Voice Without Purpose

Google's core value: "Respect each other."

Translated into practice: "Find a way to include and agree with every person's opinion."

Good value. Good translation. Good intentions.

Result: 15+ approvals required to deploy minor changes.

An AppSheet founder who sold his company to Google watched it from inside. "Any decision diverging from conventional wisdom is near impossible to achieve."

Employees became "mice trapped in a maze of approvals."

The company became "paralyzed by risk."

Not from lack of respect.
Not from lack of voice.
Not from lack of inclusion.

From too much.

Voice without purpose is noise.

Respect created space for everyone to speak. But respect didn't create a filter for what mattered.

Every opinion included. Every perspective considered. Every voice equal.

No way to decide.

The system works perfectly. It just doesn't work.

What's missing isn't respect. It's direction.

Purpose tells you which voices matter for which decisions. What information to extract. What to act on.

Without it, inclusion becomes paralysis.

Not because people are unreasonable. Because the system has no filter.

Build respect. Then give it purpose.

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• See also: Voice Needs Practice (the complete cascade includes filtering, not just voice)