At last. The new book is done. That’s the good news. I can now get issue 23 of What’s Next out (next week, maybe the week after that) and catch-up with some issues of brainmail. I think I’m about 4 months behind with brainmail. Crikey.The bad news is that I’ve done something really bad to my back. Probably caused by me sitting too close to computer screen for 12-months, banging my head on my desk, shouting #FϷ´®¥â„¢£¢5w6***** (it was the book!).

So, today, I have mostly been… lying on my back, on the floor, trying to read various newspaper and magazines articles held above my head. I now have arm muscles like Godzilla. Pick of the day?  An article in the Harvard Business Review called Why Teams Don’t Work (by Diane Coutu). Basically, teams under perform due to problems surrounding motivation and co-ordination. Teams usually have the wrong people in them, they get changed too often and they are far too large. The ideal size is less then 10 people. In my experience it’s actually 8 because that’s the maximum you can comfortably get around a dinner table.

Second, some research by Queensland University of Technology about risks of open-plan offices, published in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Health Management (hint: open-plan offices are bad for productivity, bad for privacy, increase workplace conflict and raise blood pressure. Otherwise they’re a really good idea!!!).

Third, an article in The Futurist magazine (US) about ten forces driving business futures. US centric but a good read nevertheless. Fourth, something from Wired magazine about the plot to kill Google and finally, an article from Time magazine about twitter. Totally under whelming — both the article and Twitter.

PS — Don’t eat lunch upside down. It doesn’t work.