madcow writes “Xoogle is the blog for ex-googlites (googlees?) to talk about their time at the 900 lb gorilla of search.
“One engineer holding that kind of power speaks to the assumptions inherent in Google’s culture. Individuals were considered capable of weighing the effects of their actions and presumed to have the best interests of the company (and Google’s users) at heart.
In previous jobs I held, no one did anything of significance without first getting approval from two or more layers of management. Memos would be written, committees would form, discussions would be held and all aspects considered before steps could be taken. Time would pass. Decision-making redundancy was believed to be mutually beneficial: it prevented rogue acts of self-interest or stupidity from harming the brand and insulated individuals from the repercussions of implementing their own ideas. The assumption was that individuals could not be trusted either to put the corporate welfare first or to understand the complexity of the business in which they were engaged.””
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