Google’s Self-Help Book

Twice in the first 22 pages of Work Rules! Insights From Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead, a book by the company’s “head of people operations,” Laszlo Bock, it’s mentioned that those who work at Google are called “Googlers.” Both times it’s brought up, once by Bock and once by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, great pains are taken to make it clear that Googlers have self-designated this assignation—they call themselves that, we’re assured, and it’s definitely not the sort of thing they’d feel pressure from above to adhere to. Not at all. They call themselves that! Who are we to stop them?

Maybe you know someone who works at Google. Try an experiment: Start up a conversation with a Google friend, and begin to refer to her exclusively as “a Googler like yourself.” Wait to see how long until the person stops and asks what you’re talking about. Mine took 45 seconds.