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An Update on Bradfitz: Leaving Google

bradfitz.com

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Re: An Update on Bradfitz: Leaving Google

#131

Post by magduf »

chrshawkes wrote: post #89
xwowsersx wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate it so much.

So many companies, even non-tech companies with tech divisions adopted this plague and now it seems there is no turning back. I find the constant movement to be the biggest distraction over noise.

>I find the constant movement to be the biggest distraction over noise.

I find movement to be distracting as well (esp. if I'm sitting next to a high-traffic aisle as I was in one short-lived position). However, what's even worse for me is when several different conversations all start up at the same time, in the same space. Americans are already extremely loud talkers, but then stick a bunch of them together in one room, having 2-5 different conversations simultaneously, and I truly don't understand how anyone can take it, or even understand whichever conversation they're part of.

Re: An Update on Bradfitz: Leaving Google

#132

Post by filmgirlcw »

I first “met” Brad via LiveJournal in 2000 or 2001, when I was 17 or 18. I wound up becoming friends with him and some of his mutual friends, even though I lived across the country.

Every few years, I’ve found my life intersect with his. Through various jobs (and even careers), he’s been a constant person in my online orbit. When I moved to Seattle 2.5 years ago, it was fitting that Brad lives here too and even more fitting that he knows many of my coworkers, albeit in a completely different way.

Brad is one of the smartest people I’ve bet met and probably ever will meet. LiveJournal was the basis — both in idea and in technology (memcached, oauth), the basis for Facebook, WordPress, and Tumblr. I’ve long said he’s the most important Web 2.0 pioneer most people have never heard of. He’s also a fantastic person.

I for one can’t wait to see what he decides do do next and how he’ll next change the world.

Re: An Update on Bradfitz: Leaving Google

#133

Post by scbrg »

fyp wrote: post #44

> 12 years, 5 months at Google > many Google-internal CLs ("change lists" == commits == PRs) > 3,064 Android CLs > 10,787 Go CLs This is at least an average of 3 commits a day (4 if he didn't work weekends). How is that possible?

Why wouldn't it be? Just checked my own commit count at work. Averaging 4 daily (including weekends and holidays), in our main repo for the past six years. There's some work going on outside the main repo, if I could be bothered to check all those minor repos the number might bump to ~5.

I'm certainly not exceptionally productive or skilled or anything - I just try to make my commits as small as possible. Commit early, commit often.

Re: An Update on Bradfitz: Leaving Google

#134

Post by alistairSH »

VRay wrote: post #114
SamWhited wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When can this fad end It's not a fad, businesses aren't doing this just because it's trendy and cool and they think people will like it, they're doing it because it saves them a fortune and they care more about their bottom line than their employees well being.

It saves a fortune, but the companies are spending a fortune on their employees' salary and benefits too I think we're talking the difference between $300/month on open desk space vs $1000/month on an office. It's a lot of money and it adds up, but these people are costing the company a total of $10k-$40k a month My theory is that open space is extremely helpful to certain types of people, and those traits coincident…

Sociable upper managerial-types probably value being able to collaborate more easily in open space more than being able to concentrate in private offices.

This is not my experience. Most of the upper management at my employer spend their days wandering the halls looking for open "huddle rooms". Or, they just camp out semi-permanently in one of those spaces. They absolutely do not collaborate in public. In fact, they can't - too much of what they do involves information that, if not strictly confidential, is at least somewhat need-to-know.

Re: An Update on Bradfitz: Leaving Google

#136

Post by xiphias2 »

bradfitz wrote: post #67
jedberg wrote: post #64

> 5.5 hours of unused massage credits That just seems like poor planning. If he knew he was leaving, he should have scheduled a one hour session each week for the last five. :)

Indeed. I just forgot about them. Also, turns out you can only have one outstanding reservation at a time (so I can't have one all-day massage on my last day) and can't gift them to other employees. Oh well.

One thing that may cheer you up that although when I went back to Google, I lost my options, but got back my massage credits :)

Re: An Update on Bradfitz: Leaving Google

#137

Post by bovermyer »

chrisseaton wrote: post #126
bovermyer wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salary and benefits come out of a different bucket than office equipment and installations.

So what?

It matters in this case because the discussion took a turn towards comparing the compensation of staff to the provisioning of the office environment.

In that context, companies' consideration of expenditures will take into account capital versus operational categories.

Re: An Update on Bradfitz: Leaving Google

#139

Post by staristari »

VRay wrote: post #114
SamWhited wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When can this fad end It's not a fad, businesses aren't doing this just because it's trendy and cool and they think people will like it, they're doing it because it saves them a fortune and they care more about their bottom line than their employees well being.

It saves a fortune, but the companies are spending a fortune on their employees' salary and benefits too I think we're talking the difference between $300/month on open desk space vs $1000/month on an office. It's a lot of money and it adds up, but these people are costing the company a total of $10k-$40k a month My theory is that open space is extremely helpful to certain types of people, and those traits coincident…

> Sociable upper managerial-types probably value being able to collaborate more easily in open space more than being able to concentrate in private offices.

This is the opposite of my experience. One thing that shocked me about a move to an open plan office after a life with offices was how stifling to discussion.

It's so disruptive to have a conversation at someone's workspace, that to discuss anything nontrivial (or even slightly sensitive) all participants go somewhere else. This greater cost subtly means that people don't really discuss as much.

When people do, it's more often in formal meetings (though of course people can go find a whiteboard together for a chat here and there). These meetings tend to fill their timeslots whether they need to or not, a known problem with meetings.

Random, "What have you been working on" do not rise to the point of happening as often, since chitchat at someone's desk is disruptive. Obviously this still happens sometimes at people's desks, as well as in shared areas, between activities, etc., but it's decreased. A culture of more regular 1:1s tries to help make up for this, I think, but the formal nature of scheduled 1:1s makes it hard to have the same organic discussions.

Even fairly mid-level management (and certainly upper management) and the large open-plan office company I currently work for claims conference rooms 24/7. This is clearly not about the ability to concentrate, but about the increased ability to collaborate.

Re: An Update on Bradfitz: Leaving Google

#140

Post by anarazel »

VRay wrote: post #114
SamWhited wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When can this fad end It's not a fad, businesses aren't doing this just because it's trendy and cool and they think people will like it, they're doing it because it saves them a fortune and they care more about their bottom line than their employees well being.

It saves a fortune, but the companies are spending a fortune on their employees' salary and benefits too I think we're talking the difference between $300/month on open desk space vs $1000/month on an office. It's a lot of money and it adds up, but these people are costing the company a total of $10k-$40k a month My theory is that open space is extremely helpful to certain types of people, and those traits coincident…

> I think we're talking the difference between $300/month on open desk space vs $1000/month on an office

I'd be very surprised if that were the extent of the difference. Are these numbers based on any data, or guesses?

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