I am sure there are a few left...
Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership
41–50 of 100 posts
Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership
#42I'll believe it when Google start acknowledging human being's desire for privacy as a real thing instead of a technical and commercial obstacle.
What hypothetical actions would indicate to you that such a change were happening?
Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership
#43Hopefully this will also happen at lower levels. The "I'm the smartest person in the world, because I work at Google" attitude is a reason I don't interact with/communicate with/contribute to Google-related projects. Their hugely inflated egos are just off-putting.
Googler for close to a year, so take this with a grain of salt.. I had heard of this exact reputation before I joined and frankly it was one of the things that worried me most. After I joined, I kept waiting for the hammer to fall, to see the competitive mean streak in people and in my team at least, it was exactly the opposite. It's frankly the best environment I've worked in because they are genuinely caring people…
But are the people you interact with the ones in the big public positions the grandparent is referring to? (e.g. Open source projects like Kubernetes)
Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership
#44Hopefully this will also happen at lower levels. The "I'm the smartest person in the world, because I work at Google" attitude is a reason I don't interact with/communicate with/contribute to Google-related projects. Their hugely inflated egos are just off-putting.
Sometime, Google employees also show this kind of attitude in their social life which makes other people hard to just have social interaction with Google employees.
Yes, one of the most annoying things you can encounter is a conversation at dinner with multiple Google employees. They will constantly mention that Google is working on something and then after confirmation with each other that it is still private, refuse to tell anymore details. It seems like it's encouraged in Google culture to brag but in a secretive manner to remind outsiders of what they are missing.
Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership
#45"Page was known as a tough manager inside the search giant, peppering his team with pointed questions and cutting (though usually accurate) observations. “He could come off as very harsh,” said one person who has had many encounters with Page over the years. “Until you realize it was more that he was completely lacking in EQ. I mean, zero.”" How is asking pointed questions and making cutting observations equate to be…
It is possible to be pointed and direct with tact. It is called manners.
Possible, but not easy. A lot of people interpret any feedback that boils down to "this work isn't good enough" as a personal attack, no matter how nicely it's couched.
Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership
#46I'll believe it when Google start acknowledging human being's desire for privacy as a real thing instead of a technical and commercial obstacle.
What hypothetical actions would indicate to you that such a change were happening?
I'm liking their moves towards the option to pay to get rid of ads. Like with Youtube Red and I believe there is this option for Google Ads too, though I doubt in practice this means they track anything less about you. It's a dangerous dance for them to start supporting new business models that are alternatives to their cash cows.
I suspect part of it is them hedging against real backlash against concerns about advertisement as surveillance.
Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership
#47I'll believe it when Google start acknowledging human being's desire for privacy as a real thing instead of a technical and commercial obstacle.
What hypothetical actions would indicate to you that such a change were happening?
A "Privacy & Security" category for extensions in the Chrome store would be an interesting first move.
Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership
#48"Page was known as a tough manager inside the search giant, peppering his team with pointed questions and cutting (though usually accurate) observations. “He could come off as very harsh,” said one person who has had many encounters with Page over the years. “Until you realize it was more that he was completely lacking in EQ. I mean, zero.”" How is asking pointed questions and making cutting observations equate to be…
If you are a manager, your job is to get your team to produce the right outcome - the right outcome being not just a good product but a good sustainable team.
If your team feel insulted/humiliated/upset, they are less likely to produce the right outcome in the short or long term.
Any decent manager can ask the right questions and make accurate observations whilst still making their team feel positive and valued.
Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is possible to be pointed and direct with tact. It is called manners.
Possible, but not easy. A lot of people interpret any feedback that boils down to "this work isn't good enough" as a personal attack, no matter how nicely it's couched.
This is why I don't like to hire designers who haven't been to art school. They can't take criticism. For programmers I don't have much of heuristic for selecting ones that can handle the fact that "the bar is here and this code/solution/etc is under it".
Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds like a non-sequitur. http://www.paulgraham.com/mean.html and http://www.paulgraham.com/safe.html come to mind.
I wonder if, in the future, people will compile these writings into a book with numbers for easy reference of quotes. They could also add testaments of things He said as recorded by His disciples. We could call it "The Book of Graham".
Very off-topic, but Leveraged Sellout---a satirical blog about the financial industry---did a parody piece on YC called "The Book of Graham."