Sundar Pichai attunes ‘Googleyness’ with the times

Googleyness now stresses a more focused approach to work, while still maintaining Google’s traditional fun, innovative spirit

By Arun Kumar

In tune with the times, Google’s Indian American CEO Sundar Pichai has redefined ‘Googleyness’ — the qualities that make a ‘googleite’ the right fit for the search engine giant.

Back in the day, ‘Googleyness’ originally assessed cultural fit, emphasizing traits like humility, fun, and adaptability. But Pichai thinks that it was too broad and came up with a new six point framework at a recent all-hands meeting.

READ: Google sues Indian engineer for leaking Pixel trade secrets (November 27th, 2024) 

The new framework as explained by Pichai, according to media reports, includes:

Mission First: Prioritizing the company’s goals and objectives

Make Helpful Things: Focusing on creating products that have a meaningful impact

Be Bold & Responsible: Encouraging bold decision-making with accountability

Stay Scrappy: Being resourceful and adaptable

Hustle & Have Fun: Maintaining a sense of enjoyment while working hard

Team Google: Emphasizing teamwork and unity

The qualities, now revised, are aimed at fostering a more focused and purposeful approach to work, while still maintaining the fun, innovative spirit Google is traditionally known for. Pichai, according to reports, emphasized that ‘Googleyness’ now reflects the company’s commitment to building a diverse and collaborative team, where employees are encouraged to be bold, responsible, and mission-driven.

The shift by the IT giant is part of a broader strategy to improve efficiency and restructure the workforce, a move that has led to the recent layoffs of 10% of its managerial staff. At a company-wide meeting last week, Pichai announced the decision to cut roles at the manager, director and vice president levels. Some employees affected by the layoffs will transition to individual contributor positions, while others will face complete role eliminations.

The move comes as Google seeks to revamp itself by streamlining operations, as part of its broader approach to ‘Googleyness.’ Historically, ‘Googleyness’ was a broad concept that Google used to assess whether a candidate would be a good cultural fit in the company.

Initially, this included traits like intellectual humility, comfort with ambiguity and a sense of fun. However, in 2017, Google updated its hiring guidelines to refine this definition.

The company realized that equating ‘Googleyness’ with “cultural fit” could lead to bias, favoring candidates from similar backgrounds and perspectives, which could limit diversity in the workplace.

Former Head of People Operations, Laszlo Bock, described ‘Googleyness’ as encompassing qualities like conscientiousness, comfort with ambiguity, the ability to grow and learn, and a proactive, transparent approach to work. The traits aimed to help employees thrive in Google’s dynamic environment, promoting a workplace that was both innovative and diverse.