I caught an interesting customer experience tidbit within American Public Media’s interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt, from the Aspen Ideas Festival.  Although the bulk of the conversation was centered on Schmidt’s views about the economic recession (and businesses’ and industries’ role in the recovery), APM’s interviewer Kai Ryssdal inserted this question, about Google’s identity:

“Google’s most famous value is ‘Don’t be evil.’ Does ‘don’t be evil’ mean ‘always be good?’” Here’s Schmidt’s response:

“‘Don’t be evil’ is a way of operating.  If there were a book that said what’s evil and what’s not evil, then we could just consult it.  What don’t be evil says is, when you face a question, ask the question [is it evil?]… It’s almost like a rip cord within the company….”

Schmidt then described a meeting in which he was discussing a potential new advertising product, when one of the engineers spoke up to say “that’s evil!”

“It was like a bomb going off in the room, and I wanted to hide under a chair, because all of a sudden the whole conversation stopped. And it was this lengthy conversation as to whether the decision was based on our principles. And the principles at Google are basically about end users. We try to make our decisions based on end user benefit (emphasis mine).  Many industries whether we like it or not are not as organized around end user benefit; they are often organized around the supplier benefit or the shareholder benefit.”

I really appreciate Schmidt’s use of the phrase “a way of operating” when asked to describe his company’s customer-centric values.    It echoes my mantra that organizations will reap financial payoff if they apply their target customer experience as nothing less than an operating strategy.

What’s an operating strategy?  Well, if a business strategy is about WHAT a company is and WHY, then an operating strategy is HOW an organization delivers what it promises of value.

I also noted, though, the absence of one word among Schmidt’s discussion of his end users: “target.”  Will Google’s values and way of operating cover the target, most ideal customers for its new OS, or Chrome for that matter?  OK, perhaps Google really does want to not be evil to every possible end user, but what of the other values that comprise its way of operating?

I’m often asked how many customer experiences one company should have.  The answer lies in how mutually exclusive are groups of customers with specific needs.  So I wonder, is it time for a new one at Google?  S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g discipline across a new venture is always an exciting chapter.  As a wise friend of mine once said, “they wouldn’t call it an adventure if it wasn’t just a little bit scary.”

Google faces a formidable test of its ability to align its operating strategy to its target customer experience in the coming months, as it wraps up and unveils its new Google Chrome OS operating system to compete with Microsoft Windows.  Bill Gates and Steven Ballmer told Ina Fried at CNET they aren’t worried, but I bet they are – just a little!

This will be fun to watch.  After all, a computer’s operating system is a strikingly appropriate metaphor for a company’s operating system. Both are the most fundamental foundation for all of the decisions that get made, and therefore impact every output and, ultimately, the machine’s performance.  Here, we have a company that will deploy its own “way of operating” to create a computer’s way of operating:  Google creating an OS in its own image.  Google’s commitment to end users will surely show up in the final product.  Will we see its best, single end users’ experience, or is this the start of something new?

What do you think?

Meanwhile, I’m curious to hear whether you witness your own organization’s executives describing your target customers as “a way of operating” in their words and actions.  Do you use target customer experience as a “rip cord” in your organization?

Other blog posts on Google’s Chrome OS you might find interesting:

Anil Dash: Google’s Microsoft Moment

Fast Company’s Chris Dannon: Why Google Chrome OS is Not in Your Future

Fast Company’s Kit Eaton: Google Drops a Bomb: it’s Own Operating System

Google’s “10 things” values (#6 is You can make money without doing evil.)