recent read: what would google do

i just finished jeff jarvis's new book, what would google do?. it's an insightful study of how google's core principles have re-imagined myriad industries and means of doing things, and jarvis takes time to imagine what other industries would look like if they google-fied themselves. a few themes that were predominant and that make such sense, imho:

- trust your customers and they will trust you: open up information, process and rationale and customers, constituents, etc. will find new ways to utilize things as well as trust you more.
- determine what business you're really in (ex - zappos is not a show selling site but a customer service company), and then build platforms for others to do that.
- do no evil. even with a mind-numbing amount of information about their users, there is a challenge at google to utilize that for good purposes, to leave some money on the table and define what is enough.

there's certainly an almost worshipful tone that jarvis expresses toward google, and about 3/4 of the way through the case studies started to get repetitive, but it all makes great sense and reflects many conversations i've had in the music world, in talks with non-profits and certainly at ys. i also appreciated his quick chapter on the two things you can't google-fy: god and apple.

aside from the business side of this book, the overall study of how people are using resources like google and their suite of products to build creative and commercial outlets is a fascinating look at participative and collaborative trends of connection and expression.

i was given the book to read for a group of marketing folks at zondervan and i've gotten copies for my team at ys as well. certainly a recommended read.