Archive for March, 2009
Hire Personalities That Fit Your Company
Google measures their employees by what they like to call “Googlyness.” They have certain criteria for the type of people that will fit in with the company. They must be able to innovate and want to make the world a better place to live. They make sure that they find these traits in a person by asking some crazy questions in the interview.
- How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?
- Imagine you have a closet full of shirts. It’s very hard to find a shirt. So what can you do to organize your shirts for easy retrieval?
- If you look at a clock and the time is 3:15, what is the angle between the hour and the minute hands?
- How many piano tuners are there in the entire world?
- How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?
A Pimped Out Cubicle
I’m a huge believer in making your space so freaking awesome that it makes you look forward to going to work. I’ve been scouring Flickr for a picture for the past couple of weeks, trying to find a seriously cool looking cubicle. I finally found it.
You should click on the image so you can see its larger version in all its awesomeness.
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Enjoy the Nitty Gritty Details
(If you have trouble viewing this video click here and watch it at Work Happy Now)
When we are able to enjoy the details within our work that’s when we know we are working happy. The best part about details is there is always another layer, which just sparks more curiosity.
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Create A Members Only Club The Google Way
Google has a name for all their employees – Googlers. When I first heard this I thought it was cheesy, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. They are a club of elite people who are trying to change the world. That’s the message that people want to send when they create a club. They feel special to be at a place where others want to be. They are proud to call themselves Googlers.
Google will never be the perfect work environment for every type of person. A lot of people don’t like the competition and the stress, but others do and it works for them. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. No place is perfect, but Google does a great job of creating an atmosphere that feels special.
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Why Fish Philosophy Works
Pikes Place, a fish market in Seattle, is known for its fun style of business. They toss fish around as if they were footballs.
They have a sign that says, “Caution: Low Flying Fish.” Any business that has a sign about low flying product must be having fun. The employees love working there because they are engaged and willing to “ham” it up. The allow people to have fun and hire people according to their superpowers. They make sure that their employees are excited about creating a great experience.
People from all over visit this historic place to buy fish and watch the show. So it also attracts customers who are looking to buy quality fish and have a fun experience.
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Love a Good Sunday Quote
“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”
- Mohandas Gandhi
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As many of you know I’m a huge fan of Twitter. Check out my Twitter page. The interactivity is way better than any other social sharing site. No other site is even close.
Check out this cool post from Chris Bennett - Twitter, the Most Important Website Since Google?
If you liked this post then you’ll enjoy…
You Are Awesome
(If you have trouble viewing this video click here and watch it at Work Happy Now)
You have every right to be awesome. No scratch that, you are awesome. You just need to give that part of yourself a big hug and let it all out for the world to see and learn to love.
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I met so many cool people at SXSW.
Havi of the Fluent Self – Such a quiet cool that just makes the people around her relaxed.
Naomi of IttyBiz – A rambunctious cool that just makes people want to agree with everything she said.
Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project – A curious cool who wasn’t afraid to learn from me, even though her audience is huge compared to mine.
Chris Brogan – A humble funny cool that makes everyone hang on his words.
Pam Slim of Escape from Cubicle Nation- A confident cool that lets you know she isn’t afraid.
Jonathon Fields of Career Renegade – A calm cool that made me feel like I could launch my career into something really exciting.
Guy Kawasaki – A smart cool that had the pulse on the people around him.
Tony Hsieh – A zen cool that made me feel awed by his presence.
Gary Vaynerchuk – An infectious cool that makes you want to kick the competition’s ass.
If you enjoyed this post then you’ll like these videos too:
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Professional Growth the Google Way
Google has an educational reimbursement plan. They will pay up to $8,000 for an employee to take work related courses at an outside institution. They also offer the employee a maximum of 5 years off and up to $150,000 if an employee wants to pursue a further education full-time.
Your company may not be able to give such generous benefits, but you can provide a library of resources that your staff can listen to, read, and watch at work or at home. You will be surprised how many employees want to learn more about their field of work if they have easy access to it.
You can also create an incentive for your employees to read one book, watch a video or listen to an audio book that will help them figure out ways to improve their performance. The incentive could be simple like letting the employee go home an hour early if they hand in a short report about what they learned.
All they will need to do is provide a half page synopsis along with a suggestion on how the company can improve based on an idea from the book. The employee and company both win.
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Work Happy Now created an ebook to share some of Google’s secrets on how you can grow your company and be happy at work. You’ve just read a chapter from the ebook. It contains enlightening and practical information that businesses and employees can all use.
We will be publishing a new chapter every Tuesday. If you don’t want to wait that long for this glorious information then just sign up for my RSS or email and receive the Free eBook “Work Happy the Google Way.”
If you liked this chapter from the ebook you’ll enjoy these too:
- Pajama Day
- Design Friendly Atmosphere
- How Does Google Create a Great Atmosphere?
- Does Your Mission Inspire?
New Media is Changing How We Feel about Education and Career
This is a guest post from Christine Gallagher of Communicate Value.
Gen Y grew up with the internet. Some of us first encountered it in high school; others of us can’t remember a time when we were ever without it.
We’re used to doing everything online. We know how to find things there—anything we care to. The physical yellow pages are an oddity. If we come across a brick and mortar store that doesn’t have a website, we’re aghast—and feel somewhat sorry for them. If we meet you, you are under 35, and you don’t have a Facebook account, we get thoroughly confused.
“But, but, I don’t…understand. You’re not ON it?”
Ok, perhaps some of this is a slight exaggeration. However, it’s not too far off. Technology is a way of life. And not just in the sense of socializing and looking up facts and figures or the closest coffee shop.
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Bring Hope Back to Your Company
(If you can’t view this video then click here and visit Work Happy Now to view it.)
Hope seems to have dissipated within many of our companies. We have latched on to the fear and we don’t want to let go.
Enough already!
Let’s bring the happiness back into the workplace. That means spreading positive news, ideas and conversations with each other. It will take time to build our confidence back up, but we have to start sometime, so it may as well be today.
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Blogging for one blog is a lot of fun, but imagine blogging for two blogs that focus on work happiness. It’s a blast!
Over at the Chief Happiness Officer’s blog, PositiveSharing.com, I’ve taken over and posted some cool posts. I’ve posted two posts so far and gotten some mixed feedback. The people have been mostly positive, but a few don’t like my ideas. This is actually good. I’m learning a lot from an audience that isn’t used to my style.
Check out the two posts on Alex’s blog:
If you liked this video cast you’ll like these too:
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