Network Thinking by Ulrich Weinberg

Author:Ulrich Weinberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-08-17T00:00:00+00:00

08 / Game, Imagination and Match

Why easiness facilitates the best ideas

Although the Google car was not a secret project, it came as a big surprise when the first prototype was presented publicly on the Google campus in 2014. How was it possible that a company previously categorized under S as in 'search engine' suddenly turned up under C as in 'car?' You could virtually feel the pain and confusion that this unpretentious and yet highly effective presentation had caused among German engineers and car designers.

On the outside, the German car manufacturers reacted demonstratively cool. In an interview with the news magazine Der Spiegel, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche highlighted the cooperation of his company with Google, and when asked if Google were a threat to the German car industry, he referred to the years of experience and the global presence of the German car manufacturers, which a start-up from Silicon Valley could not endanger in the short run. This interview reminded me of what the Brockhaus representative said in 2008 when he was asked about the threat by Wikipedia. He also referred to the long history, the quality and the market presence.

However, behind the scenes the world of German cars looked quite different. Tremors went through the management and development floors. Soon it was made public in Germany that the local car manufacturers had been working on similar concept for a long time and had already made some technological progress. However, there was an unmistakable sense of alarm caused by Google; a company which never exhibited a tendency for slow and careful development. Google was a serious competitor, and now it was also a serious competitor for the car industry.

Not everything that the California-based company touches is immediately successful, e.g. Google Glass. However they do not shirk challenges but instead try out what deems to be promising. It is exactly this 'moonshot mentality,' this unlimited trust in the fundamental solvability of nearly all problems, that makes this company so dangerous especially for long-established industries.

Companies that put network culture into practice have a significant advantage over companies with a conservative orientation.

Founded in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google now has more than 57,000 employees and a turnover of 75 billion dollars (2015). The number of search queries sent to Google has surpassed the enormous figure of 2 trillion. Google has become an indispensible and nearly unrivaled search instrument of the digital age. With its pronounced networking culture it has become a role model not only for many start-ups but also for large companies.

Wealthy and Particularly Influential

However, Google is also seen as a 'data kraken,' a Web monster that sucks all relevant user data from the Internet. From your health status to the banal fact that you want to buy a pair of sneakers, Google knows everything, wants to know everything and embellishes the search results with matching ads. This made the founders wealthy and the company particularly influential. Since Google knows what people are looking for, it can also manufacture these items.

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