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This makes a lot of sense, the question though is whether or not Sundar can make a policy decision that Larry and Sergey disagree with. (not a business decision

This makes a lot of sense, the question though is whether or not Sundar can make a policy decision that Larry and Sergey disagree with. (not a business decision, but a policy like "bringing back bottled water" or something like that). Were I still there, I would be wondering if there would be a quarterly "Alphabet LMT (Last Month, Today)" where people from all the letters could mingle and ask questions of Larry and Sergey. It would provide both transparency for the conglomeration and a chance for people to compare notes about how things are done in the other business units.

logicx24 8y ago
Bottled water is back, and has been back for a while :) That said, I agree. I think a wider town hall on all of Alphabet would be great, and would help employees see how all the pieces fit into a larger strategy.
- gketuma 8y ago
  What is bottled water? Are you referring to a project at google or just plain ol drinking water?
  - dilyevsky 8y ago
    It’s kind of silly but there was a big controversy at google nearly decade ago when facilities stopped stocking bottled water in the fridges. I know... not as bad as “free tibet” cake tho...
    - manfredo 8y ago
      This must be a "thing" at lots of companies. At mine there was a surprisingly heated thread about getting rid of bottled water, which culminated with the founder and CEO telling everyone to shut up and go back to work (albeit in a more respectful wording, and it had gotten to the point where such action was warranted). The thread essentially became legend.
  - ChuckMcM 8y ago
    It's a ex-Google (xoogler) inside joke from a certain period in time (circa 2009). Similarly with the Free Tibet Goji Berry cake. Basically examples of decisions which the rank and file had a hard time with but were implemented anyway.
icelancer 8y ago
A real question is: Can Sundar unilaterally choose to withdraw business from China that is contingent on agreeing to things that are violations of human rights?

logicx24 8y ago

Bottled water is back, and has been back for a while :) That said, I agree. I think a wider town hall on all of Alphabet would be great, and would help employees see how all the pieces fit into a larger strategy.

gketuma 8y ago
What is bottled water? Are you referring to a project at google or just plain ol drinking water?
- dilyevsky 8y ago
  It’s kind of silly but there was a big controversy at google nearly decade ago when facilities stopped stocking bottled water in the fridges. I know... not as bad as “free tibet” cake tho...
  - manfredo 8y ago
    This must be a "thing" at lots of companies. At mine there was a surprisingly heated thread about getting rid of bottled water, which culminated with the founder and CEO telling everyone to shut up and go back to work (albeit in a more respectful wording, and it had gotten to the point where such action was warranted). The thread essentially became legend.
- ChuckMcM 8y ago
  It's a ex-Google (xoogler) inside joke from a certain period in time (circa 2009). Similarly with the Free Tibet Goji Berry cake. Basically examples of decisions which the rank and file had a hard time with but were implemented anyway.

icelancer 8y ago

A real question is: Can Sundar unilaterally choose to withdraw business from China that is contingent on agreeing to things that are violations of human rights?