Why the change to Google? I’ve been asked that over and over again. As I reflect on the whole process, I have to admit that I like change. I like the challenge it brings, the creativity it sparks and the potential that I might fail at some new endeavor is simply intoxicating. Change, I think, is good. After all, if Robert Plant and Jimmy Page had never ventured beyond their comfortable British borders, they would have never written Kashmir and the planet is far better off for having that song.
My first week at Google has been a whirlwind of activity. I had the distinction of being (at a ripe of old age of 43) the oldest person at new employee orientation. I passed a billionaire in the hallway. I sat in a room with some of the best testing minds in Silicon Valley and walked across campus with a young engineer whose biggest problem is that she can’t learn enough fast enough. I’ve signed dozens of books.
There’s much to learn and much to do. I’ll catalog the results here if anyone is interested in following it. Coming from a company like Microsoft, I am used to mind-bogglingly complex problems and comfortable with partial solutions that point toward a better but still imperfect future. My role at Google will be to continue to thwart the impossible. Innovation as a main course is what brought me here. I hope to continue my work on testing tours and envisioning the future, but I am even more excited about the things I can’t yet see. Given the team that I am working with here, I think it is safe to expect big things.
In case you are interested, I am located in the Kirkland WA office and not yet assigned to a project. If I am lucky I will manage to get my hands into everything. I’ll try and be careful not to spill the secret sauce over my nicest shirt…
Congratulations!!!
ReplyDeleteI am 49 and would love the challenge of working with Google.
Enjoy every day!
Hi James,
ReplyDeleteLooks like you've got your work cut out for you at Google. Very interesting times ahead.
We had been corrorsponding when you were at your previous place. It would be great to re-open that dialouge again about New Zealand and Australia.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Iain Jenkins
Software Education (iainj@softed.com)
p.s. Can only agree with your stand on Kashmir.