one of its quality control rules was that any employee on the assembly line could pull the cord to stop production if he noticed a quality problem.57 That same philosophy lies behind our simple three-word slogan. When the engineer in Eric’s meeting called the proposed new feature “evil,” he was pulling the cord to stop production, forcing everyone to assess the proposed feature and determine if it was consistent with the company’s values. Every company needs a “Don’t be evil,” a cultural lodestar that shines over all management layers, product plans, and office politics.
