The legendary phrase “Don't be evil” since 2000 has been Google’s motto. These words began the Corporate Code of Conduct (Code of conduct) - a document that every employee of the company had to adhere to.

History has not preserved the name of the person who invented and suggested using such a motto. According to one version, the author is considered to be one of the first programmers of the company, the author of Gmail, Paul Buchheit, at a meeting on corporate values ​​in early 2000. According to Bakhit, he wanted to fix in the code a slogan so fundamental, clear and clear that “it will be difficult to remove it later”. In other words, choosing such a path, the company will no longer be able to leave it, and this motto will become part of the corporate culture.

So it happened. The code of conduct and the motto “Don't be evil” have become a distinctive feature of Google, which attracted the likes of geeks. This company agreed to work such talents who would never go to serve another in a corporation next to the "jackets".

But something broke after the restructuring of Google and the formation of the conglomerate Alphabet Inc. In October 2015, Alphabet established another official slogan: “Do the right thing”. As you understand, this phrase has a slightly different meaning than the previous one. “Right things” is a subjective thing, and “evil” is like an absolute. You can argue whether the thing is right or wrong for you personally, but the real “evil” is recognized by everyone immediately and without error.

Thus, Alphabet's corporate code of conduct was preceded by a different motto. At the same time, “Don't be evil” remained in the preface of the Google Code, which became a division of Alphabet.

But in April 2018, the old slogan was removed from the preface, even in the Google code . Now it is mentioned only at the end of the document.

For comparison:

Previous google code of conduct
Current Google Code of Conduct

Earlier, the word “evil” (evil) was mentioned four times in the entire document, now once at the end.

Together with the motto, the entire first paragraph of the Preface document was deleted from the code, and the second paragraph was also partially rewritten. Changes are clearly visible on the screenshots.

It was:



It became:



Other changes have been made that better reflect current corporate values.

"Trust" also disappeared

In the second paragraph, the phrase that speaks about trust is changed. Previously, it sounded like this: “Trust and mutual respect between employees and users are the basis of our success and the fact that we have to prove every day.” to earn every day .

The new version: “Respect for our users, for opportunities and each other are the basis of our success and what we have to support every day” ( Respect for our users, something we need to support every day ).

It is difficult to understand the nuances of semantic shades, but it seems that human values ​​such as trust and mutual respect between employees and users of Google are now leaning towards “respect” in the sense of the recently popular # Me-too movement, that is, respect for discriminated minorities . At least the words “respect” and “opportunity” in the new version of the document seem to hint at it.

Of course, respect for minorities is a very worthy mission. Actually, it was previously mentioned in the company's code of conduct. But earlier it was under the phrase “Don't be evil” and seemed like a secondary value, but now it has come to the fore.

Changing the code of conduct can be forced because Google and other companies have recently suffered because of the sexism and racism of their employees . For example, in the internal discussions, some employees of the company openly express the opinion that blacks and “Latinos” are not enough among programmers because they are discriminated against, but because they are more stupid because of their race. Some even express such an opinion regarding women of any skin color. One programmer wrote: in order to recruit a sufficient number of women, you will have to lower the bar when selecting. Naturally, such statements threaten with lawsuits - and the company is forced to take action.