10 years at Google
Lightning can strike twice
10 years went by so quickly! I remember the first day coming to the Google office wearing a blazer and formal trousers — and no tie — assuming that it was enough to make the transition from IT Sales to BigTech.
It took much more than that over the years. Many Googlers taught me fundamental things during the decade:
1. Audaciously thinking scale: Most conversations here are about billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of data points, millions of customers — anything lesser is not good enough when you are building on the foundation of excellence.
2. Learning to accept yourself: Acceptance of another person — a team member, a partner or a family member — is dependent on our ability to accept ourselves. A person who is hard on themselves will be hard on others. A person willing to look beyond their own weaknesses will be able to look beyond others’ weaknesses. A person who can love oneself can also love others.
3. Expressing gratitude: Feeling it, accepting it and making it a habit to express — the relationship unlocks that it enables is truly magical. Being critical about what’s not working is easy, being grateful for what is working, difficult.
4. Approaching life with enthusiasm and energy: On most days, it is really a choice of how we show up. Grumpy, negative and tired or uplifting, hopeful and energized. Enthusiasm is an infectious force multiplier. It is not easy but it is worth trying, every day. Being a net positive energy contributor.
5. Compounding through consistency: Incremental improvements but done with religious consistency can lead to mindblowing outcomes — in sales, in product, in leadership.
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6. Cultivating a depth mindset: Achieving meaningful transformation will not happen by staying on the surface or repeating the words most others use. It will require going deeper, reading, reflecting and building. Possessing an insatiable curiosity.
7. Mobilizing a large group: Whether they are users or stakeholders, people are always positively motivated by celebration and spotlight — celebrate the desirable behaviours of early adopters and witness the magic; your push changing into their pull. Everyone loves applause in front of their peers.
8. Building own conviction is most important: All perseverance, creativity, alignment, pivots emanate from that conviction. If you’ve been tasked to drive change, do the most important thing first — convince yourself.
9. Remaining intellectually humble: As someone said, “When the facts change, I change my opinion”. When collaborating with brilliant people and seeking alignment, humility is paramount.
Gratitude to my leaders, peers and team colleagues — thank you for being a key part of my journey!
I first had the opportunity to join Google in 2012 which I did not take up — yes, silly me!
Through a set of coincidences, I was given the opportunity to interview again in 2013 and here I am writing this reflection 10 years later.
10. Lightning can strike twice!
