Combine the first two unique things about Google and you get an interesting picture. Most companies have a long, detailed planning cycle in pursuit of quarterly goals. That often makes them very predictable. It also makes it hard for them to get anything done – when your planning cycle is longer than your goal cycle, you’ll often change goals faster than you can achieve any of them.
Google does just the opposite. It has a short, unpredictable planning cycle in pursuit of very long-term objectives. It’s likely to pursue those objectives relentlessly, but its near term actions will look random, because they’re just Darwinian experiments along the way.
In other words, there is probably a method to Google’s madness, but they’re not going to tell you what it is.
Michael Mace
Good, in-depth, analysis on Google’s engineering mindset, ranging from the reasons behind the acquisition of Motorola to killing beloved products, to the ever-changing positioning of Google Docs, and the list of weaknesses that come with it. Nothing that hasn’t been said before really, but put together with more logic and consistency.
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