Google's Formula Of Success: Encourage Employees To Follow The '20% Rule'

Google's "20 percent rule" shows exactly the percentage of time you should spend learning new skills and the reasons for it.

Source: Arch2o

Most people spend all of their working hours trying to keep up with their schedules and to-do lists — joining meetings, answering emails, managing to meet their deadlines.
This makes it difficult for us to spend time exploring interesting ideas as well as learning new skills. And in the age of impossibility in predicting how our jobs and industries will transform, upskilling will give us a lasting competitive advantage.
How can we make sure we stay ahead?
"We encourage our employees, in addition to their regular projects, to spend 20% of their time working on what they think will most benefit Google," founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page wrote in their IPO letter: “This empowers them to be more creative and innovative. Many of our significant advances (like AdSense and Google News) have happened in this manner.”
This is certainly easier said than done, but no one will automatically give you the opportunity to grow; instead, you need to actively seek that out. Belows are how to do it:

1. Clearly define what you want to learn

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Be as specific as possible about the skill you want to build. So instead of taking 10 courses on 10 different topics, master one skill as much as you can. Gradually, you will find yourself improving faster, which will motivate you to keep going. And real expertise – when writing a great sales pitch or learning a new programming language, for example – can help increase your value to employers or earn you an additional source of income.

2. Win - even if you lose

This is the ultimate way to ensure 20% of your time is not wasted. Figure out the minimum benefit you'll get from a given situation or opportunity, even if you don't have a problem.
It could be the opportunity to enter a new field, explore a profession, or practice valuable skills like public speaking and the ability to communicate clearly.
If that minimal outcome is feeling good on its own, a new project can be a “good bet.”

3. Be flexible and committed

Keeping up with the “20% Rule” of your time is like maintaining a diet: Being disciplined is fine, but sometimes you need to be flexible and change the rules accordingly.
Meeting clients or taking unscheduled meetings can keep you from spending the allotted time in your calendar, and that's okay - as long as you decide to reschedule and stick to that commitment.
The point is not that you have to do this 20% of your time every Monday morning; instead, it is to do it, on a regular period.

4. Find a way to make things interesting

Source: Business Insider

It takes effort to uphold the “20% Rule” of the time, and it will be a lot harder to maintain willpower if all you are doing is “a stockpile of exercises” and serious practice sessions.
You may need a strong will and periodic practice, because in any field, there are certain challenges for you to overcome. However, you may find yourself bored, frustrated and just want to quit if you always have a hard time at work.
There are many ways to make 20% of your time enjoyable, such as listening to an audiobook while walking, doing an informational interview with a colleague over a delicious lunch, or taking a course with a friend.

5. Keep the rules going on for a long time

Just like investing in the stock market, when you invest 20% of your time in your projects, the power of compound interest is enormous. What may seem small and meaningless at first can help you create a huge gap between you and your rivals.
The gift of the “20% Rule” of the time, especially when we consider in decades, is that even if we eventually change our plans or decide to take a different path, the small steps we take present will compound over time and give us more options in the future.
H/T: CNBC