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The Google+ project and exec team

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Re: The Google+ project and exec team

#181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and they'll all think that you are the problem. Agreed.

The thing is that often they are right. It's almost literally crazy to me that he wouldn't just try to reschedule the meeting and that he would work when his grandma was dying. It's not working long hours that's a problem but in my experience it often correlates with people who don't work well in a team (which this guy seems like a perfect example of).

I do sort of see that, but there's another side to that coin.

This dude, and many people I've met similar to him, takes people on their word and acts accordingly. He might be a bad fit for an environment where this is not respected, but I'd argue this is not a sign of 'not working well in a team'. Rather, it's a sign of him taking people on their word and finding it difficult to work on a team where this is not respected.

I imagine there are plenty of teams, in companies big and small, that do respect these kinds of things. Or at least do so begrudgingly.

My personal experience is that any work environment that does not manage to handle these 'your word is your word' type situations, even if badly, is a horrible place and destined to fail (barring some exceptional situation where they can get away with it).

Outliers like this particular person are a kind of anchor-point. Perhaps it's okay, even necessary, that they don't quite thrive in certain stages of a company. But when they actively flee the ship, it's a horribly sign.

Re: The Google+ project and exec team

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author of this article sounds insufferable to work with. Sounds like the google team all couldn't stand working with him, so while they didn't specifically fire him, they orchestrated to force him out so he would resign. After reading his self-indulgent, whiny, bitter grandstanding tirade, can't say I blame them. Also shows a complete lack of introspection or self awareness that he'd post and promote this drivel…

In my opinion it makes both him and Google look really bad.

I'd describe him as the second designer I'd hire. Possibly invaluable to the endeavor, but not the single source of truth.

Re: The Google+ project and exec team

#183
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree the writing style, it's not constructive. That said, I think the main point is that his manager and some of his colleagues ganged up on him because they felt threatened, and that resulted in him being let go. That does indicate a problem for Google if true. This is often the slow death people talk about when big company culture turns like this. This is made stronger by the fact Google+ failed, and they're shu…

>That said, I think the main point is that his manager and some of his colleagues ganged up on him because they felt threatened, and that resulted in him being let go. >That does indicate a problem for Google if true. I mean, if his writing is a reflection of how he behaves then why is this a problem for Google? Getting rid of toxic people in a company is a positive and not a negative.

He doesn't come across as toxic. At worst, he's not a team player. That can be a problem, but I'd argue not being able to tolerate or channel these individuals definitely is a portend of a bad corporate culture.

Re: The Google+ project and exec team

#184
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The email was definitely a misplay, but the manager response was also pretty rough. Google’s a big place, surely there’s a non-petty solution other than telling someone that they’ve ordained their future manager — in the heated moment with that person.

No question (assuming the author represented the conversation accurately). But you need to deal with jerks. There's lots of them out there, often in management positions. He says this made him "very depressed" and working there was "completely and utterly ruined" -- an on over-reaction. Toxic leadership is bad but you shouldn't let it control you to this extent.

But what if a certain kind of talent is mutually exclusive to being able to deal well with this kind of situation? Honest question.

Re: The Google+ project and exec team

#185
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. Sounds like conflict management is not handled very well by anyone in these situations.The author certainly could have handled it better, and "Greg" should have handled it way better. Very disappointing to hear, but at the same time these kinds of conflict are usually local and only affect a few individuals, so it is probably not very fair to describe the whole project and exec team as operating in thi…

Management above Greg should have seen through Gregs behavior a long time ago and acted on it. People like Greg are poison to a workplace, IMHO.

I agree that management above Greg could have possibly identified his behavior and acted on it, but it might be reaching a bit to expect them to have done so... sometimes these individuals can be hard to identify and root out (for example I doubt that Greg would ever be so mean in front of his bosses).

Good on the author to bring this kind of stuff into the open though so that it hopefully happens less in the future. At least something went right lol!

Re: The Google+ project and exec team

#186
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Management above Greg should have seen through Gregs behavior a long time ago and acted on it. People like Greg are poison to a workplace, IMHO.

I agree that management above Greg could have possibly identified his behavior and acted on it, but it might be reaching a bit to expect them to have done so... sometimes these individuals can be hard to identify and root out (for example I doubt that Greg would ever be so mean in front of his bosses). Good on the author to bring this kind of stuff into the open though so that it hopefully happens less in the future.…

Assuming "management above greg" are competent (not a stretch in a successful company) then they likely measure Greg on important things like effectiveness and retention. Not being mean in front of his bosses has little to do with that.

Re: The Google+ project and exec team

#187

To summarize some of his major complaints: 1) He accepted a salary (115K) lowered than what he thought was fair 2) Design occurred in silos, there was no unity or cohesion 3) His 2nd manager was "political" and "in love with bureaucracy" 4) An exec on a rival team tried to quash his idea 5) Managers often just wanted to slap their name on his work 6) He worked all night to satisfy an angry coworker the night his gran…

There is no way $115K was lower than fair for a UX designer in 2009. He probably deserved more like $80K.
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