Between the Jeffersons and the Hamiltons lies the road to prosperity!

I have been thinking a lot lately on organizational structure and control. The dichotomy of centralizing vs. decentralizing decision making (and power). This dichotomy manifests in so many forms around us. In political sphere - the debate between democrats and Republican on Healthcare or R&D investment by federal government. Within organizations I have seen it manifest in the debate over the optimal organizational structure to drive innovation. The dichotomy of letting senior leadership having the power and authority to place big bets (rallying everyone around them) vs. letting managers/engineers decide what to work on through mechanism such as 20% - do what you want time. The other way it manifests is the debate on how much  control do IT / Security organizations have on what software / devices employee use. If you have been part of any such discussions you will know such discussions do get fairly heated, partisan and even personal in some cases. But over time through experience I have come to realize that the middle ground is often the right path. 200 or so years history of American triumph and innovation should help us guide this. The path to prosperity lies in finding the middle ground between the dichotomy of the Jeffersons and the Hamiltons. Check this out to know what I mean. 

John Adams - HBO series - Ignore the title of the video (too biased)

Almost a year at Google!

It has been almost an year since I started working at Google. This place is phenomenal to say the least and a great learning experience. I have bumped into so many of my friends here at Google - feels like coming back home after a long detour.

Time to get back!

It has been a while since I last updated my blog. There are quite a few things that I want to post. Time to get back!