I love a good manifesto. I love Bob Sutton’s manifesto about work, and Madame X’s manifesto about money, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s manifesto for his apprentices.
Somehow, I’d never come across Google’s Ten things we know to be true manifesto, and I found it very interesting.
The Google site explains, “We first wrote these ten things when Google was just a few years old. From time to time we revisit this list to see if it still holds true. We hope it does—and you can hold us to that.”
Focus on the user and all else will follow.
It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
Fast is better than slow.
Democracy on the web works.
You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
You can make money without doing evil.
There’s always more information out there.
The need for information crosses all borders.
You can be serious without a suit.
Great just isn’t good enough.
Very thought-provoking. Though people might disagree about whether Google lives up to its manifesto, it’s nevertheless interesting to use it as a starting-point for discussion.
A few years ago, I wrote my own Happiness Manifesto, though I should probably re-visit it to see if I want to revise it.
Have you written a manifesto, a personal mission statement, or the like? What did you include? I think these kinds of exercises are very helpful, for gaining greater self-knowledge and identifying personal values.
* My friend Neil Pasricha, of the fabulous blog 1000 Awesome Things and bestselling book, The Book of Awesome, is counting down (you guessed it) 1000 awesome things, and tomorrow is #1! I’m very excited that he’s completed his project, very curious to see what he’ll do next, and a little sorry that I won’t be able to read any more entries after tomorrow. You can check out his TED talk here.
* Are you reading The Happiness Project in your book group? Email me at gretchenrubin1@gretchenrubin.com if you’d like the 1-page discussion guide. Or if you’re reading it in your spirituality book group, Bible study group, or the like, email me at gretchenrubin1@gretchenrubin.com for the 1-page spirituality discussion guide.
Gretchen Rubin is the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller, The Happiness Project—an account of the year she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. On her popular blog, The Happiness Project, she reports on her daily adventures in the pursuit of happiness. Gretchen is also on Facebook and Twitter.
