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I Was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s Why I Left

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Re: I Was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s Why I Left

#11

Post by LiquidSky »

nickv wrote: post #5

Google, in my mind, is the quintessential "You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain" story. (To be fair, since this all is subjective, I do believe Google 2009 would consider this behavior counter to it's values and the values of the people it attracted.) The question I have is are there ways to stay true to values (which in some cases might be in direct opposition to growth a…

Or that "Don't Be Evil" was all PR nonsense from the beginning that we naively gobbled up.

Re: I Was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s Why I Left

#13

Post by travmatt »

fghtr wrote: post #6
nickv wrote: post #5

Google, in my mind, is the quintessential "You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain" story. (To be fair, since this all is subjective, I do believe Google 2009 would consider this behavior counter to it's values and the values of the people it attracted.) The question I have is are there ways to stay true to values (which in some cases might be in direct opposition to growth a…

>> are there ways to stay true to values (which in some cases might be in direct opposition to growth and profit taking) with the way our society is structured? Purism is trying to do exactly this by being Social Purpose Corporation: https://puri.sm/about/social-purpose/ . However, I would not call them a "major company" yet.

Also called social benefit corporations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefit_corporation

If the company doesn’t have their values and goals listed in the articles of incorporation, then they have no legal obligation to follow them.

Re: I Was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s Why I Left

#14

Post by ausbah »

It is sickening but not surprising that these Wall Street & executive types put profits about human suffering & human rights. I wish more countries that claim to have hold human rights as a central value of their county's morality would put their money where their mouth is to regulate these modern day supervillains.

Re: I Was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s Why I Left

#15

Post by skizm »

nickv wrote: post #5

Google, in my mind, is the quintessential "You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain" story. (To be fair, since this all is subjective, I do believe Google 2009 would consider this behavior counter to it's values and the values of the people it attracted.) The question I have is are there ways to stay true to values (which in some cases might be in direct opposition to growth a…

I wanted to point to Etsy, since they were a b-corp, meaning they were held to higher "social and environmental standards" than a typical company, but I just Google'd them to see how their stock is doing and it looks like they gave up their b-corp status sometime in 2017 and their stock price is up 400% since then (price was flat and declining previously).

Re: I Was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s Why I Left

#18

Post by nickv »

LiquidSky wrote: post #11
nickv wrote: post #5

Google, in my mind, is the quintessential "You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain" story. (To be fair, since this all is subjective, I do believe Google 2009 would consider this behavior counter to it's values and the values of the people it attracted.) The question I have is are there ways to stay true to values (which in some cases might be in direct opposition to growth a…

Or that "Don't Be Evil" was all PR nonsense from the beginning that we naively gobbled up.

Call me naive, but I genuinely believe Sergey and Larry believed in it (especially Sergey)

Re: I Was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s Why I Left

#19

Post by sk55 »

The timing of his change of heart seems politically motivated so I’d take a lot of what’s he saying with a grain of salt.

He doesn’t disclose that he’s running for Congress in the article and it seems very convenient to share these opinions as soon as he’s running for office.

Re: I Was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s Why I Left

#20

Post by sriram_sun »

It was no different in the workplace culture. Senior colleagues bullied and screamed at young women, causing them to cry at their desks. At an all-hands meeting, my boss said, “Now you Asians come to the microphone too. I know you don’t like to ask questions.” At a different all-hands meeting, the entire policy team was separated into various rooms and told to participate in a “diversity exercise” that placed me in a group labeled “homos” while participants shouted out stereotypes such as “effeminate” and “promiscuous.” Colleagues of color were forced to join groups called “Asians” and “Brown people” in other rooms nearby.

What is this? I have worked in the valley in smaller companies, but this (the diversity exercises) takes the cake. Was there some context to this that is missing? Can anyone who participated throw more light?

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