Right over Easy

Our bar is much higher than “It works.”

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

— Mark Twain

New Google employees (we call “Nooglers”) often ask me what makes me effective at what I do. I tell them only half-jokingly that it’s very simple: I do the Right Thing for Google and the world, and then I sit back and wait to get fired.

If I don’t get fired, I’ve done the Right Thing for everyone. If I do get fired, this is the wrong employer to work for in the first place. So, either way, I win. That is my career strategy.

– Chade-Meng Tan

Very rarely do people actively choose the morally wrong option. Oftentimes, doing what is right is in conflict with doing what is easy. We should be proud of every decision we make, support each other in making the tough calls, and celebrate those who do.