Who is Farhan Lalji?

During my last job, at a design agency in London, we had a pool table. At 530 everyday, almost like clockwork, 2-4 of us would go and shoot some stick. It was a great semi release, we would end up talking about projects or developments in the world of technology more often then not. When we moved offices and ditched the pool table a large part of me felt that was a mistake, but I couldn’t articulate why.

At Yahoo! we have pool, foosball and ping pong tables and though I rarely get the chance to play these days it’s good to know they’re there. I’ve had some good conversations about life, work, philosophy and politics around these tables. One of the best times I’ve had at Yahoo! has been when we went out to play golf in the middle of Soho, not only was the golf fun but in winning the closest to the pin competition I’ve been inspired to play more golf. There was also some great work-related conversation that evening in a relaxed non-traditional environment.

And then I read about the Google Games (hat tip: Brad Feld) where students from MIT and Harvard came in and played various physical, mental and just plain fun games. Great recruitment technique if you ask me.

Last week I came across an article in the London Business School Business Strategy Review regarding the role of play at work. It’s weird but I’ve always felt that having a playful outlet was important to being able to work effectively. And this article makes that case.

If/When I start my own company I think play will play an important part in recruitment, engagement and strategy. If for no other reason then the fact that its fun and we spend way too much time at work not to have fun there.

With Gordon Brown making the transition from chancellor to PM today I found myself thinking about the transition from managing the finances to being a leader. Actually it was more with the FT’s article humorously titled, “Eeyore must become Tigger of No 11” comparing business roles to characters in Winnie the Pooh. Segue: it’s interesting that the FT’s renamed the article online, but I swear that was the title in the print version! Oh, and sorry if you’re stuck outside the FT’s walled garden.

I love the comparison of finance people to Eeyore and Chief Exec’s to Tigger’s. For those who aren’t familiar with the characters, Wikipedia puts it perfectly, Eeyore is a pessimistic, gloomy, old, depressed stuffed donkey and Tigger is a cheerful, outgoing, competitive in a friendly way, and completely confident in himself Tiger.

In my (admittedly limited) experience with finance people and Chief Exec’s that’s really been the case. Sure there are exceptions, but it’s an interesting analogy. Most of the finance people I’ve come across have been Eeyore-ish and a lot of Chief exec’s have been Tigger’s. Actually let me rephrase that, a lot of the successful chief exec’s I’ve read about have been Tigger’s.

Personally, I’m a lot more Tigger then Eeyore, with a little bit of Pooh – a gentle bear who never attacked anyone, and is much loved for being playful - thrown in.

An interesting game would be “Tigger’s or Eeyore’s” looking at business personalities and politicians as characters from Winnie the Pooh. From what I’ve read I would guess that:

• Steve Jobs is a Tigger
• Jerry Yang is a Tigger
• Bill Gates is a Tigger with a bit of Eeyore hiding deep down
• Not sure what to make of any of the Google guys
• Warren Buffet is an Eeyore with the heart of a Tigger
• Mark Cuban is a Tigger
• George Bush is a Piglet (who masquerades as a Tigger and an Eeyore)
• Tony Blair is a Tigger
• Gordon Brown is an Eeyore trying to make believe he can be a Tigger

Can you convert from one personality to another, I’m not so sure. But it will definitely be interesting to see Gordon Brown try.