Positive Deviance Analysis Outline: Google

Hypothesis: Google is positively deviant because of their great work environment and treatment of their employees. This, in turn, allows for the innovation that makes Google so successful.

I. Description of the Google environment itself

a. Artifacts and Enacted Values

Artifacts

· Offices are geographically named and decorated

· Laid, back open work environment- few solo offices

· Multiple cafes that serve breakfast lunch and dinner to employees

· Gyms, volleyball courts, and pools for employees to work off stress

Enacted Values

· Google’s 10 Things

· Entrepreneurial environment promotes innovation

b. Video

· Video depicts Google’s emphasis on fostering a creative and innovative working environment that caters to their employees needs

II. Choosing the best people for their culture: From the Top-Down

a. A look at Google management

Managers need to be leaders of innovation

· Leader bios; what they did before coming to Google

· Recently new CEO, Larry Page, has taken over and shaken up management, emphasizing product lines besides search. Will this affect Google’s strategy in the long term?

b. Employee selection process; who makes up the “average” Google employee

Google has the ability to select the brightest employees in the world

· Recently received over 75,000 applications in a week

Emphasis on engineering, innovation, and creativity

· They want “smart, amazing people who foster an environment of collaboration and fun”

III. Strive for continuous personal improvement

a. Personal projects

· Each employee expected to spend 20% of their time working on a personal project

· Has resulted in creations such as Gmail, Google Talk, Google News

b. Employee and manager feedback

· Feedback received on a quarterly basis

· Use both traditional and upward feedback

· Use feedback to improve organizational behavior as a whole

IV. How this makes Google so successful

a. Their ability to change

· Many different facets for employees to post ideas

· Open door policy for managers

b. Innovation as their sustainable competitive advantage

· “Great isn’t good enough”

· Google ideas are head of the competition; ahead of their own customers’ needs

· How innovation makes this a circular process (Innovation leads to Environment/Employees which leads back to Innovation)