Never, "no, but" Always "yes, and"...

Today, we visited Google’s office near Silicon Docks, which was only a short walk away from our apartments by the docks. The Dublin campus acts as Google’s hub for operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

As we approached the building, the air was heavy with anticipation, and we knew that we were about to experience an office unlike any other we had known.

We were paired with members of the ___ team to tour the campus. We explored several floors as the sounds of French and German resonated through the halls. As our guides switched between languages to speak with coworkers in passing, we realized just how much diversity contributes to Google’s corporate culture.

Needless to say, the campus is absolutely stunning, and each amenity, from the employee gym to the barbershop, was designed for both form and function. After eating lunch in one of building’s restaurants, we were able to learn a lot more about the company’s innovative thinking, and how that thinking contributes toward their mission of organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible.

We even were able to try out this creative thinking for ourselves, and broke up into groups for a brainstorming session. The groups all set out to develop concepts, prototype, and pitch a service or product for a sample case; and our new friends at Google showed us that innovation is far from a one-time thing, and is instead, an attitude.