4 ms·
20% was very real, I saw it many times Googles main successful product was amazing infrastructure. Lots of real innovation. It enabled massive scale of every
by lokar 3y ago
20% was very real, I saw it many times
Googles main successful product was amazing infrastructure. Lots of real innovation. It enabled massive scale of everything else, including acquisitions. YouTube was about to hit the wall when they got acquired.
- cmrdporcupine 3y agoBy the time I got to Google in 2012, 20% seemed dead to me. If it had any meaning, it just meant "you can do some extra work on something management approves", not "I have a wild idea and want to go off and try it in my 20%" (as I naively understood it before coming there.) It was already the case, at that point, that 20% really just meant doing more of what Google was already doing. But maybe I just didn't know the right people or have the right connections or status.
- lokar 3y agoYes, by then it was org dependent. Some were not supportive, but some were. 2005 was still very open
- sjwhevvvvvsj 3y ago100% - Google IS SRE. My favorite group of people to work with when I was there, a true honor, just amazing infra. But the people “leading” the place are trash.