that it was time to, “simplify our management structure” with Pichai running both Alphabet and Google.Way back in the last century, Coca-Cola’s CEO Doug Ivester kept us focused on improving shareholder equity. It was his equivalent of 2000 Olympic rowing, Ben Hunt-Davis’ “Will it make the boat go faster?” We had to tie everything back to improving shareholder equity.“It will simplify things.”
He reacted badly, explaining that he didn’t care about simplifying things. If a more complicated approach wouldAlphabet and Google’s mission is not to simplify management. It’s to “organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.” If a more complex management structure is required to do that, that’s what they should have.
This brings us back to the original question, “Can Sundar Pichai both operate and innovate at Alphabet and Google?” The evidence suggests Larry and Sergey were right in 2015 and wrong now. Expect Pichai to find a new way to protect Alphabet’s start-ups from the gravitational pull of the Google mothership.Keep people focused on making their own boats go faster. This is not about titles and prestige. It’s not about the whole alphabet. It’s about the ABCs – Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence.
If you want people to drive revolutionary innovation, prompt that behavior and then reward them for taking big bets.If you want people to keep things safe and drive evolutionary innovation, prompt that behavior and reward them for taking small steps. Punish them severely if they bet the ranch. Organizations driving revolutionary and evolutionary innovation have to have different cultures. This means they have to have different leaders. Follow Larry and Sergey’s 2015 path to create Alphabet. Do not follow their current path. It won’t work for them. And it won’t work for you.
Yes.