81–90 of 113 posts
Seriously, who upvotes this?
I found these slides rather shallow. Smart, creative people are the best employees? Who knew! The Internet led to massive disruptions in traditional businesses? Wow! Sorry for my cynicism/sarcasm, but I see the book campaign as Eric Schmidt positioning himself for his next role. He's trying to secure his personal Google legacy as he gets ready for an exit. I can't imagine it's all that enticing to go from CEO to chai…
First, the slides are meant to be simple. Notice how this is written/drawn in a children's book style? Second, I do think it's very very provocative for "formal" people like me. I'm the business guy in a suit who just left Procter & Gamble.
I found these slides rather shallow. Smart, creative people are the best employees? Who knew! The Internet led to massive disruptions in traditional businesses? Wow! Sorry for my cynicism/sarcasm, but I see the book campaign as Eric Schmidt positioning himself for his next role. He's trying to secure his personal Google legacy as he gets ready for an exit. I can't imagine it's all that enticing to go from CEO to chai…
> I found these slides rather shallow I couldn't agree more with you. I was expecting some fact-based, data-driven insights/perspectives from Google - so, for me I'd say the "insights" seem disappointingly shallow because they are just "opinions". I keep hearing that one of the big way in which "how google works" is different is that their "people operations" (HR) runs very differently from other companies. I would h…
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First, the slides are meant to be simple. Notice how this is written/drawn in a children's book style? Second, I do think it's very very provocative for "formal" people like me. I'm the business guy in a suit who just left Procter & Gamble.
What you are slightly experiencing is the East coast/West coast culture shift.
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>free himself after accumulating enough of it If you don't think enslavement to a particular person is worse than working now, you need a reality check.
Do I? I mind you, "enslavement" has bad connotations mostly thanks to United States, it wasn't that bad in the ancient past. Also consider that technology sector is somewhat special in this regard. Your typical unskilled worker is pretty much a wage slave. Many a slave in the past (again, excluding US) was in much better situation than your average friendly neighbourhood supermarket clerk.
Unless you are using some exotic definition of enslavement, there is a fundamental difference between slave an employee. A slave is a property of his owner [0], thus slave has no agency and is completely dependent on her/his owner decisions. Employee may choose to be dependent on her/his employer to any extent she/he chooses, but it is her/his choice. You may argue that both slave and employer may end up being completely dependent on her/his owner/employer, but from the point of view of the law and society the situation is always completely different.
This is not how Google works, this is a PR product -- it's full of fashionable and/or trivial things that we see on various blogs every single day. I don't see why is this interesting to the HN crowd, but well, who am I to judge this. :)
I think it's related to a book written by Schmidt and that Rosenberg guy, I think I just read a review about it a couple of weeks ago (here's the review: http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21620056-search... ). As for the presentation itself, maybe it's because I'm becoming more and more grumpier with age and haven't drunk my coffee yet, but there's something to be said about today's langue de bois , with e…
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Do I? I mind you, "enslavement" has bad connotations mostly thanks to United States, it wasn't that bad in the ancient past. Also consider that technology sector is somewhat special in this regard. Your typical unskilled worker is pretty much a wage slave. Many a slave in the past (again, excluding US) was in much better situation than your average friendly neighbourhood supermarket clerk.
> Many a slave in the past (again, excluding US) was in much better situation than your average friendly neighbourhood supermarket clerk. Unless you are using some exotic definition of enslavement, there is a fundamental difference between slave an employee. A slave is a property of his owner [0], thus slave has no agency and is completely dependent on her/his owner decisions. Employee may choose to be dependent on h…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_scrip http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_labour [4] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/business/global/ikea-to-re... [5] http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/09/05/mexico-walmex-idUS...
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What you are slightly experiencing is the East coast/West coast culture shift.
Dividing this sort of knowledge between East/West is antiquated at best. New York City has a vibrant startup scene and Boston is the center of the robotics industry.
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How so?
Reflection of a CEO massively disconnected from what it's actually like to work there.
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> I found these slides rather shallow I couldn't agree more with you. I was expecting some fact-based, data-driven insights/perspectives from Google - so, for me I'd say the "insights" seem disappointingly shallow because they are just "opinions". I keep hearing that one of the big way in which "how google works" is different is that their "people operations" (HR) runs very differently from other companies. I would h…
I think the reason that you won't bother is that you already get it. This isn't a case of preaching to the choir, these slides are for those who don't get it; ipso facto not you. Once those people who don't get it become enlightened then they will understand that they need to be data driven, unique seeking, opportunity valuing people, and disruptive; just like you!
It felt that the insights were coming from Google's unique vantage point - i.e. their domination over search. I believe that there are many areas in which a company like Google can add great insights to the world (e.g. how to build a great company from scratch) and that when they share them, it ought to feel like "only Google could have come up with this".
If I read a book from someone senior at say Apple about best practices for managing a global supply-chain - then I'd be very curious to understand their unique point of view.
So my first comment about this being "disappointing" is coming more from that angle - Are these insights only Google can give? I am not sure (although it doesn't invalidate the insights themselves). Now, my second comment that I found them shallow, could be because like you say "I already get it" (although frankly, I don't think so - I feel that I don't get this stuff :) I am just always super curious to learn stuff from Google et al).