Are rich people smarter? Not really. Often they are just richer. Money leads to more money, usually. So why is it that rich companies can’t always stay rich. Why is it that they often fall behind and become oh-so yesterday?
Because they get fat and lazy and drunk on their own success. There are a google of examples of companies out there that have fallen victim–actually there are whole industries. And see, this is why Google is so scary to so many. Because they keep creating and growing and beta testing and inventing.
Thomas Edison might have been the smartest man in history, either that or the most creative. Edison was smart because he hired super smart people who could continue to come up with brilliant ideas even if he couldn’t. The problem was that he was the cortex of his company. Google on the other hand has built an ecosystem that has spawned other ecosystems. Perhaps there is a lot of bloat in there, but there is also a lot of genius.
Here is why Google is so scary:
1. They analyze everything. Sure, analyse isn’t always perfect, however it is better than going from the gut more often than not.
2. Google hires the smartest because quality counts. If you constantly deliver the highest quality than you are going to be tough to beat. Google is held to a higher standard which sounds bad but it’s actually good. How many companies do you know in which the world expects nothing but perfection? Not many. Google is the company where no one expects failure. Imagine if Microsoft had that reputation.
3. Google has no box. And because they work outside of most companies natural instincts of holding tight to one product and sucking it dry, Google keeps innovating.
4. And my favorite thing about Google: They take failure in stride and keep on moving. Not everything works. Sometimes you just need to keep taking pitches and hitting singles and doubles while expecting to strike out. Even the greatest hitter in baseball Ted Williams had 790 strikeouts, 2,654 hits and 521 home runs in his career. He struck out more than he hit home runs. But he never gave up and neither does Google. They keep on going after home runs. That is a character of that company that everyone should envy.
