Director of Product and UX, @Google AI | Previously YouTube and Google Search | Teacher | Macro-optimist
Palo Alto, California
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I started a new gig at Google this week, but couldn't help writing this up last night.
A short love letter to ~8 years on Google Search -... salgar.blogspot.com/2022/02/…
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Wow. what a mess... and replies to your tweet are a fascinating window into people too. :-/
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There's also a sad, but human habit of "But I suffered a little, why should you get a break?" going on. It's a bad argument and not kind, but it prevents us from doing a lot of things that are right. :-(
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Me to my 3yo: “Let’s race to the door. Who do you think will win?”
She jumps into my arms.
“Carry me! We will both win!”
:-0
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Me (to the 6yo): "Can I have a small bite of your chocolate?"
Him: "No!! Go away!"
<runs off complaining some more>
Me (to the 3yo): "Can I have a small bite of your chocolate?"
Her: "No. You can have a BIG bite."
<feeds it to me>
The will is writing itself really.
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As our teams try to stay safe working remotely, I'm realizing that as someone whose work and management style involves walking to people's desks and having hallways chats - both to get things done and energize myself - I'll have to learn new habits over the next weeks and months
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Same company, new job!
Super excited to start next week as Director of Product Management and UX, Google AI
So much to do, so much to learn… :-)
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Wow at pi.ai
I tried it for the second time today and honestly was just blown away by the ease and the depth of the conversation I had.
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Got sucked into reading The Profile Dossier tonight.
This one is both particularly inspiring and requires tons of follow-up reading: Charlie Munger, the Master of Mental Models by @ProfileRead theprofile.substack.com/p/th…
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Every other PM at Twitter is shaking their head reading tweets with ideas/opinions folks have thought about for 5-10 mins, that they probably spent weeks debating and experimenting with.
A PM is like a sports coach in that everyone thinks they could do your job better.
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This @bchesky interview with @karaswisher is truly outstanding.
It is remarkable the thoughtfulness and empathy he has, and how he's navigating the pandemic - also how authentic and transparent he is.
My favorite line though was:"I have this standing meeting with Pres. Obama"
Do yourself a favor and listen to this Recode Decode interview I did this week with @bchesky of @Airbnb about managing through a major crisis. Lots of lessons and some hard truths: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
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My mom asked me about ChatGPT today, and she learned about after articles she read in her Marathi WhatsApp group for people over 70.
I consider the chasm crossed.
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In yet another example that Taylor Swift helps TV ratings, my 6yo is allowing us to watch the Golden Globes because her dad told her Taylor Swift might win something and was there.
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Need to add a feature in Google Docs that stops people commenting on the first paragraph of the document until they read at least half the document... :-/
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So this happened :-) - Got to talk about what our team built with @karanjohar in Mumbai. Awesome @GoogleIndia event!
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My 6yo: “I like Joe Biden’s speech”
Me: “What part?”
Him: “The Covid-saving part.”
I had to hug him tight.
#DNC2020
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Completing the feature request with an important implementation detail - couple of seconds advance warning to attendees so that they can stop complaining about leadership before you join.
#everyonewins
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I can’t remember feeling as exhilarated after a show premiere! So good! Congratulations! So excited for the rest of the show!
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Had to come into the office today for an (outdoor) meeting - over 15 months.
I’d never imagined I could get emotional about swiping a badge..
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I’m with you…. But I think it’s both the extra 45 mins you’d spend in the parking garage .. and you’re just kinda upset and don’t want to watch anymore??
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With that someone else achieves my life goal of cracking jokes about working at Google while hosting late night TV. :-)
Ouch at "They must've thought I was Indian...they kept promoting me. :-)
@sarahcpr's monologue was so good!
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If you're in the US and like exploring topics, there's a nifty feature for you to try with "People also ask" on Google. :-)
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Really excited to get this out in the world: Hum to Search..
So many songs stuck in my head as part of testing this. :-)
blog.google/products/search/…
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Great read on Andreesen Horowitz by @adamlashinsky ;particularly about the 3 companies that inspired them: tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/02…
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I just left "sus" as a comment on a claim in a product spec I was reviewing.
Need to talk to my 9yo less.
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In an All-Hands last week I said "Just feel the spirit of the mocks I'm going to show. Don't focus on the pixels." before going over some flows.
I've now had this quoted back at me 3 times already :-/ :-)
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My almost 5yo sitting in a rocking chair suddenly went, "And today in the big red chair, we have <his name>, being awesome. "
I may be listening to @karaswisher podcasts a little too much on the morning school dropoff the last couple of weeks. :-)
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A lot of this is cultural and the norms people are used to. You might miss on great candidates that just don’t know the norms (or just don’t have the emails) :-)
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What an incredible show by @thevirdas at the SF Masonic.
He's at the peak of his powers on this one. Gave you so many laughs so fast, and so many things to ponder on even the next day.
Catch the show if you can.
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Had a lot on my mind today, but out of the blue while putting my son to bed today he goes "Can I tell you something? You're the best baba in the world" and suddenly the world seem like a better place. :-)
Children and their unexpected cuteness - the true opiate of the masses :-)
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I just watched an email thread get to 20+ with no content added, but just people +ing other people into the thread. :-O
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Around this time every year for some reason queries for these outstanding nocturnal birds go up. :-)
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My 5yo shouted that
1. she hated me
2. she was quitting school
3. that I didn't understand anything
It crushed me.
10 mins later she confirmed that she loved me and that I am the best father in history.
...this is why hard workplace discussions don't faze me as much anymore
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Today in conversations I lost to my 7yo.
Me: "How can you be so annoying sometimes?"
Him (instantly): "If you believe it, you can achieve it!"
I don't even....
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I don't think I've ever seen a theater collectively laugh as hard as when I watched this.... 15 years; time flies.
“Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle” was released in theaters 15 years ago today. It all started with @McSchlossberg and I wanting to make a movie where we could see protagonists who looked, sounded, and acted like our best friends on the big screen.
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While there’s some skills they pick up, I find it’s more often that the consulting firms picked up the cream of the graduating class - who’d likely be successful at many things including pm if/when they get there.
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It is once again perf season at work.
There's a thin line between fiction and rosiest possible view of a project's impact...
... and tonight I have read some magnificent examples that test that line.
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While I'm in the shower:
My 5yo son: "Duuuuude, what takes you so long?"
My 1.5yo daughter, walks up with a soap dispenser outside the door put it down and lovingly goes: "Baba, here shampoo"
Thank god for daughters. :-)
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In a large-ish team meeting, said "yeah, the zoom fatigue is getting to people"
This was at Google.
So of course someone said, "you said Zoom".
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More management practices from my 4.5yo:
When asked "Do you want X or Y?", he smiles and goes "You know what I want."
I say "Here's X", he goes "That's what I wanted. Good job!"
Delegated decision-making with gratuitous positive re-enforcement. Unclear who is parenting whom ...
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Of all the Google Search Easter Eggs I've okayed, I think we just let out the one that's going to annoy the most number of people... :-)
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Me to my 3yo this morning: “Are you going to have a good day?”
Her: “No!”
Me: “Oh?”
Her: “I am going to have a FANTASTIC day!!!”
This is the energy I need every morning. :-)
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I've been binge-watching the West Wing from the beginning starting this month.
Politics aside, it's a joy to watch really smart people who really love their jobs work insanely hard at them and always find time for great repartee.
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This is an amazing writeup!
What do you think about project-based roadmaps versus outcome-based (metric-based) roadmaps? by @gibsonbiddle askgib.substack.com/p/what-d…
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Helped my 5yo with a presentation and then gave him feedback on his delivery - he disagreed with my feedback and complained about it.
Basically home life is like work life with more crying. :-/
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One of my favorite things about Google is the agency we give people and what they do with it.
This was a side project for a few persistent people for 4+ years.
I’m humbled by my contribution which involved saying “Are you really still working on that?” to @msheets :-)
It’s National Carry a Tune Week! To celebrate, tune your instruments (or your voice) straight from Google search. Search “Google tuner” and give it a 🎶 do re mi 🎶 to see for yourself.
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The correct answer is always "it depends". :-)
But Google used to go with 14:1 for a long time...
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This @reckless podcast episode may have been my favorite podcast to listen to in a while
@hankgreen's thoughtfulness and honesty is so refreshing.
podcasts.apple.com/ro/podcas…
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We got used to the opposite for so long, that normal behavior seems so awesome…
… I still get asked if I’m bringing in achar sometimes though. :-)
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My 5yo: "Is your job Product Manager?"
My: "Yup."
Him: "I also want to be a product manager when I grow up."
Me: "Why?"
Him: "So I can work next to you in the same office"
#sigh
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Me to the 9yo: "How come you can remember over a 100 pokemon and what they can do, and absolutely nothing that I just said."
Him: "The pokemon are interesting."
#brutal
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Maybe it’s because I just binged the show on a flight, but this office is definitely giving me Westworld vibes.
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I made my kids butter chicken for dinner. I gave them a smoothie before that.
My 3yo poured part of her smoothie on top of the bowl of butter chicken.
Me: "Why did you do that?"
Her: "Making it more tasty."
This is why I'm now eating blueberry butter chicken.
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My 5yo: "There is a land full of pencils. Do you know what it's called?"
Me: "What?"
Him (eyes as big as saucers and grinning): "Pencilvania!!"
(We both laugh for 2 mins straight after that).
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Everyone at a large tech company making a promotion case based on system reliability just got a big boost.
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Biking and realized a Waymo self-driving car was behind me.
I decided to change where I was going, so stopped suddenly, picked up my bike and put it on the sidewalk.
The car slowed down and then drove on. Consider this my data/testing contribution to our self-driving future.
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Colleague to me: "When people don't acknowledge your puns on email, it doesn't mean you should keep adding to the thread with worse ones."
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These books are suprisingly good complements - @profgalloway's algebra of happiness and @jsmian's stray reflections - reading these in parallel.
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