Dreaming up new toys

Lego has improbably become the world’s biggest toy company by selling the same product for 70 years. It does this by constantly coming up with new themes for its little plastic bricks. After nearly four long years, the new winning concept, after multiple rounds of feedback from children around the world and intense research, is Lego Dreamzzz: vehicles, structures and creatures that would be at home in the mind of a sleeping child. The world’s biggest toy maker hopes its new Dreamzzz line, with a crocodile car, shark ship and roller-skating rabbit, will power this holiday season — and help it become less reliant on Harry Potter and Star Wars. Whether Dreamzzz survives its annual culling process now rests on the commercial reception of the initial rollout, launched this summer: 11 products priced between $20 and $140 in the US.

(Adapted from “Four Years, 30,000 Kids, Countless Bricks: Inside the Quest for the Next Hit Lego Set,” by Trefor Moss, published on November 23, 2023, by The Wall Street Journal)

Improving work experience

While four-day work weeks may be a good idea for some, policies that seek to control work-life “balance” are based on two dubious assumptions: that work is inevitably a bad thing, and that management knows what works best for all people. If the goal is to build an engaging workplace culture, shortening the work week may not be the best place to start. While it’s an option that on-site employees say they would change jobs for, it doesn’t improve the likelihood that fully on-site workers will be engaged in their work or workplace. Globally, nearly eight in 10 employees are not engaged or are actively disengaged at work. These people spend their workday watching the clock — a symptom of an unhappy workplace. If employers focused on improving the quality of the work experience instead of shortening the work week, they could nearly triple the positive influence on their employees’ lives.

(Adapted from “Is The 4 Day Work Week A Good Idea?” by Jim Harter, published on September 9, 2021, by Gallup)

Hardline Hindu India

India’s economy is set to be the fastest growing of any major nation this year and next, with investors increasingly looking to put money there as an alternative to China. Should Prime Minister Narendra Modi retain power next year, we should expect an India that is more hyper-religious and even less tolerant of minorities than ever before. Key state elections indicate support for Modi shows no signs of softening, which means India has to prepare for more religious-driven laws if he wins a third term. Instead, many fear that Modi’s hardline Hindu-nationalist administration will put a Hindu stamp on the civil code, and deal with the illiberal parts of other faiths — such as polygamy in Islam — while leaving the worst practices of Hinduism in place. Take inheritance laws for instance, which despite reforms can still allow sons to inherit ancestral property and leave widows and daughters with nothing.

(Adapted from “India’s Identity Is More Hardline Hindu Than Ever,” by Ruth Pollard, published on December 4, 2023, by Bloomberg)

Finding your niche

As an early-career professional, you may not always know where to direct your hard work. You’re still at the beginning of your career, discovering your values and interests. Make sure you give yourself time and space to explore. Figuring out what excites you — as opposed to diving “all in” and burning out as soon as you land a job — will pay off in the long run. One way to do this is by conducting micro-experiments to test the waters. Consider taking up weekend projects in fields that pique your interest. If you’re already working somewhere and want to explore another department, raise your hand for stretch projects. If you wish to explore roles in a different industry, connect with peers working in roles that interest you. If you don’t truly enjoy your job, are not good at it, it doesn’t make you much money, or it is not getting you closer to your goals, continue to explore to find your niche.

(Adapted from “Hard Work Doesn’t Always Lead To Success,” by Utkarsh Amitabh, published by HBR Ascend)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 18th, 2023