4 ms·

Leaders should lead with a unique style. Their way. Larry's playing catchup with Facebook while thinking he can be Steve Jobs, and that, together with guardi

by brador 15y ago

Leaders should lead with a unique style. Their way. Larry's playing catchup with Facebook while thinking he can be Steve Jobs, and that, together with guarding the cents by removing the little things that made life @Google awesome (bagels anyone?) has led to low morale among the workforce. Geeks with low morale don't get shit done. They don't innovate. They don't create. Google staff aren't code monkeys, they're not going to stick around to keep the seats warm. The good ones will spend every hour of the day doing the bare minimum required to still get a paycheck while finding a new job. It's money not passion that's preventing them leaving. And that's a pretty depressing atmosphere to work in.

rryan 15y ago
Bagels. Really? That's what it takes to make life at $COMPANY awesome? What about working with smart people on interesting problems?
- creativityland 15y ago
  Sometimes it's the small things that make working and life a bit awesome...so if it's bagels for some, then yes.
- jordan0day 15y ago
  I think the math is something more like: $COMPANY provides bagels. +1 "Sweet!" point. $COMPANY provides bagels, but later stops providing bagels. -10 "Sweet!" points. The removal of a perk has a larger net negative impact on morale than its existence ever did on the positive side.
- Peaker 15y ago
  You can turn it around and ask: Really? Is the morale of the employees not worth the cost of a bagel? Removing the small benefits sends a message to the employees -- and it's the wrong message to send. In my company, we've had lots of nice little luxuries in our kitchen. Slowly, they removed these, bit by bit. They save an astonishingly small amount, but morale did suffer because of that. Our extra happiness at the workplace is not worth the cents to the management -- is basically the message.
- r00fus 15y ago
  No shit. I've worked at companies that offered free bagels and it didn't make any difference to me in the long run.
- vetler 15y ago
  First they came for the bagels, and I didn't speak out because I was on a low carb diet. Then they came for the micro kitchens, and I didn't speak out because I didn't mind walking a little bit further. Then they came for the free meals, and I didn't speak out because I could buy my own meals. Then they came for the Google time, and I didn't speak out because I worked on personal projects on the weekends. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.
- YesThatTom 15y ago
  I work for Google and I eat a bagel every morning at the Google cafeteria. WTF are you talking about? The perks have been getting BETTER in the last few years.
creativityland 15y ago
Really well written and can't agree more, and I think this applies to many companies alike and is very important in any work atmospheres.
funkah 15y ago
>It's money not passion that's preventing them leaving. Waiting for options/grants to vest, you mean?
jrockway 15y ago
Is this referring to Google? If so, I am confused as to where this sentiment is coming from. We still get our three free meals a day, 30" monitors, standing desks, microkitchens no more than 100 feet away, and many other perks. I'm certainly encouraged to work hard, not only because the compensation is good, but because writing software at Google is so fun. I think the media is getting the wrong impression of what internal problems Google has. Most don't say anything publicly because the internal discussion fora are much nicer than ones on the "real Internet", and because it's hard to speak publicly about Google without speaking for Google and accidentally revealing something confidential. Anyone saying "Larry Page said XXX in an internal meeting" is leaking confidential information, and as a result, all that information is going to be used for is sensational source-less tabloid articles. Yes, people leave Google, but it's probably not due to cutbacks in perks or Search Plus Your World. It's probably, "I want to do something new!"

by brador 15y ago

rryan 15y ago

Bagels. Really? That's what it takes to make life at $COMPANY awesome? What about working with smart people on interesting problems?

creativityland 15y ago
Sometimes it's the small things that make working and life a bit awesome...so if it's bagels for some, then yes.
jordan0day 15y ago
I think the math is something more like: $COMPANY provides bagels. +1 "Sweet!" point. $COMPANY provides bagels, but later stops providing bagels. -10 "Sweet!" points. The removal of a perk has a larger net negative impact on morale than its existence ever did on the positive side.
Peaker 15y ago
You can turn it around and ask: Really? Is the morale of the employees not worth the cost of a bagel? Removing the small benefits sends a message to the employees -- and it's the wrong message to send. In my company, we've had lots of nice little luxuries in our kitchen. Slowly, they removed these, bit by bit. They save an astonishingly small amount, but morale did suffer because of that. Our extra happiness at the workplace is not worth the cents to the management -- is basically the message.
r00fus 15y ago
No shit. I've worked at companies that offered free bagels and it didn't make any difference to me in the long run.
vetler 15y ago
First they came for the bagels, and I didn't speak out because I was on a low carb diet. Then they came for the micro kitchens, and I didn't speak out because I didn't mind walking a little bit further. Then they came for the free meals, and I didn't speak out because I could buy my own meals. Then they came for the Google time, and I didn't speak out because I worked on personal projects on the weekends. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.
YesThatTom 15y ago
I work for Google and I eat a bagel every morning at the Google cafeteria. WTF are you talking about? The perks have been getting BETTER in the last few years.

creativityland 15y ago

Really well written and can't agree more, and I think this applies to many companies alike and is very important in any work atmospheres.

funkah 15y ago

>It's money not passion that's preventing them leaving. Waiting for options/grants to vest, you mean?

jrockway 15y ago

Is this referring to Google? If so, I am confused as to where this sentiment is coming from. We still get our three free meals a day, 30" monitors, standing desks, microkitchens no more than 100 feet away, and many other perks. I'm certainly encouraged to work hard, not only because the compensation is good, but because writing software at Google is so fun. I think the media is getting the wrong impression of what internal problems Google has. Most don't say anything publicly because the internal discussion fora are much nicer than ones on the "real Internet", and because it's hard to speak publicly about Google without speaking for Google and accidentally revealing something confidential. Anyone saying "Larry Page said XXX in an internal meeting" is leaking confidential information, and as a result, all that information is going to be used for is sensational source-less tabloid articles. Yes, people leave Google, but it's probably not due to cutbacks in perks or Search Plus Your World. It's probably, "I want to do something new!"