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This is nonsense. “All people decisions at Google are based on data and analytics,” according to Kathryn Dekas, a manager in Google’s “people analytics” team.

This is nonsense. “All people decisions at Google are based on data and analytics,” according to Kathryn Dekas, a manager in Google’s “people analytics” team. Calibration scores are not fucking data, not any more than bathroom graffiti contains reliable information. Data-driven my ass. (She may have been only talking about hiring, but she said "all people decisions", and that's incorrect.) Google discovered that its most innovative workers “are those who have a strong sense of mission about their work and who also feel that they have much personal autonomy.” Bullshit. Take that attitude to work at a place like Google and you'll be on a PIP as soon as your boss catches wind that you have ambitions other than serving his specific career goals. Google hasn't valued "personal autonomy" since I was in high school.

jmduke 13y ago
Michael, I don't mean to be disrespectful -- I've enjoyed your comments a lot on HN, and find them to be incredibly insightful -- but I feel like you're beating a dead horse with your Google vitriol.
- michaelochurch 13y ago
  My work isn't done yet. Our industry is still hellish and there are trillions of dollars of value to be added to society by fixing it. Programmer Autonomy is a $1 Trillion Issue: http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/programmer-autonomy-is-a-1-trillion-issue/ http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/programmer-au... The cultural war on closed allocation is the only trillion-dollar problem in the world that I have any power whatsoever to influence (not much, but I have a voice). Attacking Google-- exposing its closed allocation as a catastrophe that destroyed what could have been an amazing company-- is part of the campaign. How to structure a software workplace properly is the only trillion-dollar issue on which I'm a world-class expert, and probably the only such one in my life. So yes, I do tend to be a bit overfocused on that problem domain.
  - hkmurakami 13y ago
    >How to structure a software workplace properly is the only trillion-dollar issue on which I'm a world-class expert, and probably the only such one in my life. Kind of reminded me of Zuckerberg's quote: "I don't really need any money. And anyway, I don't think I'm ever going to have an idea this good again."
  - tokenadult 13y ago
    I'm a world-class expert What is the evidence that you are a world-class expert on that or on any other issue?
    - michaelochurch 13y ago
      Let's start with the fact that open allocation (not a concept I invented, but one that I've advocated with extreme vigor and, to a large degree, popularized; and I did come up with the term "open allocation") is in force or under active exploration at pretty much every company where the talented engineers want to work, and that closed-allocation companies fall into mediocrity and develop retention problems through a process that I've discovered and documented with extreme precision, including on my blog. I'm sure there are a couple people who know more than I do-- perhaps the CEO of Valve and that company's chief economist-- but it's pretty obvious that I'm on the short list right now. When it comes to setting up the culture for a technology company, I'm one of the few people who actually knows how to do it right.
      - codex 13y ago
        Is the best culture for a startup one of hubris and poor emotional intelligence?
    - waterlesscloud 13y ago
      He's written quite a bit on the topic. It's worth taking a look at if you're interested in that kind of thing. http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/ http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/
  - rjzzleep 13y ago
- waterlesscloud 13y ago
  If this was reddit, I totally would have posted "In b4 michaelochurch" when I read this article. His commentary on it was inevitable. What I thought was interesting was that the blog post said that a sense of mission and personal autonomy was key, which sure sounds like it would feed into Michael's crusade for open allocation. But then Googlers post here and seem to say that Google doesn't actually rank those traits highly. Which seems to back up his point. I don't know the truth of it, and don't really care very much since I don't plan to work at Google, but it's an interesting discussion nonetheless.
rhizome 13y ago
Their HR department has the most effective PR of any Google property.
- michaelochurch 13y ago
  I've noticed that the companies with 3-sigma powerhouse reputations tend to be horrible, and the best companies tend to be firms (especially in scientific computing and consulting) that only nerds have heard of. It took me into my late 20s to realize that it wasn't Google that was so great but that its marketing department was fantastic. Same for the horrible startup (executive ethics far worse than at Google) where I worked after the Big G.
  - itg 13y ago
    "the best companies tend to be firms (especially in scientific computing and consulting) that only nerds have heard of." Perfectly mirrors my experience. Out of college you mostly hear about the big tech companies and trendy startups.
  - SatvikBeri 13y ago
    Yeah, there's almost no correlation between a company's public perception and how it is internally. That's why, as a rule, I try not to work at places where I don't know somebody there personally.

jmduke 13y ago

Michael, I don't mean to be disrespectful -- I've enjoyed your comments a lot on HN, and find them to be incredibly insightful -- but I feel like you're beating a dead horse with your Google vitriol.

michaelochurch 13y ago
My work isn't done yet. Our industry is still hellish and there are trillions of dollars of value to be added to society by fixing it. Programmer Autonomy is a $1 Trillion Issue: http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/programmer-autonomy-is-a-1-trillion-issue/ http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/programmer-au... The cultural war on closed allocation is the only trillion-dollar problem in the world that I have any power whatsoever to influence (not much, but I have a voice). Attacking Google-- exposing its closed allocation as a catastrophe that destroyed what could have been an amazing company-- is part of the campaign. How to structure a software workplace properly is the only trillion-dollar issue on which I'm a world-class expert, and probably the only such one in my life. So yes, I do tend to be a bit overfocused on that problem domain.
- hkmurakami 13y ago
  >How to structure a software workplace properly is the only trillion-dollar issue on which I'm a world-class expert, and probably the only such one in my life. Kind of reminded me of Zuckerberg's quote: "I don't really need any money. And anyway, I don't think I'm ever going to have an idea this good again."
- tokenadult 13y ago
  I'm a world-class expert What is the evidence that you are a world-class expert on that or on any other issue?
  - michaelochurch 13y ago
    Let's start with the fact that open allocation (not a concept I invented, but one that I've advocated with extreme vigor and, to a large degree, popularized; and I did come up with the term "open allocation") is in force or under active exploration at pretty much every company where the talented engineers want to work, and that closed-allocation companies fall into mediocrity and develop retention problems through a process that I've discovered and documented with extreme precision, including on my blog. I'm sure there are a couple people who know more than I do-- perhaps the CEO of Valve and that company's chief economist-- but it's pretty obvious that I'm on the short list right now. When it comes to setting up the culture for a technology company, I'm one of the few people who actually knows how to do it right.
    - codex 13y ago
      Is the best culture for a startup one of hubris and poor emotional intelligence?
  - waterlesscloud 13y ago
    He's written quite a bit on the topic. It's worth taking a look at if you're interested in that kind of thing. http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/ http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/
- rjzzleep 13y ago
waterlesscloud 13y ago
If this was reddit, I totally would have posted "In b4 michaelochurch" when I read this article. His commentary on it was inevitable. What I thought was interesting was that the blog post said that a sense of mission and personal autonomy was key, which sure sounds like it would feed into Michael's crusade for open allocation. But then Googlers post here and seem to say that Google doesn't actually rank those traits highly. Which seems to back up his point. I don't know the truth of it, and don't really care very much since I don't plan to work at Google, but it's an interesting discussion nonetheless.

rhizome 13y ago

Their HR department has the most effective PR of any Google property.

michaelochurch 13y ago
I've noticed that the companies with 3-sigma powerhouse reputations tend to be horrible, and the best companies tend to be firms (especially in scientific computing and consulting) that only nerds have heard of. It took me into my late 20s to realize that it wasn't Google that was so great but that its marketing department was fantastic. Same for the horrible startup (executive ethics far worse than at Google) where I worked after the Big G.
- itg 13y ago
  "the best companies tend to be firms (especially in scientific computing and consulting) that only nerds have heard of." Perfectly mirrors my experience. Out of college you mostly hear about the big tech companies and trendy startups.
- SatvikBeri 13y ago
  Yeah, there's almost no correlation between a company's public perception and how it is internally. That's why, as a rule, I try not to work at places where I don't know somebody there personally.