The other day i was interviewing a potential senior leadership hire at YouTube. In discussing the similarities and differences between YouTube and Google, i stressed to him that this was the identity schema i hoped YouTube would instill in him and others:
Consider yourself a YouTuber, who works in your particular discipline (eng, sales, product, etc) and that we collectively are accountable to Google for certain performance metrics.
Why is this ordering important to me? Well, because i hope that everyone at YouTube feels like they're with us because of our mission and they're practicing a professional discipline which will help contribute to our collective success. The opposite (i'm a product guy who happens to work at YouTube) puts them as an individual ahead of the group.
But what about the relationship i describe between Google and YouTube? Is my desire to see our team identify first as YouTubers instead of Googlers helpful or harmful? I certainly advocate for close communication, collaboration and mutual respect between all google teams, so i don't think it's a question of being better/worse. I'm not asking anyone to renounce their Googler identity - clearly many of us worked on non-YouTube google products before and will do so again. I joined Google in 2003 and have deep reverence for the people and my last seven years.
In examination though i think it comes from wanting YouTube to be a strong tribe of people who self-identify first and foremost w/ what we're doing. That tight knit commitment feels like an important part of our culture and one which is a competitive advantage. It also means that at least mentally, you're all-in to this job.
YouTube is also a substantial enough property (#3 website, hundreds of millions of users), that i believe our community deserves a team which intensely describes themselves as YouTubers. If we, as employees, are not ourselves a community, how can we ask our users to join together similarly?
So after a bit of consideration, i'm comfortable with maintaining this perspective so long as it doesn't cause us to isolate ourselves from the broader google strategy and identity.
What do you think? How do you define yourself w/in your company?
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Advice for Stanford MBAs
It's reunion weekend at Stanford Business School and one of my classmates (thanks Lan!) dug up some words of advice i wrote to the incoming class of 2001.
From: Walk, Hunter E.
To: Harrington, Lan T.
Sent: 7/1/99 4:20 PM
Subject: RE: Tapping your Wisdom
Lan- Hey there- here are some suggestions… I like anonymity so leave my name off please. Hope that your summer is kickin it.
Get to know your classmates. Relationships are what the GSB is about and in 10 years you’ll value those friendships much more than the fleeting skills you might have absorbed from a solo all-nighter cranking away on some problem set.
An Odwalla and Jamba Juice each day for the entire school year does cost close to $1000. Multivitamins are cheaper.
Don’t freak out the first time you find that you’re not “cc:’ed” on the original e-mail for some cool social function.
Be inclusive in what you do. Throw dinner parties and invite different people.
Get to know people deeply.
Never underestimate a classmate’s abilities. We weren't part of the 7% as a fluke.
When you feel like blowing off your study group remember that this team has as much mental horsepower as any group you will ever encounter. It would be a shame not to benefit from that.
Asking for help is okay. Refusing to give assistance is not.
Housing panic for 2nd year goes like this: Single Schwab women will starting making plans in December, Single Schwab guys will start talking in March, off-campus people won’t think about it until April. You can’t do anything until May so why worry about it.
Somewhere along the way hearing about IPOs and VC and founder shares you can get the feeling that if you’re not an Internet Billionaire by 30 you’ve somehow failed the GSB. If you’re 30 and not happy (or trying to
be) you’ve failed the GSB.
Stretch yourself when selecting classes.
Those undergrads you were ogling were born in 1982.
You can be a guy and join WIM just be serious about their mission (and respect safe space events)
If you don’t max out on 390 credits you’ve missed a great opportunity
When some students accept their summer internships in January and February remember that some really really cool opportunities come across the wire in the spring. Don’t be pressured to take a job just to have one.
From: Walk, Hunter E.
To: Harrington, Lan T.
Sent: 7/1/99 4:20 PM
Subject: RE: Tapping your Wisdom
Lan- Hey there- here are some suggestions… I like anonymity so leave my name off please. Hope that your summer is kickin it.
Get to know your classmates. Relationships are what the GSB is about and in 10 years you’ll value those friendships much more than the fleeting skills you might have absorbed from a solo all-nighter cranking away on some problem set.
An Odwalla and Jamba Juice each day for the entire school year does cost close to $1000. Multivitamins are cheaper.
Don’t freak out the first time you find that you’re not “cc:’ed” on the original e-mail for some cool social function.
Be inclusive in what you do. Throw dinner parties and invite different people.
Get to know people deeply.
Never underestimate a classmate’s abilities. We weren't part of the 7% as a fluke.
When you feel like blowing off your study group remember that this team has as much mental horsepower as any group you will ever encounter. It would be a shame not to benefit from that.
Asking for help is okay. Refusing to give assistance is not.
Housing panic for 2nd year goes like this: Single Schwab women will starting making plans in December, Single Schwab guys will start talking in March, off-campus people won’t think about it until April. You can’t do anything until May so why worry about it.
Somewhere along the way hearing about IPOs and VC and founder shares you can get the feeling that if you’re not an Internet Billionaire by 30 you’ve somehow failed the GSB. If you’re 30 and not happy (or trying to
be) you’ve failed the GSB.
Stretch yourself when selecting classes.
Those undergrads you were ogling were born in 1982.
You can be a guy and join WIM just be serious about their mission (and respect safe space events)
If you don’t max out on 390 credits you’ve missed a great opportunity
When some students accept their summer internships in January and February remember that some really really cool opportunities come across the wire in the spring. Don’t be pressured to take a job just to have one.
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