(This post continues from my previous post: Don't be Evil! - What the motto originally meant in Google.)
Self-love is a fatal human flaw. When bombarded by flattering media stories, any mortal could be forgiven if he succumbs to the belief that he is the epitome of all technological and business ethics goodness. That he could never be evil. Hundreds who became Google employees, as the company’s fame grew stratospherically, possibly didn’t gauge the privacy perils that vex several industry watchers and advanced users today.
The possibility of Google eventually replacing Microsoft as a kinder, gentler, technologically smarter leader of the Tech Industry perhaps blinded the sight of those responsible in Google for investor guidance. Microsoft has a history of business actions (acknowledged by Steve Ballmer) that have (outwitted the judicial system and) hurt or even destroyed competitors (Netscape, Novell etc.). Perhaps some Googlers thought that hiding brilliant growth projections from Microsoft would shield Google that bit longer from Microsoft’s ferocious response.
Whether Google likes it or not, it is influential. It has to recognize that its actions influence many stakeholders. With great power comes great responsibility. I believe that Google will have to give-up its previously practiced tactics (common to smaller, fast-growing outfits) and have a longer-term look at its business actions.
Several people are interested to see Google take its rightful place amongst tech’s most influential companies of all times. It hardly matters whether Microsoft would be dethroned by Google. "Search-something" for a long-time will be referred to as "Google-it" just as asking a friend for an online chat after an in-person meeting would be “lets Yahoo!”. Failing to change quickly and deeply could on the other hand, lend the “evil” label on Google – a tag its early employees and influential founders would have hardly desired, when they embraced the Don’t Be Evil motto.
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