On: Reflecting on 18 Years at Google

[vineyardmike]

And this is another reason why managers growing their fiefdom to make big teams is bad for the organization.

Most of the most successful projects and incredible feats of engineering happen by tiny teams full of very talented people NOT a 4-layer management pyramid of people who are here for a nice stable 9-5. Not to say you can’t be successful with WLB but you need a certain fire in your gut and a hunger to execute as a small and efficient team.

[Aeolun → vineyardmike]

I think there’s nothing incompatible between fire and WLB. Execute with a much greater degree of efficiency between 9 and 5.

Too often do people just throw more time and/or bodies at a problem to make it go away.