I have to say, despite fitting the traditional model of doing well in school, going to college and getting a degree, I have to agree with Bock’s view of Google’s hiring process. I do, however, not want to completely invalidate this conventional model, for I see a lot crossing sections between the two paths. Not that it is always the case, but I feel that a lot of people who go down the college, and expertise route often do have to develop these skills that Google is acquiring about. For instance, many of these same people indeed do have high cognitive, leadership, ownership, expertise, and even humility skills. Suffice to say, the two sides are not mutually exclusive. The part that I really like that Bock highlights, however, is that expertise “traditional metrics” are not the be-all end-all (Friedman, 2014). As Bock claims “Your degree is not a proxy for your ability to do any job,” you can just as well be an inquisitive and diligent worker who comes up with the “same” results, even if it takes a few more attempts (Friedman, 2014). Sure degrees can be important and a good measure of how much effort put into something, but it does not guarantee it, or mean that someone who has not accomplished this is any less qualified.
References:
Friedman, T. L. (2014, February 22). How to Get a Job at Google. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?_r=0