Avinash Kaushik has an interesting post about Google’s Bread and circuses 10 Insights at Google and what makes Google tick:
“# 10: The amazingly fantastic food and impressive digs.
# 9: “Micro Efficiencies”.
# 8: A company that truly cares.
# 7: Brain expansion opportunities.
# 6: The sheer amount of brilliant Google employees.
# 5: Empowerment (The big small company).
# 4: The scale of your impact.
# 3: Doing Good: Green & .org
# 2: It’s a happening place. The energy, the vibe, the passion.
# 1: The brand. “
Google is for most people certainly a great place to work and all benefits sound amazing at first. But having worked with many Googlers over the years and knowing some of them really close, I was wondering how Google employees never question all these “practices”.
Good food is certainly exciting (I love food!), and I love that my employer provides breakfast, lunch and dinner once in a while (which I highly appreciate), but having a Google mother driving me with WiFi to work, serving me breakfast before 9am (dinner after 7pm), giving me an earthquake backpack, setting up a 24×7 concierge, massaging me during the day and building a slide in my office (happens in SFO) , scares me a tiny bit.
Does bread and circuses really make such a difference? How can a Googler eat outside his 5-star Googleplex restaurant anymore? Do Googlers own a fridge at home? Do you really need a 24×7 concierge, who plans your wedding (happened to a Googler that I know)? How often will you use the tent in the earthquake backpack? Do you really need to stay in late just to grab the free dinner or is this all just about Time Spent in office (=productivity= communicated innovation)?
And overall…Does it really pay off to take a possibly bad salary and the Google stamp in your resume or am I just a jealous Non-Googler b/c my beautiful wife pretty much never cooks or doesn’t have any Wifi in our 12-years old Toyota Corolla :-)?
P.S.
Today is a great article in Fast Company about Google’s top (!) employees. It certainly is entertaining and interesting to see how Google communicates their “benefits” over and over……even if some of the benefits don’t apply to Joe Schmo.
[irony] Still I wonder how often Google’s paramedics have to scratch a Googler off the sidewalk, because they crashed with their scooter on the way to a meeting (According to Googlers it’s the No.1 cause of paramedics running around at the Googleplex. Avinash, please confirm! :-)) [irony off]
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Sebastian:
To the best of my knowledge the scooters crashing is yet another urban legend about Google. : )
Most Googlers actually ride bikes around the campus, and the abundant traffic signals (some added not too long ago) help. And you can imagine the exercise comes in handy as well.
Thanks for adding your perspective to the conversation!
-Avinash.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Hi Avinash,
Thanks for the insights… I assumed the scooters were not really that dangerous.
I will be excited to visit the office in April (during the Web 2.0 conference).
Sebastian
March 7th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Scooters can be terribly dangerous, it’s just that they are only in the hands of idiots and that part of the legend doesn’t fit.
July 14th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I think your just a tiny bit jealous. No I do find it kind of weird but I have never worked for a place with that type of work atmosphere. To me it seems kind of cult like. I’m sure that Google has done multiple studies on orginizational behvaior and tailored their practices accordingly.
July 16th, 2008 at 10:08 am
“a Google mother”, no please. But big G was not the great brother?
The unique thing worse than that is have a big G mother…