Joe Beda gives us a glimpse of Google’s internal project methodology.
They seem completely dedicated to knowledge reuse. They have only one codebase; everyone pools their programming code in one repository.
Project teams are completely transparent. Project members share information, strategic decisions, resources or even people without the tangles of office politics.
It’s like an open source software foundation, but internalized. It’s fitting that an Internet company works like, well, the Internet.
Loft computing, or completely seamless, barrier-less IT environments could prove beneficial to other companies requiring fast dev turnarounds.
P.S. Google also employs the services of a master chef who once cooked for the Grateful Dead and the Waldorf-Astoria. He apparently knows how to make a gooood southern fried chicken.