I joined Nest almost 6 months ago, and my life changed immeasurably for the better. I am working at a company that makes work entirely inspiring, enjoyable, and satisfying.
I have a 25-year work history that includes many years in management consulting, so I have literally worked inside 35 or more top Fortune 500 or 1000 companies. I can honestly and confidently say that, from that breadth of experience, that Nest represents the very pinnacle of work environments, and might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I count myself incredibly lucky for the pleasure of working here, and it is something I reflect on daily, and never take for granted. The grass simply does not get any greener.
As an employee, Nest represents the perfect of all imaginable company scenarios. It is an unprecedented mixture of cultural and capability elements that would be normally considered absolute trade-offs, and the possibility of them all coming together at one time would seemingly be an impossibility:
1. Nest maintains the exhilarating aspects of a start up -- with lots of decisions to be made, markets to be pursued, and operations to be built; leaving plenty of room to make your mark or put your fingerprint on things.
2. Nest has the DNA of Apple and a total commitment to integrated design and holistic customer experience; which brings a level of quality and conscientiousness that most companies have lost control over or interest in.
3. Nest has the full arsenal of a large company like Google, where expertise, support, and resources abound.
4. Nest benefits from Google’s modern and sophisticated working practices and tools, like Google for Work, that makes collaboration, administration, and productivity tasks feel contemporary and efficient.
5. Nest is in the super fast-moving and growing space of IoT (Internet of Things) that inherently makes work exciting and rewarding -- the natural pressures of which force both progressive thinking and progress to be made; there is no status quo and no tolerance for sitting still or going backwards.
6. Nest has built a level of brand equity and awareness that are astounding for a company of its size.
These factors create an incredible work environment and culture -- and hopeful future. And on top of that, the people are uniformly wonderful, talented, cooperative, and motivated.
One of my greatest observations upon working at Google and Nest versus other companies: Interaction posture. In my past experiences, most companies have cultures that negatively influence the posture of employees at most levels, and it results in every meeting or interaction starting from a place of skepticism. First out of people’s minds or mouths: Why is that new idea flawed and will never work? What is their motive for wanting to hire or promote that person? Why we cannot and should not change that process? Is that person or function encroaching on what I am supposed to be doing? While at Google and Nest, every meeting or interaction begins from a place of trust. This is incredibly powerful. Instead of forcing people to go on the defensive, it starts with questions or statements of support: What a neat idea! What information do you need? How could my department help you? Are we giving them the right recognition when we promote them? Who else have we overlooked and should be promoted? You get the idea. The cultural impact of displaying trust to and among every employee at Google -- emanating from little things like from providing free food or office supplies that should be consumed in an honor system, or openly inviting constructive feedback from all ranks at company meetings -- pays huge dividends: There is no lost energy fighting through endless hurdles and obstacles, but rather, all the spirit and power is applied directly to progressive action and change.
Lastly, it is lost on me how others could complain about the leadership, culture, and working conditions here. Nest is a miracle company started by brilliant people (Tony, Matt, Shige, etc.) that is on a mission to make beautiful things that solve real and hard problems. And our products must be designed to be enduring and reliable, capable of performing critical duties for the homeowner (i..e, safety, security, comfort, privacy) for long periods of time. This is not something to take lightly. There is no room for mediocrity. Things should and must be perfect. Having leaders like Tony Fadell is a blessing and privilege. A blessing in that he (and just about everyone at Nest today) cares incredibly about details and quality -- why should we expect any less? Why would we not re-do something that was wrong, or work overtime to make something better? There should be no surprise to work at a company like Nest and be held to high standards and expectations. And it is a privilege to work for someone like Tony who has instincts, drive, and smarts that, quite frankly, come along a few times in a generation. It is an honor to work on behalf of Tony and to learn and grow professionally in a company that came to be because of his entrepreneurship. If you don’t want to work extra hours, don’t work in the Silicon Valley. If you don’t want to be exposed to changing schedules and plans, don’t work in hardware and software. If you don’t like this company, go take on the personal risk and start your own.
