One of the larger motivations behind the tech world’s fascination with Google is not necessarily what the company’s products are, but how they are made. This is why posts about the company culture, perks, 20% time, lifestyles of the leader triumvirate, internal valuations and stock pricings, etc. command so much of our attention in addition to coverage of say, a new online app.
For web and business process geeks, that intrigue into the inner workings of Google just got a little more interesting: check out Philip Lenssen’s sneak peek at Google’s intranet and employee organizational tools.
I’m enjoying seeing how the company has established forums for employee suggestions, ideas, and contributions. Such participatory channels, I think, do a lot for increasing company loyalty and job passion in such large organizations. Whether or not these ideas are actualized, of course, is dependent on how closely an organization is attuned to the wisdom of its members.