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Does anyone have any insight into Google's internal politics or processes that lead to this mess, and why is chat so much more fragmented at Google than other s

by Osiris 5y ago

Does anyone have any insight into Google's internal politics or processes that lead to this mess, and why is chat so much more fragmented at Google than other services?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
sb057 5y ago
From what I understand, promotions at Google are largely granted at the completion of leading some kind of initiative; for example, launching a new product. The problem being that once the project lead has been promoted, they are no longer in charge of that project, and no one really takes over for it, leading to neglect and eventually being shut down entirely.
- xyzzyz 5y ago
  > The problem being that once the project lead has been promoted, they are no longer in charge of that project That’s not how it works, promotion does not move you to a different position. Project leads in charge stay in charge after promotion. What often happens though is that promoted people leverage their new, higher level to move to or start more desirable projects.
  - 0x0nyandesu 5y ago
    So neglect with extra steps.
justicezyx 5y ago
It's not messy in Google standard. Politics are normal, for an unsuccessful in Google's standard. It's just not meaningful for Google. It's like Jeff Bezos is so rich that he picked a very awkward candidate to replace his wife, but having a female companion to Jeff is no longer crucial for his success (imagine what would happen if Jeff married his current girl friend...).
barsonme 5y ago
I’m not sure how true it is, but the common refrain I keep seeing on HN and elsewhere is that Google’s promotion track incentivizes new products over maintaining and expanding current products.
- danieldk 5y ago
  That's the common refrain, but making a new product doesn't put it front and center at a Google I/O keynote or push it as the official new Google strategy. You'd think that C-level executives have a word on what is announced in keynotes, etc.
  - onion2k 5y ago
    making a new product doesn't put it front and center at a Google I/O keynote It doesn't automatically put it front and centre at I/O, but as it's certain Google will want something to highlight which makes working on a new product is a fairly sensible idea if that's your goal. Innovating or maintaining an existing one is a lot less marketable.
- gman83 5y ago
  I heard that this hasn't been true for several years, but everyone keeps repeating it.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - MagnumOpus 5y ago
    The cycle of neglecting/shutting-down established good products and creating dozens of new half-baked products instead continues, so unless you have a better explanation, this being true is Occam's Razor...

by Osiris 5y ago

Does anyone have any insight into Google's internal politics or processes that lead to this mess, and why is chat so much more fragmented at Google than other services?

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

sb057 5y ago

From what I understand, promotions at Google are largely granted at the completion of leading some kind of initiative; for example, launching a new product. The problem being that once the project lead has been promoted, they are no longer in charge of that project, and no one really takes over for it, leading to neglect and eventually being shut down entirely.

xyzzyz 5y ago
> The problem being that once the project lead has been promoted, they are no longer in charge of that project That’s not how it works, promotion does not move you to a different position. Project leads in charge stay in charge after promotion. What often happens though is that promoted people leverage their new, higher level to move to or start more desirable projects.
- 0x0nyandesu 5y ago
  So neglect with extra steps.

justicezyx 5y ago

It's not messy in Google standard. Politics are normal, for an unsuccessful in Google's standard. It's just not meaningful for Google. It's like Jeff Bezos is so rich that he picked a very awkward candidate to replace his wife, but having a female companion to Jeff is no longer crucial for his success (imagine what would happen if Jeff married his current girl friend...).

barsonme 5y ago

I’m not sure how true it is, but the common refrain I keep seeing on HN and elsewhere is that Google’s promotion track incentivizes new products over maintaining and expanding current products.

danieldk 5y ago
That's the common refrain, but making a new product doesn't put it front and center at a Google I/O keynote or push it as the official new Google strategy. You'd think that C-level executives have a word on what is announced in keynotes, etc.
- onion2k 5y ago
  making a new product doesn't put it front and center at a Google I/O keynote It doesn't automatically put it front and centre at I/O, but as it's certain Google will want something to highlight which makes working on a new product is a fairly sensible idea if that's your goal. Innovating or maintaining an existing one is a lot less marketable.
gman83 5y ago
I heard that this hasn't been true for several years, but everyone keeps repeating it.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- MagnumOpus 5y ago
  The cycle of neglecting/shutting-down established good products and creating dozens of new half-baked products instead continues, so unless you have a better explanation, this being true is Occam's Razor...