I think Pichai was a terrible CEO, but IMHO, changing the CEO is not going to fix anything. Google has serious culture issues and structural management problems.
To turn the ship around they should restructure hard and get rid of the cancer. Re-focus on merit and clear goals.
I seriously doubt they have the guts to do restructure. On one hand, Page and Brin probably don't want to risk rocking the boat (having dominant voting shares) and are often at each other's throat. On the other hand, advertisers and government agencies have a lot of leverage for Google to stay the course.
Googler here. We've structured the company to extract rent rather than innovate. We hire outsiders who are supposed to help us "grow up". That means processes and staying in your lane. Managers actively discourage work on 20% projects, because we "have a business to run."
Leadership needs to allow us to build things again. And they need to also recognize that innovative ideas can originate outside of SV and NYC.
The restructuring and refocusing you described is absolutely necessary, but it's not going to happen under Pichai. All of Google's cultural problems festered under his watch. He should have addressed these things years ago.
Getting rid of Pichai is only half the battle. After they get rid of him, the board of directors then needs to hire someone who can actually lead the company forward. More competent than Pichai may seem like a low bar to clear, but leading a multi-billion dollar company like Google is not an easy task. Developing new market strategies at that scale takes vision and a real tolerance for risk.
So firing Pichai is necessary, but not sufficient, for Google to fulfill its potential.
Yup. They generated quite a bit of lift from the Gemini launch, and then stepped into this. Strong leadership at some levels on one hand, Achille's blind spot on the other.
Teams can't really thrive with this kind of morale whiplash either.
To turn the ship around they should restructure hard and get rid of the cancer. Re-focus on merit and clear goals.
I seriously doubt they have the guts to do restructure. On one hand, Page and Brin probably don't want to risk rocking the boat (having dominant voting shares) and are often at each other's throat. On the other hand, advertisers and government agencies have a lot of leverage for Google to stay the course.