What Would Google Do?, by Jeff Jarvis

The title is a take on the phrase "What would Jesus do?" and asks a similar question: What should companies learn from the amazing success of Google? What lessons does Google have the rest of us when faced with a business decision on strategy and tactics?

This book is not entirely about Google. At its heart, it looks at Web 2.0, the technology that has put consumers in command instead of companies. Openness and transparency are the important ingredients of today's society and companies that forget that do so at their peril. Today's technologies are enabling small producers to take advantage of worldwide social networks.

Jarvis is generally good when he sticks to the advantages of Google's approaches and also on the point when talking about why Apple (the antithesis of Google) is successful. However, he falters when he takes on government initiatives on the environment by comparing them with Google's. First, although Google is large, it cannot compare with the financial and regulatory clout of national governments. Second, Google is a for-profit organization that takes risks, but would abandon them if results don't come soon enough. Governments have a longer time horizon.

Tags: technology