Sometime It’s Not The Engine; You Just Need A Different Racetrack

I’ve said before and will say again that those who say all you need to build a business are engineers are wrong.  Here is an excellent example.  This is not meant to be a knock on Google, but shows how great people can be underutilized if you hire (or promote) with blinders on regarding the right background.  This is from the profile of Sheryl Sandberg in BusinessWeek:

“Google has done so many things right, but the thing they screwed up more than anything was missing the import of people from nonengineering backgrounds and failing to appreciate the value such people can bring,” says Roger McNamee, a friend of Sandberg’s and a founder of Elevation Partners, which has an investment in Facebook. “As a consequence, a lot of people like Sheryl were not given an opportunity to shine to their true level. For all intents and purposes, Google chased Sheryl away.””