Executive LEGOs

By Maura Welch  |  September 3, 2007

Endless innovation
The ‘‘Serious Play’’ program at Lego ‘‘offers a way for managerial teams to experiment with innovation in a fun, non-threatening way’’ by playing with Legos. Need to think differently in those strategy or conflict-resolution sessions? Need to do some team bonding after a hellish restructuring? Then do what 53 partners in 27 countries have done, get out the Legos. There’s even a certified trainer right here in Massachusetts.

Blogs are mainstream
Blogging has only been around a few years, but a new study reveals that "eight out of 10 Americans know what 'blog' means, and almost half have visited the blogosphere - some as often as daily." Ninety percent of 25- to 34-year-olds are blog-aware. But what's shocking to me is that 64.5 percent of those ages 65-plus are, too. Eight percent of Americans have their own blog. Fourteen percent are men; 20 percent are women. Perhaps what we're witnessing isn't about blogs at all. It may just be an utter shift in how we communicate.

Richest city?
New York? San Franciso? Nope. The Census Bureau says it's San Jose, right in the heart of Silicon Valley. In fact, the three richest cities (San Jose, San Francisco, and San Diego) and the top two richest counties (Marin and Santa Clara) are in California. Why? Technology wealth. But Mike Elgan blogs that the stats don't mention "you'll have to shell out $700,000 for a run-down shack in a bad neighborhood." Elgan blogs that "the secret to riches is to 'work from home' for a Silicon Valley company, but live in Bolivia."

Lifestreaming
David Armano contemplates lifestreaming, which has been defined in its simplest form as "a chronological aggregated view of your life activities both online and offline." Huh? Well, like a blog. But it's also like Flickr, where you stream the pictures you take. Or Last.fm, where you stream the music you listen to. Or Twitter, where you stream your, what? Consciousness? Each of these streams meet at junctures; what fascinates Armano most is how we'll manage our media trails "as more of us move from passive bystanders to active participants - creators from consumers."

Facebook may be the latest media darling, but Google-owned Orkut draws "38.2 billion page views a month worldwide." Compare that to 7.8 billion on Facebook. Who are these Orkut users? Brazilians. Orkut didn't court Brazilians; they just arrived by word of mouth and now they produce 15.6 billion (with a 'b') page views every month. Facebook may earn more than $100 million in ad revenue this year, and Google is revving up its Orkut strategy and pumping its massive resources into a site redesign and new technology aimed at setting itself apart from Facebook and MySpace.

Heineken is onto the fact that 63 percent of women don't like their product. So in Europe the company is testing a beerish drink designed just for women. The 5 percent alcohol concoction, called Charli, is a mix of cider, barley malt, and fruit flavors and it's presented as an alternative to white wine. Charli taps and bottles are svelte and sexy - a far cry from the standard guy beer aesthetic.

You probably think you're one of the top performers in your office. In fact, "a new study shows that 90 percent of managers think they are in the top 10 percent at their workplace." But, um . . . that's impossible. Robert May says the survey "highlights one of the major reasons many corporations run lousy operations - they don't face reality." We all think we're right. And once you believe that, "you interpret new evidence in a way that conforms to your preexisting belief." To be truly successful, "guard against self-serving tricks your mind can play on you."