Google’s CEO Just Introduced the ‘Simplicity Sprint’ For All 170,000 Employees. Here’s What It Is, And Why It’s So Amazing

Google recently announced the financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, commented on the “solid performance” in the second quarter, with revenues of $69.7 billion, up 13% versus last year. 

While revenues show double-digit growth, they are down from last year’s 57%. Earnings per share (EPS) are also down, at $1.21 vs $1.28 expected. EBIT is showing a flattening due to a 21% expansion in headcount. 

This is where Pichai and the Google executive team see opportunity, and possible cause for concern: Google’s productivity is not as per its headcount. The hiring slow down speaks to some of these realities. With rising inflation and a looming recession, it could be worse. But for Pichai, it could also be better. It’s an attempt to “get better results faster.”

According to Pichai, the Simplicity Sprint is a collective, all-hands-on-deck type initiative to crowdsource ideas for quicker product development and productivity. A company wide survey will go out and stay live until August 15th. There will be three questions:

• What would help you work with greater clarity and efficiency to serve our users and customers? 

• Where should we remove speed bumps to get better results faster? 

• How do we eliminate waste and stay entrepreneurial and focused as we grow? 

Senior leadership will reach out to those employee respondents whose ideas may have legs for improving certain operational efficiencies. This is a pretty remarkable lesson in leadership given the circumstances. 

In uncertain times like these, leaders have been known to crack down and to demonstrate more authoritative or autocratic style leadership. And yes, while there is some benefit to being more assertive and forceful – especially during times of instability – the risks are great, not least of which is worsening employee motivation and morale. In its extreme, autocratic leadership is “based on personal dominance that serves the self-interest of the leader, is self-aggrandizing and exploitative of others.”

Pichai and Google are striking an important balance. They are maximizing upsides and minimizing the downsides: being both directive and empowering. It is this important Both/And mindset of leadership that today’s VUCA world requires for top firm and team performance.

By using the Simplicity Sprint, they’re giving every single employee a voice. Pichai is telling all 176,000 full-time employees that “your voice matters and your opinion matters”, and also that the way forward will be a shared, collective effort, not a one-man or one-woman show giving orders from the top. It’s as simple as the use of collective pronouns (“we”, “us”) over personal pronouns (“you”, “me”) in the question set.