Googler to Xoogler Ritual

Change is inevitably part of life, but I find that the longer I stay at Google the more I feel the change that happens when friends leave.

I've been at other companies where people left, but in those cases it was a lay-off or a terrible place to work. So, you either felt sad for everyone getting laid-off or happy for the person who 'escaped'. My first job was with Indiana University, where it seemed like people fell into two categories. First were students, who were expected to leave in a few years, and second were lifers who never left. I did leave, and went to work for Cisco in the late 90s. That company ended up doing big lay-offs, and many of my friends ended up going elsewhere. After Cisco I did a couple of statups, where people came and went. In early 2005 I joined Google, and have been content since then.

My point is, that most of the places I've been turnover was either expected or catastrophic, and therefor easier to deal with.

Today, my friend Greg Stein announced that he has left Google, a few months back another friend announced that she was leaving, and of course awhile back my good friend Chris Sacca left. Of course there have been others who left in that time, some I've know only by name, and some I've chatted with a few times.

While I'm happy that each of these people is getting the chance to go do new and exciting things, and I'm also glad that the company has such a deep talent pool, so that new people get a chance to take on the jobs that departing Googlers have left open.

There is still a little sad feeling when I see one of these announcements, and I change the label in Google Reader for that person's blog from Googler to Xoogler.