Google's Goals

Chapter 4: The Systems Perspective on Organizations and Communication

“Google has as its corporate mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessibly and useful”

“Don’t be evil”

“big, hairy, audacious goals for the organization that are clearly articulated and broadly shared distinguish successful and enduring organizations from their less effective competitors”

Admittedly I am no expert on Google but I do believe I have something to add in regards to the company’s ethos. The book describes the nature of goals from an open-systems perspective as heavily influence by their environment and as resulting from negotiations between interdependent fractions within the organization. I can think of no other company that has been so successful in my lifetime while following an open systems communication approach quite like the information Goliath, Google. Seeking to compile the world’s knowledge into an arena in which anyone can attain access (at least anyone with enough resources to maintain access to the necessary technology) Google has created a mission statement that is purposefully vague yet promotes an incredibly dynamic message of interconnectedness. From the lowest systems analyst to the highest executive, the goal of promoting interconnectedness and following Google’s more informal slogan “don’t be evil” has proven to be incredibly effective and forming a cohesive platform between employees and departments that operate virtually independent of one another. Much like the Hippocratic oath which urges doctors to at the least do no harm, Google’s vague ultimate goal and catchy “don’t be evil” mantra has created a unity in mind among employees even where there seems to be no obvious overlap in duties. Google has perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the open systems movement.