Today , I saw a comment in Linked In about an ex Google Wave Engineer commenting adversely about the quality of its software stack and naming it a dinosaur !! . While , one can take the comment with skepticism as it was aired publicly after he left the organization and may even attribute a personal bias to it , this brings out an important aspect in organizational dynamics – the attribute of AGILITY .
For an organization to remain agile , it should continue to be relevant to the ecological system it serves with all its constituents whether it is its mission ,technology , people or process and should delight its customers always and every time . This calls for intense internal communication , feed back , continuous improvement through market scan , process improvement and technology upgrades wherever required . It may not be the best in all the fields sacrificing its core purpose and values but should be prepared to evolve and correct course where required .
For a company like Google or Microsoft or even Apple , the role played by its associates is significant in keeping the organization ” Agile ” because they make or break the company and all other factors are secondary . Therefore , the comment about Google”s dated software stack calls for an introspection notwithstanding the manner and context in which it got published .