Coming soon · Book Profile
Work Rules!
Google's former head of People Operations reveals the data-driven, values-based people practices that any organization can adopt to attract, develop, and retain great people while making work more meaningful and free.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Work Rules! is Laszlo Bock's insider account of how Google built one of the most admired workplaces on the planet by treating people as fundamentally good and giving them freedom, transparency, and voice. Drawing on behavioral economics, psychology, and Google's own large-scale experiments, Bock dismantles conventional management wisdom about hiring, performance management, pay, training, and perks, replacing it with evidence-based alternatives. He shows that the same principles work at organizations as different as Wegmans, Brandix, and a Nike factory in Mexico, and that most of what makes Google great costs little or nothing. Equal parts memoir, manifesto, and practical handbook, the book offers concrete, replicable steps for anyone—from CEO to first-time team leader—who wants to build a high-freedom environment where talented people thrive.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A leader, manager, entrepreneur, or team member who wants to build a workplace where talented people thrive and where work is meaningful rather than a grind.
- The problem
- Their organization struggles to attract, develop, and retain great people, and conventional management practices around hiring, pay, and performance don't produce excellence. They feel that work is demotivating and dehumanizing, and worry they lack the tools or permission to make it better.
- The plan
- Decide to think and act like a founder of your team's culture.
- Build a culture grounded in mission, transparency, and voice; give people freedom.
- Invest first in hiring, selecting only people better than you using objective, committee-based methods.
- Take power from managers, use data over opinion, and separate development from evaluation conversations.
- Focus on the two tails, pay unfairly, be frugal and generous, and use nudges to improve behavior.
- The payoff
- You attract and keep the most talented people on the planet. · Your people feel like trusted owners, find meaning in their work, and perform at their best. · Your team becomes more innovative, productive, fair, and resilient.
See our guide
- Apply Behavioral Science At Work →
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- Do Human Resources And People Management Well →
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- Study People And Organizations With Scientific Rigor →
- Build A People Analytics Practice →
- Recruiter / Talent Acquisition →
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Related profiles we’ve built
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- Anxiety at Work_ 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done →
- An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization →
- Apa Handbook Io V2 →
- Applied Psychology in Human Resource Management →
- Armstrong’s Handbook of Strategic Human Resource Management →
- Beyond Hr Boudreau Ramstad →
- Antifragile (Incerto) →
Additional reading
- The Organism · Kurt Goldstein
Maslow sources the term 'self-actualization' from Goldstein and builds upon his holistic view of the organism.
- Explorations in Personality · H. A. Murray, et al.
Cited as providing an 'excellent discussion' on the basic principle of centering motivation theory on goals rather than instigation or behavior.
- Social Interest · Alfred Adler
Maslow credits Adler and his followers for stressing the importance of the 'esteem needs,' which he felt were neglected by Freudian psychoanalysts.
- Wisdom of the Body · W. B. Cannon
Provides the foundational concept of 'homeostasis,' which Maslow uses as the starting point for his discussion of physiological needs.
- Multipliers · Liz Wiseman
Explores how leaders can either amplify ('multiply') or diminish ('diminish') the intelligence and capabilities of their teams, a key concept for creating a positive, low-anxiety environment.
- The Fearless Organization · Amy Edmondson
Provides the foundational research and practical steps for creating psychological safety, which the book identifies as crucial for reducing interpersonal anxiety and encouraging people to speak up.
- Mindset · Carol Dweck
Explains the difference between a 'growth mindset' and a 'fixed mindset,' which is presented as a key tool for helping employees manage perfectionism and see failures as learning opportunities.
- Crucial Conversations · Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, et al.
Recommended as a resource for employees to learn how to navigate difficult, high-stakes conversations, directly addressing the book's theme of moving from conflict avoidance to healthy debate.
- Better Allies · Karen Catlin
The author is quoted on specific, actionable steps for allyship, making her book a practical guide for implementing the principles in Chapter 7.
- Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People · Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
Explains the science of implicit bias, which is central to the book's argument that leaders need to be proactive allies because 'not being racist/sexist' isn't enough.