Smart People Getting Things Done
Like many successful Silicon Valley companies Google puts great emphasis on its human capital. During the recent Le Web Conference in Paris, Google’s Marissa Mayer offered some simple, yet insightful, advice on hiring top talent.
By way of background, Mayer is the Vice President of Search Product and User Experience at Google. She joined them in 1999 as their first female engineer and led the user interface and web server teams at that time. Her efforts have included designing and developing Google’s search interface, internationalizing the site to more than 100 languages, defining Google News, Gmail, and Orkut, and launching more than 100 features and products on the flagship Google.com.
During the event in France an attendee asked her how she built her team over the last decade. Her answer was brilliant in its simplicity: “I like to hire people who have two traits. They’re smart, and they get things done.”
She went on to talk about the joy of working with a team where every member was passionate about the project. But the key theme of intelligence and results came through. Smart people who aren’t closers tend to flail. In small or lean companies these types of people tend to stand out more, and thus don’t last very long. But in larger organizations they sometimes can find a place to hide where they then fester like a cancer. If a company the size of Google can avoid hiring them in the first place, it becomes a serious competitive advantage.
From my own experience, highly intelligent and results driven team members are like a force multiplier. Their ability to solve problems, innovate, and make decisions enables them to deliver many multiples of value over average or sub-par performers.
The philosophy of smart people delivering results perfectly encapsulates the M Squared Consulting business model and value proposition. Our Consultant Network of over 14,000 experts is a force multiplier for our clients. On a flexible basis we provide our clients with very smart people, who have proven expertise, and are committed to getting things done!
