> _“The geek way is the right way for modern companies because modern companies have to move faster and innovate more than their predecessors did.”_ -  Andrew McAfee

How do the big “geek” companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple, Netflix, and Microsoft innovate more, improve faster, make their customers happier, and operate with greater efficiency?   

Turns out they stick to **4 cultural norms**, forming “The Geek Way” of [Andrew McAfee’](https://www.andrewmcafee.org/)s book of the same name.  

The bestselling author and MIT Sloan School of Management principal research scientist says this makes them more **freewheeling, fast-moving, evidence driven, egalitarian, argumentative**, and **autonomous** than those of the typical industrial-era corporation.

So, what are the 4 cultural norms? In a nutshell, Andrew describes them as:

*   **SCIENCE**: Argue about evidence
*   **OWNERSHIP**: Align, then unleash
*   **SPEED**: Iterate with feedback
*   **OPENNESS**: Reflect, don’t defend

Let’s see what Andrew says about each.

Geek companies organise projects around **short cycles** to get real customer feedback, and **accelerate learning** and progress. This prevents “liar’s clubs” where members say they’re on time even when they’re not.

**ACTION**: Have your team agree or disagree with these statements on how well you follow the geek norm of speed:

·        It’s easy for people to see what work others are doing and learn from them

·        We often make big changes while in the middle of a project

·        We break big projects up into small, modular pieces that we can finish quickly

·        When a project starts to fall behind schedule, that fact quickly becomes obvious to everyone involved

SPEED

Geek companies share information and are receptive to arguments, reevaluations and changes in direction. They **welcome challenges** to the status quo and see that, in the long run, winning necessitates conducting experiments, taking risks and placing bets, not all of which are going to succeed.

**ACTION**: Have your team agree or disagree with these statements on how well you follow the geek norm of openness:

·        Senior leaders here are willing to be vulnerable and admit they were wrong or don’t know the answer

·        Managers and executives here expect to be obeyed without question

·        There are lots of taboo topics here

·        When people disagree with each other here , they do respectfully

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OPENNESS

Dense bureaucracy is the result of **status seeking** by status-obsessed “Homo ultrasocialis,” says Andrew.

“We invent work so we can be a part of it. We strive to be consulted on lots of decisions, and if possible have power of veto over them.”

Geek companies, on the other hand, establish a norm of ownership, or **clear and sole responsibility** for an agreed-upon goal. They stop a lot of coordination, collaboration, and communication to fight against bureaucracy and sclerosis.

**ACTION:**

Have your team agree or disagree with these statements on how well you follow the geek norm of ownership:

·        There is a lot of red tape in the company

·        I am free to act autonomously in the areas that are most important for my work

·        I spend a lot of time in cross-functional meetings and other coordination activities

·        I am rewarded for taking the initiative

OWNERSHIP

The geek norm of science is all about arguing. It also specifies how to win arguments: **with evidence**. Not seniority or charisma or past performance or rhetoric, but evidence. Humans are chronically overconfident and subject to confirmation, and, as a result, we make poor decisions and poor forecasts.

**ACTION:**

Have your team agree or disagree with these statements on how well you follow the geek norm of science:

·        We rely on evidence to make important decisions

·        We don’t conduct a lot of tests or experiments

·        Senior people often override data-driven recommendations based on their judgment or gut instinct

·        We do not have a data-driven culture

·        People here frequently change their mind and change course after being shown new evidence.

SCIENCE 

Andrew McAfee concludes _“The Geek Way”_ by saying he doesn’t know where the next cohort of large, innovative, fast-growing, customer- and investor-delighting companies is going to come from.

> “But I do know that they’re not going to be following the industrial-era business playbook because that playbook just doesn’t work as well as the geek way.” - Andrew McAfee

4 "geek ways" to Google, Amazon, Netflix (and others') success

MIT research scientist Andrew McAfee talks about his book “The Geek Way”

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Stay Inspired

4 "geek ways" to Google, Amazon, Netflix (and others') success

MIT research scientist Andrew McAfee talks about his book “The Geek Way”

Keep informedStay Inspired

Keep informed
Stay Inspired