August 16, 2013 at 18:40The 20% rule is no longer valid on Google
The notorious “20% rule” was once cited as an effective approach to innovation at Google. In accordance with it, each employee of the company had the right to devote 20% of the working time, that is, one day a week, to third-party projects not related to the main activity.
Thanks to the 20% rule, such projects as Gmail and AdSense were born, as well as hundreds of small projects, many of which went to Open Source. The 20% rule is Google’s most famous rule, which is often copied by other companies.
However, according to several former Google employees, the twenty percent rule is no longer practiced by the company. He was sacrificed for efficiency, in accordance with the new corporate strategy.
The abolition of the “20% rule” began with the fact that in 2012 it was decided that employees will now need to obtain permission for third-party projects from the manager. Thus, the previous norm was canceled that this is an inalienable right of each employee.
Then Google formed a powerful analytical department that analyzed staff productivity. To work with maximum efficiency, employees need to devote 100% of their time to the main project, so very few dared to apply for the opening of the project according to the “20% rule”, and this was not encouraged by the managers.
The new company policy is related to the arrival ofto the position of Executive Director Larry Page in 2011. He announced that the company should concentrate more resources on fewer projects, after which periodical “clean-ups” began - the removal of unpromising and “unnecessary” services for which labor resources were inefficiently spent. Among others, the Google Labs project was closed, under the roof of which many small projects were created that were created in the "free time" of employees.
Of course, innovations at Google continue now, but they have become more controlled in nature, and work has become more efficient. As part of the new organizational structure - the Google X Research Center - work is underway on projects such as Google Glass and unmanned vehicles. Such projects cannot be created in “20% of free time”.
The only question is what should now be done by the numerous companies that have copied its famous rule from Google. According to rumors, among them are Apple, LinkedIn, 3M and many others.
Thanks to the 20% rule, such projects as Gmail and AdSense were born, as well as hundreds of small projects, many of which went to Open Source. The 20% rule is Google’s most famous rule, which is often copied by other companies.
However, according to several former Google employees, the twenty percent rule is no longer practiced by the company. He was sacrificed for efficiency, in accordance with the new corporate strategy.
The abolition of the “20% rule” began with the fact that in 2012 it was decided that employees will now need to obtain permission for third-party projects from the manager. Thus, the previous norm was canceled that this is an inalienable right of each employee.
Then Google formed a powerful analytical department that analyzed staff productivity. To work with maximum efficiency, employees need to devote 100% of their time to the main project, so very few dared to apply for the opening of the project according to the “20% rule”, and this was not encouraged by the managers.
The new company policy is related to the arrival ofto the position of Executive Director Larry Page in 2011. He announced that the company should concentrate more resources on fewer projects, after which periodical “clean-ups” began - the removal of unpromising and “unnecessary” services for which labor resources were inefficiently spent. Among others, the Google Labs project was closed, under the roof of which many small projects were created that were created in the "free time" of employees.
Of course, innovations at Google continue now, but they have become more controlled in nature, and work has become more efficient. As part of the new organizational structure - the Google X Research Center - work is underway on projects such as Google Glass and unmanned vehicles. Such projects cannot be created in “20% of free time”.
The only question is what should now be done by the numerous companies that have copied its famous rule from Google. According to rumors, among them are Apple, LinkedIn, 3M and many others.