Senior Staff Criticizes Google Leadership: “Profoundly Boring and Glassy-Eyed”
A post shared on LinkedIn by Diane Hirsh Theriault, the technical lead/manager for metrics engineering on Google News, has ignited a conversation around Google’s internal challenges. Theriault’s reflections on the company’s leadership, project management, and recent layoffs paint a picture of employee frustration and corporate unrest.
Theriault begins by asserting a critical viewpoint on Google’s leadership, stating, “Google does not have one single visionary leader. Not a one.” She extends this criticism across the corporate hierarchy, from the C-suite to the Senior Vice Presidents (SVPs) and Vice Presidents (VPs), characterizing them as “profoundly boring and glassy-eyed.”
She believes that Google’s executives lack the ability to spearhead successful, innovative projects, describing their attempts as “half-baked and roundly derided.”
Furthermore, Theriault draws attention to the current state of confusion within the company. She points out that while leaders are gesturing toward a vague direction, particularly emphasizing Artificial Intelligence (AI), they are simultaneously executing layoffs across various departments. According to Theriault, the lack of a clear vision from top management is leading to a sense of nihilism among employees, with a prevailing sentiment of “I guess I will just do the job until they fire me.”
The technical lead also sheds light on the randomness of the ongoing layoffs, noting that executives are unwilling to provide transparent explanations. She states, “They refuse to describe their reasons except as ‘we are excited to focus our resources on our highest priorities,’ so it might as well be random.” This lack of clarity, she argues, impedes employees’ ability to align with the company’s objectives and contributes to a fear-driven working environment.
In a particularly striking analogy, Theriault likens Google’s decision-making process to an algorithm she learned about in college called “BogoSort.” She suggests that executives are waiting for subordinates to propose concrete ideas while simultaneously torching institutional knowledge and dismantling functional teams through layoffs.
Expressing concern for the once-magical atmosphere that defined Google, Theriault describes the current sentiment as a decline in creativity, with employees no longer willing to work late into the evening. She comments, “The buildings are half empty at 4:30.” This cultural shift, she contends, is eroding the unique and dynamic environment that once made Google a standout workplace.
Despite her critical assessment, Theriault emphasizes her deep-rooted love for Google, acknowledging its imperfections. She expresses sorrow over what she sees as the pillaging of the company’s human capital and the lack of compassion in the recent wave of layoffs. In her words, “Even if they need to cut payroll (… still?), they could definitely do it with more compassion and respect for the individuals being cut.”
Theriault’s remarks also carry a dual sentiment of resignation and hope. She admits uncertainty about her future employability but, in a candid appeal to potential employers, offers her skills as a “straight shooter with a skill for using data to serve business needs” and someone adept at navigating corporate politics.
In response to potential concerns from her current superiors, Theriault issues an apology, stating, “If my manager and director are reading this, I apologize for making your job harder during an already difficult time and I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me.” However, she boldly invites top executives to acknowledge and reflect on the impact of their choices, asserting, “You’re welcome for this piercing, honest insight into the on-the-ground impact of your choices.”
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