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Lesson #3: Establish a Strong Vision

Article Overview: “Basically, our goal is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful,” says Page. “That's our mission.”

Lesson #3: Establish a Strong Vision

“Basically, our goal is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful,” says Page. “That's our mission.”

When Page and Brin first started out, they began with one simple idea: not all websites were created equal. They thus decided to build a better search than what was currently out on the Internet. It was a simple mission with a single goal, which to this day, remains at the heart of the company. No matter how many countries Google expands into, no matter how many products it stretches its brand to and no matter how large the company grows, their mission to create the world’s perfect search engine continues to be the driving force behind everything the company does.

“The perfect search engine,” says Page, "would understand exactly what you mean and give back exactly what you want.” Despite the significant advances achieved by Google’s search technology, Page admits that, “we're a long, long ways from that.”

Key to Google’s success has been the ability of Page and Brin to rally the company around a single vision, and to focus on doing just one thing extremely well. Page and Brin know that it is better to be the best at one thing than to be mediocre at many. “Google does search,” says Page. “With one of the world's largest research groups focused exclusively on solving search problems, we know what we do well, and how we could do it better.”

Yes, Google has expanded its product line beyond its core search website. Gmail, Google Desktop and Google Maps are just a few of the examples of products that Google has introduced. But, not once has the company veered off course. It remains committed to improving search technology, and all of its products are offshoots of that single mission. “As we continue to build new products while making search better, our hope is to bring the power of search to previously unexplored areas, and to help users access and use even more of the ever-expanding information in their lives,” says Page. “Our dedication to improving search has also allowed us to apply what we've learned to new products.”

It is to this end, to improving its basic search technology, that Google devotes all of its energy. The Google spell checker and the fact that Google search results can be refined in over 35 languages are examples of this. The need for information crosses all borders and Google is devoted to becoming the best at meeting that need.

“When you grow, you continually have to invent new processes,” says Page. “We’ve done a pretty good job keeping up, but it’s an ongoing challenge.” By establishing a clear and single vision and staying committed to this throughout the course of the company’s life, Page and Brin have allowed Google to become a leader in its field. Many Internet companies do many other things well, but none can do precisely what Google does as well as Google does it.

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Article Tags: driving force, google, google maps, heart, offshoots, research groups, search engine, search problems, search technology, search website, single vision, technology page, unexplored areas



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