how far off that project is from Google’s strategic plan. Some of Google’s most innovative products such as Gmail, Google Maps and Google Voice all came from giving employees free time to work on products they felt personally indebted too. Second, Google provides an idea board that anyone in the company can read and write to. This allows employees to receive feedback about which ideas they think will be most profitable for the company. Also, this allows for the whole company to give feedback about a product before change is implemented throughout the whole company. Third, managers hold open office hours three days a week so that employees can receive input on the direction of their personal projects or help on implementing a new project. Once again, this allows for multiple sources to help in the changing process and will be more effective in the long run since more people will have input and not just one person will be making the decision. 

     K&K’s System Model of Change can be applied in any of these situations. First, the inputs are gathered when the customers think up an idea that they think will be profitable for Google. Once that idea is generated, they can get feedback from other employees or managers which will ultimately shape the strategic plan of the idea. After they define their project, they go ahead and code the project by targeting either an existing part of the organization or by creating something completely new and revolutionary. Finally, once the program is created it is revealed to the public as an output. In all, Google is a constant reminder that change can be good for organizations and that by following some of the standards they have, it might make it easier for other companies to implement change.