Podcast: How Google uses behavioral science to make work suck less
This episode of the You Are Not So Smart podcast came recommended by Donncha, a colleague at Automattic. It’s packed full of really interesting thoughts, including “the job of a manager is to serve their team”; a good reminder that everything we at WordPress.com VIP do in terms of process does serve our team and our goals.
Laszlo Bock (head of People Operations at Google) explains how and why Google does what it does when it comes to everything internal, from perks and promoting to motivation and productivity. In the interview you’ll hear how the company combats confirmation bias, the halo effect, the Abilene paradox, pluralistic ignorance, survivorship bias, and more – all with a mix of behavioral science and Google’s immense power to test and re-test using its unique resources.
If Tom Willmot’s WordCamp Europe talk was out on video, I’d link to that, so keep your eyes open there. There’s also Nikolay’s tweet recommending Drive, which is now on my reading list:
If you are enjoying @tomwillmot's #wceu talk you will also enjoy a great book – “Drive” https://t.co/3MgpcENC6V
— Nikolay Bachiyski (@nikolayb) June 27, 2015
…of course, if your work sucks, you could change that by coming to work for Automattic ;)