[packetslave]

Some choice quotes from this:

"It is rather absurd for a technology firm to provide slides for staff to play on, and to let them wear silly propeller-hats"

"Time was when firms modelled themselves on the armed forces, with officers (who thought about strategy) and chains of command"

It always amuses me to read these lofty articles from academics and journalists about how multi-billion-dollar companies are doing it wrong.

[enraged_camel]

>>It always amuses me to read these lofty articles from academics and journalists about how multi-billion-dollar companies are doing it wrong.

What are you trying to say here? Are you suggesting that if someone has a multi-billion dollars company, they are clearly "doing it right?"

[packetslave]

Disclaimer: I work at Google, and note that I'm explicitly NOT saying "Google is doing everything right".

I'm trying to say that Google in particular is "doing it right" in the sense that they're providing a fun environment for existing engineers and one that's attractive to many potential engineers, and that the revenue numbers reflect this (in part).

I'm saying that calling propeller hats "silly" (they're a Noogler thing; silly is the point) and bemoaning the fact that Google doesn't "model themselves on the armed forces" (whatever that means) suggests to me that these journalists and academics have no idea how things work in the real world, or at least in the Valley.

[trekky1700]

Well, they're doing something right...

[andrewflnr]

Yes, but it's possible to get to a billion dollars getting some things right and others wrong. There's almost always something to improve.

[jfb]

Assumes facts not in evidence.