Time moves so fast and the older you get, the faster it seems to be moving. I can’t believe that my two year anniversary at Google has arrived so quickly. Two years, that’s 730 days at Google Cloud focused on healthcare. As the pilot on the journey, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to stop and look out the window and share my insights to date. 

  1. Change is constant: Things are moving at a fast pace, and changing just as quickly. Nothing worth having or doing is easy. One thing remains the same, the only constant is change. 
  2. Innovation trumps all: You can have great technology and smart people but one thing that stands out for me as the magic sauce is innovation. If you can prove you are more innovative than your competitors, if you can show that you work harder to help solve some of the world’s toughest challenges, you will win each and every time. Innovation is important to customers and partners in healthcare.  
  3. Building is hard work but so rewarding : This is not for the faint of heart. It’s a tug of war. You have to be strategic and be a great executor. You have to move quickly on the path in front of you but take your time going over those speed bumps.  You have to be a farmer and hunter. These skills are not commonly found in one individual so you need to know how to build, coach and grow people, build a team based on strengths and know how to identify the right players, partners and customers. It’s hard work but each major milestone feels so much more rewarding. 
  4. Still learning: One of the things that stood out for me after staying so long at a prior company was I couldn’t see that I had stopped learning. I am so much more aware now and realize how much I thrive when I focus on learning and implementing something new. I am much more mindful of the things I need to do to prepare for the next level, the next big deal and the next big partnership. The only way to stay sharp is to keep learning, set aside time, make it happen and make sure you are trying new things and both failing and succeeding. It’s one of many ways to learn.
  5. Hardest thing to do is self care: When personal and/or professional life gets busy, self care is the first thing to drop off the list, but it is the most important. I have struggled to keep it top of the list and execute when work gets busy. Since it is so important I will continue to pressure myself to make it a part of my daily routine. 

When you are in the pilot’s seat, there are important decisions to be made but if you only focus on the decision and don’t look out the window, you are missing out. If you miss the breathtaking views, the feeling of confidence in that seat and awe for the innovation and work that came before you, then you are only taking half the ride. Stop and look out the window. Here’s to many more rides on this flight at Google. Happy 2nd year google-versary to me!