拉里•佩奇眼中的未来

    古怪的想法和有效务实的管理很少能结合起来。佩奇的非凡之处在于，他在促使工程师们和高管们追求宏大梦想的同时，还在以惊人的效率管理着这家复杂的、营收达到380亿美元、拥有5.3万名员工的公司。他在2011年4月接管公司时，曾经非常出色的谷歌创新引擎显露出了老态，官僚作风开始生根发芽。佩奇迅速对公司进行重组，赋予高管们更多的责任和义务，并使谷歌的重心集中于少数几个产品领域。结果，谷歌的管理变得严密，更具有进取心。这些变化激怒了某些守旧派，他们怀念谷歌成立后前十年那种更加自由的管理方式。但几乎所有人都认为，谷歌的管理比佩奇接管公司前变得更加严密和高效。这个功绩令很多硅谷人士意想不到。在硅谷，佩奇的书生气和腼腆个性在硅谷远近闻名。“佩奇才华横溢，他管理公司的能力令人惊叹，他已经克服了所有那些缺点，”常常为CEO新手们提供指导的创业家和风险投资家本•霍洛维茨说。“他的表现相当令人惊讶。”

    成效无处不在。谷歌员工变得更有活力，公司产品整合得更好。佩奇取消了数十个并非必不可少或者难以成功的项目，比如Google Health服务，听从了他从苹果已故创始人史蒂夫•乔布斯那里得来的建议，也就是保持专注。他减缓了关键员工跳槽Facebook和其他创业公司的速度，甚至有些前谷歌员工也开始重投老东家的怀抱。佩奇使谷歌成功地进入了竞争异常激烈的移动计算领域，依靠安卓（Android）操作系统不断拓展市场，而收购该系统的交易正是得到了佩奇的大力支持。或许最为重要的是，在佩奇的领导下，安卓和YouTube已经成为相当庞大的业务，使包括《财富》杂志在内的批评者们都闭上了嘴巴。他们常常把谷歌称为“一招鲜”（桌面搜索仍然占到谷歌业务的80%左右，但主要来自YouTube的展示广告业务现在创造了50亿美元的年收入。包括手机搜索在内的移动业务则带来了80亿美元的年收入）。

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    译者：千牛絮

    Outlandish ideas and effective, pragmatic management rarely go hand in hand. What's remarkable about Page is that while he's been pushing his engineers and executives to pursue big dreams, he has also been running a complex $38 billion business of 53,000 workers with surprising efficacy. When he took over in April 2011, Google's once-phenomenal innovation engine was showing signs of age, and bureaucracy was beginning to take root. Page quickly reorganized the company to give top executives more responsibility and accountability and to sharpen Google's focus on a handful of product areas. The result is a more top-down and aggressive organization. The changes have ruffled the feathers of some old-timers who miss the more freewheeling ways of Google's first decade. But almost everyone agrees that Google is running more cohesively and faster than when Page took over. It's a feat that has surprised many in Silicon Valley, where Page's wonkish, diffident persona is legendary. "Larry's substance has been so high, and his ability to run the company so impressive, that he has overcome all those things," says Ben Horowitz, the entrepreneur and venture capitalist who often coaches first-time CEOs. "It's fairly shocking how well he's done."

    Tangible results are everywhere. Google's rank and file is more energized, and the company's products work better together. Page killed dozens of nonessential or unsuccessful projects, like Google Health, heeding the advice he received from the late Steve Jobs to focus. He slowed the exodus of key employees who were leaving for Facebook (FB) and other startups. Indeed, some ex-Googlers actually are coming back. Page successfully pushed Google into the hypercompetitive world of mobile computing, building on the strength of its Android operating system -- an acquisition Page personally championed. Perhaps most important, under Page's leadership Android and YouTube have become sizable businesses, silencing critics, includingFortune, which had frequently called Google a one-trick pony. (Desktop search still accounts for roughly 80% of Google's business, but display ads, mostly from YouTube, are now a $5 billion annual business. Mobile, which includes search on phones, brings in $8 billion.)