Ex-Google Exec Reveals Three Life Lessons for Success

An ex-Google executive who spent 12 years working for the internet giant shares three life lessons: "Aim to imagine how..."

For twelve years, Frederik Pferdt served as Google's first-ever top innovation evangelist in California. Pferdt co-founded the Google Garage and established the company's Innovation Lab before resigning in 2024, encouraging thousands of workers to test out new ideas. Pferdt said to CNBC Make It that those years altered the way he conducted his daily activities and work. It aided him and others in "creating an innovative culture" within the organization.

Pferdt offers his top three lessons—which are applicable to more than just tech workers—in his most recent book, What's Next Is Now: How to Live Future Ready. He claimed that they can assist anyone in "living a more meaningful life."

1.) Adopting an attitude of "Yes, and"

Individuals frequently choose a pessimistic perspective, "finding reasons why something wouldn't work," according to Pferdt. We spend the majority of our time saying, "No, but," don't we? It is evident that improv theater is the source of inspiration for this, but if you flip it over and adopt a somewhat more "Yes, and" mindset, it drastically alters the dynamic of your interactions and the teams you work with.

2.) See yourself in the future.

According to Pferdt, who previously taught design thinking as an adjunct professor at Stanford University for ten years, Google executives urge employees to visualize a successful, idealized version of themselves and then determine feasible methods to get there.

He advised CNBC Make It to "really try to envision how you want to be in the future." "That really helps you understand where you actually want to go and influences your choices in the moment, which makes it very powerful."

3.) Take some time for yourself

For a long time, Google has promoted meditation among its staff members and even provided mindfulness training. Daily meditation, according to Pferdt, helps him stay positive and open to new ideas.

He went on, "Take some time to spend with yourself every now and then." It is incredibly important, because if you don't, all you'll be doing is reacting and going on autopilot rather than responding. Our responses are typically harsh, judgmental, insensitive, and hateful. They also tend to be blame-focused. You can only get away from these by engaging in attentive practices.