Google leads the way with incredible innovation

There is always that possibility of experiencing risks and failures when running a business BUT constant innovation helps minimize those risks. Google comes to mind when I think of innovative companies and they are one of the most successful internet companies of my time and they are always looking for new and creative ways to define themselves as more than just a search engine. There is a massive list of projects that Google is undertaking with some very interesting ones such as the “tech tattoo” where a patented temporary tattoo can be a microphone for a mobile device (Lidsky, 2014). Google has the culture of innovation embedded into every aspect of the business and they have something called The Eight Pillars of Innovation where they believe in investing in brand new products and improving existing ones (Wojcicki, 2011). Google has grown to over 26,000 employees in more than 60 offices while always maintaining the unique spirit that is known with Google (Wojcicki, 2011), so they are obviously doing it right!

Strive for Continual Innovation, Not Instant Perfection – I think that is something every business needs to really take into account with innovation. Even with Google, they started out with some ads that didn’t get any hits and it just took a little bit of experimenting and learning from those mistakes to go forward and make improvements. But I mean, no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes as do major companies and the important thing to remember is to respond to those mistakes and grow from them.

Obviously Google is reaping some major benefits from being so innovative seeing as they are always on the list of top innovative companies, usually number one. They encourage employees to look for meaning in their work and we all want some ability to shape the environment.. and at Google they allow engineers to spend 20% of their work week working on projects that are of interest to them (He, 2013). Basically they encourage all of their workers to embrace their unique abilities and talents which foster creativity within the workplace. Google recognizes that each person brings something different to the table… and when you put many creative minds together, there is no doubt that some pretty interesting and innovative ideas will come from that!

Work Cited:

He, L. (2013). Google’s secrets of innovation: Empowering its employees. Forbes. Retrieved November 16th 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurahe/2013/03/29/googles-secrets-of-innovation-empowering-its-employees/

Lidsky, D. (2014). The breathtaking breadth of Google. Fast Company. Retrieved November 16th 2014, from http://www.fastcompany.com/3026059/most-innovative-companies-2014/the-breathtaking-breadth-of-google

Wojcicki, S. (2011). The eight pillars of innovation. Think with Google. Retrieved November 16th 2014, from https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/8-pillars-of-innovation.html