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Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

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Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

#81

Post by rgovind »

kraknahs wrote: post #78
_nedR wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't conflate lack of ego with lack of drive or ambition or an averseness to risk. Especially for someone who went from a lower middle class family in one of the poorest states in India to becoming the CEO of Google. When a group of very smart people get together, there is a tendency for them to try to show themselves as being the smartest. This can lead to less-desirable situations where people don't share or…

"Especially for someone who went from a lower middle class family in one of the poorest states in India to becoming the CEO of Google." Not to take anything away from Sundar Pichai's accomplishments, but Tamil Nadu, from where he hails, is decidedly not "one of the poorest states in India." It has the second largest gross state domestic product in the country. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Tamil_Na…

And his father is an engineer in India. Definitely not a bad life.

Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

#82

Post by dang »

chippy wrote: post #16

Shouldn't this have the correct title "The New Google: ‘All the Assholes Have Left’" ?

Both are original titles—the 'asshole' one is an H1 heading and the 'egotistical' one is the HTML doc title. The submitter chose the latter, which (since it's less baity) was the better choice by the HN guidelines.

Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

#83

Post by dang »

ExpiredLink wrote: post #24
chippy wrote: post #16

Shouldn't this have the correct title "The New Google: ‘All the Assholes Have Left’" ?

It had that title few minutes ago ...

According to the logs, it was submitted like this and never changed. Perhaps you saw https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10438539 on the /newest page?

Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

#84

Post by simula67 »

jonnathanson wrote: post #63
simula67 wrote: post #26

"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…

Have you ever busted your ass on a project and been reasonably proud of the outcome, only to be publicly excoriated and treated like an idiot when your boss points out some holes in your thinking, and focuses almost exclusively on those? Yes, the holes needed to be pointed out. But the manner in which they were pointed out probably left you feeling like shit. Especially if this happened with any appreciable frequency…

Please note that the quoted statement does not give any specifics about how the feedback was given.

Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

#85

Post by corin_ »

simula67 wrote: post #84
jonnathanson wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever busted your ass on a project and been reasonably proud of the outcome, only to be publicly excoriated and treated like an idiot when your boss points out some holes in your thinking, and focuses almost exclusively on those? Yes, the holes needed to be pointed out. But the manner in which they were pointed out probably left you feeling like shit. Especially if this happened with any appreciable frequency…

Please note that the quoted statement does not give any specifics about how the feedback was given.

It doesn't give specific examples but it does say that it could "come off as harsh" and words like "cutting" imply that.

Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

#86

Post by rsfern »

simula67 wrote: post #84
jonnathanson wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever busted your ass on a project and been reasonably proud of the outcome, only to be publicly excoriated and treated like an idiot when your boss points out some holes in your thinking, and focuses almost exclusively on those? Yes, the holes needed to be pointed out. But the manner in which they were pointed out probably left you feeling like shit. Especially if this happened with any appreciable frequency…

Please note that the quoted statement does not give any specifics about how the feedback was given.

> "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.”

I think it's pretty clear that the feedback could have been given in a more constructive manner.

Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

#87

Post by eropple »

david-given wrote: post #71
jonas21 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... or maybe they're really excited about whatever it is and want to talk about it, but also don't want to get fired for leaking something?

This is precisely it. Plus, Google's huge and has very few internal communication barriers --- nearly everything is open to everyone. So it's really easy to get into the habit of casually talking about internal products when talking shop. Then you notice someone nearby who isn't a Googler, and you go oh shit and stop talking.

And that is almost definitionally a lack of social grace and tact. It's one flavor of what is meant by "low EQ".

It may be usual and common for Google employees to do that. That doesn't make it excusable, and it's a pretty big reason why I, too, tend to avoid gatherings where I know it's going to be a bunch of Google employees. They communicate that they don't want outsiders around? I can oblige.

Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

#88

Post by eitally »

hueving wrote: post #44
rajeevk wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Ironically, lunches are not like this. :D Since you never know which people in the cafeteria are or are not Google employees, conversation in the cafes is almost never about sensitive work stuff. The infosec focus actually stimulates an environment with a better work/life balance. Totally strange to experience, but 100% true.

Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

#89

Post by datashovel »

simula67 wrote: post #26

"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…

Agreed. I've worked for people that are like that. I never took it personally. Because they never attacked me personally.

However, I will say that one trick I've learned over the years is to "frame the questions" as though you're both on the same side of the dialogue. You're both fighting against the thing on the other side of the table, which is the functionality / app you're creating. If you can frame questions in that way, to ensure people don't feel they're on the receiving end of personal attacks, this is invaluable and makes it easier for people to accept those "pointed questions" as valid criticism, and helps them realize that you're asking the questions only because of your undying desire to get things right. It keeps people from feeling under attack when anything they're working on gets questioned / interrogated.

While many times people think the boss always thinks they're right, generally those people are just more timid than the average person I think. If they opened up and disagreed or questioned parts of the interrogation they would realize the questioner is only opening a dialogue, not establishing that they're always going to be right and that the person needs to "fall in line".

Re: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Brings in Less Egotistical Leadership

#90

Post by bitwize »

justthistime_ wrote: post #11

Hopefully 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.

Googlers are actually quite friendly for the most part. The internal vibe at Google is like the Globex Corporation from The Simpsons. They are elite but once you make it on the inside, far from elitist. Just never mind their secret take-over-the-world plans and you'll be fine. :)

Oh, and if you are a cat person, become a dog person before joining the company.

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