Google: If True, This Is a Management Moment
August 15, 2022
I read tabloids when I ride the subway in New York, Paris, or London. Nope, to Madrid’s and Moscow’s undergrounds. No thanks.
I spotted a New York Post article called “Google Execs Threaten Workers with Layoffs: There Will Be Blood on the Streets.” Wow, blood on the streets of Mountain View. Pretty exciting. I also liked the “threaten” idea. What an outstanding and sensitive management move… if accurate.
Let’s assume, just for chuckles, that the article is accurate.
I learned:
Google executives are telling their employees to shape up or ship out, warning that layoffs are coming if results don’t meet expectations. Employees who work in the Google Cloud sales department said that senior leadership told them that there will be an “overall examination of sales productivity and productivity in general.”
And, pray tell, are those expectations. More chat applications? How about some big time acquisitions that go exactly where? Motorola, hello, hello. What about a high lift project like solving death? Oh, sorry. Been there and failed at that. Maybe mending fences in Australia? Yeah, that is a good idea once the most recent fine has been paid.
The write up quote the Google top dog as saying:
… he wanted to solicit ideas from his employees on how to get “better results faster.”
Okay, that certainly opens to do to some creating thinking. Based on my attending law enforcement and intelligence conferences, the quick money comes from fraud, human trafficking, selling contraband, and possible a few weapons deals. I would toss in getting in the fulz business as another “let’s noodle that” idea.
My personal perspective is different. I think the actual term is my viewshed, but I could be wrong, a practice I have explored in my 77 years of muddling along. Here we go:
- Google embodies the management methods of what I call a “high school science club.”
- The company had been purposeful when refining its “clever” search system and obtaining inspiration from GoTo, Overture, Yahoo ad sales technology. Once achieved, the once sharp lens lost its ability to focus
- The culture of the Google in interesting. Foosball, bean bags, volleyball, and car washes complement the weird caste approach to food. Change may not come easily into this good organization.
But maybe the write up is incorrect. Google is nothing more than the best managed online advertising outfit in the world. See. Money works to explain the reality. Blood? Hmmm. Possibly an overstatement?
Stephen E Arnold, August 15, 2022