Masters of Scale

Google's Eric Schmidt — Innovation is managed chaos

Apr 11, 2023

Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google and co-founder of Schmidt Futures, shares his insights into managing innovation at Google. He reveals how embracing chaos fuels creativity, illustrating this with the famous '20% time' initiative. Schmidt discusses the importance of constructive conflict in leadership and reflects on decision-making challenges during crises, drawing parallels with aviation. He also humorously highlights the unconventional discoveries in team dynamics, showcasing how diverse skills can lead to groundbreaking innovations.

30:18

Episode guests

Eric Schmidt

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Learning to Separate Winning Instincts from Losing Ideas as an Entrepreneur

01:20

Hiring Algorithms: How Google Found Interesting Candidates

01:38

The Moment Eric Schmidt Knew Google was a Special Company

01:20

Intro

2min

Embracing Chaos for Innovation

4min

Navigating Crisis: Lessons from Aviation and Business Decision-Making

2min

Embracing Constructive Conflict in Innovative Leadership

5min

Embracing Chaos in Innovation

19min

The Unexpected Insights of Cow Behavior and Team Dynamics

3min

Google doesn’t tell its employees how to innovate; it manages their inventive chaos. Their secret? Mix free-flowing ideas with disciplined decision-making.

In this week's All-Star Episode, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt shares his strategies to manage chaos. CEO of Google from 2001-2015, and now the co-founder of Schmidt Futures, Schmidt reveals the hidden secret in Google’s famous “20% time” policy, their approach to hiring smart creatives, and the parallels between leading Google and piloting small airplanes. Plus, the decision he made to support a crazy idea that he was certain would bankrupt the company.

"All-Star Episodes" are part of a special series designed to center some of the most timely — and timeless — business wisdom in the Masters of Scale feed. These episodes best encapsulate the kind of transformative, unconventional insights you hear in the series. Have an idea for an All-Star Episode from our library? Let us know at hello@mastersofscale.com.

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