Patrick Pichette: ‘When work starts feeling too comfortable, fire yourself’

Patrick Pichette, 53, former chief financial officer at Google Inc., stepped down about a year ago to travel the world. He previously served as executive vice-president at Bell Canada Inc. and as principal and partner of McKinsey & Co.’s Montreal office.

When we made our decision to travel the world, it was when our three kids were all into university and were independent. That is the perfect window. The minute we got married, my wife basically told me, we’re having kids now and we’re having kids all packed up because we’re not spending a decade changing diapers. And she was right. We’re going to be young and our kids are going to be our friends. I owe this to my wife, 100 per cent. It was a brilliant idea.

Being your own person and standing for what you believe is a critical aspect of a good professional life. When I joined BCE, there was a gentleman who was retiring the next week. And he came into my office and said, “I have one piece of advice for you: You have to be your own person.” At McKinsey, it was such a collegial environment, but in big organizations, you have to be able to say, “You can fire me, but I’m not changing my mind, I actually believe this. And I think the data will support my hypothesis when push comes to shove.” Even at Google. Google is an argumentative place. There’s friction everywhere because that’s how they get the sparks to invent stuff. Read more…

Patrick Pichette: ‘When work starts feeling too comfortable, fire yourself’