As recently reported, Bock was commenting on Google's "rules" on how to be a good manager, something that grew out of an internal project begun in 2009. Bock runs 'people operations' at Google, what is HR to the rest of the corporate world.
And a glace at the rules, below--a result of data mining thousands of data items at Google about team and individual performance, and manager performance in a project named "Oxygen"--are not exactly earth-moving in their insight. On the other hand, there is a certain elegance in their simplicity and completeness. And certainly anyone who has struggled to be a good manager, or has worked for a good manager, or has worked for a bad manager, will recognize the universal wisdom of these 'rules,.
Not that this stuff hasn't been written down before and can't otherwise be found in sources. Indeed, there's a lot of common sense in what's written down. But it never hurts to take a moment and review and reflect:
