Google employees could probably use a good laugh about now.
In recent weeks, President Donald Trump and his political allies have accused the company of trying to undermine political discourse. Earlier this year, thousands of Google employees protested the company’s work with the military and later the possibility that managers may launch a censored search engine in China.
"Goomics," a new book that satirizes the company’s corporate culture, may provide the right amount of comic relief.
Emmanuel "Manu" Cornet, a Google software engineer, artist and musician, is the book’s author and illustrator. Cornet is from France and started work at Google in 2007.
Judging from "Goomics," Cornet is also a keen observer of the company’s culture. Though he often takes a kid-glove approach when sending up his coworkers and bosses, his illustrations are still revealing about the company and its culture. Through humor, he casts a light on what life is like working at one of the world’s most powerful, innovative and likely least understood tech companies.
Cornet, however, is at his funniest when he turns his attention to Google’s competitors, such as Apple, Microsoft and Oracle.
We talked to Cornet about his life at Google, and his cartooning work. Here’s what he had to say.
Meet Manu Cornet, the cartoonist behind "Goomics."
In an interview with Business Insider, Cornet said that while he couldn’t go into much detail, there was a lengthy review process of the book before he was given the managerial okay from Google to publish "Goomics."
Not everyone at Google was thrilled with the book, he said. According to Cornet, some at the company worried about how it would affect the company’s reputation.
"I hope that it’s clear from the tone and the language," Cornet said, "that I really like the company…I think that it’s important for Google to retain a sense of humor. I think it’s good for our image in the long run."
Cornet doesn’t really know what led him to write the book, but he acknowledges that it might have something to do with his background. Comics, such as "Asterix & Obelix," are huge in France.
The illustration that Cornet is perhaps best known for is this cartoon, poking fun at the organizational structures of some of tech’s biggest companies.
"I almost didn’t release this one," Cornet said. "This is probably the most popular of my illustrations but I didn’t really think it was that funny. So this shows you how clueless I am at predicting what drawings people will like."
The drawing appeared in The New York Times and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella cited it on the first page of his book "Hit Refresh," writing that this was what convinced him to change Microsoft’s culture.
In the 148-page book, Cornet shows how employees make good use of the famous perks Google offers, such as free food.
Cornet notes how sometimes those perks are abused.
He says that some Googlers don’t observe common-sense rules, such as "snacks and take-out boxes for lunch and dinner are not supposed to be taken home to feed the whole family."
That Google allowed Cornet to release the book could be a sign that regardless of the many changes at the company, managers and workers can still laugh at themselves.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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