20% Free Time - The Biggest Threat to Google ?
The bright Googlers get 20 percent time in which they're free to pursue projects of their choice. Some immensely popular projects from the Googleplex like Orkut, Google News, Google Suggest and even AdSense were conceptualized and developed by Google engineers during their "20% Time".
But according to Robert Cringely (remember Nerd TV), this 20% time is a terribly fatally flawed strategy and will ultimately kill the company.
Bob's arguement is that thousand of ideas are brewing in the minds of intelligent Googlers, some of them are stunning but the management may not turn all of them into live projects.
And these Google Geeks who are feeling bitter because their ideas were turned down may be cooking with up with peers:
While Robert has given an interesting perspective, the problem he mentions is almost universal to every big organization - some disgruntled employees will leave when their ideas go unrecognized but a whole bunch of smarter people are waiting outside the Googleplex gates to fill the vacant seats.
But according to Robert Cringely (remember Nerd TV), this 20% time is a terribly fatally flawed strategy and will ultimately kill the company.
Bob's arguement is that thousand of ideas are brewing in the minds of intelligent Googlers, some of them are stunning but the management may not turn all of them into live projects.
And these Google Geeks who are feeling bitter because their ideas were turned down may be cooking with up with peers:
By design each worker is no more than 100 feet from a bathroom or food and drink. This creates an environment where people tend not to go home, which Microsoft discovered and leveraged decades ago.The Final Days of Google
But nobody works every minute they are AT work, which means the Google Geeks are constantly talking with each other, team building, bonding, and goofing off.
And for 20 percent of that goofing-off time I'll guarantee you that many of these people are discussing their pet projects, which have been REJECTED by the company.
While Robert has given an interesting perspective, the problem he mentions is almost universal to every big organization - some disgruntled employees will leave when their ideas go unrecognized but a whole bunch of smarter people are waiting outside the Googleplex gates to fill the vacant seats.
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Reader Comments:
No. Google owns everything Googlers do. Even their 20% free time. And under California labor law, the only work a Googler owns is the stuff he/she does completely off premises with no company resources. So that 20% free time = 20% time given to Google.
-steve bryant
I have a different take on this. Anywhere you see people wanting to use the experience to start something of their own or move to a different company which pays better. So ideas keep brewing everywhere, not just at Google.
Now, unlike elsewhere when you have to move out of your job to make it happen, Google offers to give 20 percent of working hours to do just that. So, in fact they are helping people stay longer in Google rather than leave every two years like in other companies..
20% slack time is scientifically proven to be useful, especially for knowledge workers. Knowledge workers(like software developers) tend to produce good quality code when they are in relaxed environment. Google's strategy would produce good ROI over a period of time
Many projects, pet or not, fall by the wayside. Developers are getting paid for both, putting a great deal of work in both, and are probably at least a little emotionally attached to both.
Sure, it's disappointing to have any such project shelved, but it's no reason to conspire, quit, or do something immature that you'd lose your job over. Especially when it's an excellent job at a company that lets you work on whatever you wish for 20% of each day. And if they do hand over a brilliant project that Google has no interest in to a startup (most likely illegally), I don't see how Google loses.
Can't say I agree -- so they'll lose devs who do startups. Not all of them will, and those who do can be replaced. Long live 20%!
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