海角大神

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and President Obama have two things in common:

1. They each hope to revive growth in their respective enterprises 鈥� a giant tech firm of 680 million users, and a national economy of 310 million people.

2. They each look to do so by stimulating innovation 鈥� for Facebook, among its 4,000 workers; for the American economy, by spawning new types of job-creating industries.

Facebook鈥檚 introduction of its 鈥淗ome鈥� application for Android smart phones on Thursday represents that kind of bold creativity needed in today鈥檚 economy. But the software itself also shows the very process that breeds innovation, helping to reinforce Mr. Obama鈥檚 efforts on technological innovation.

Facebook has been losing its core users, teenagers, many of whom find the site 鈥渂oring鈥� compared with newer ways to connect on the Internet. 鈥淗ome鈥� attempts to break boundaries by not quite being an app, an operating system, or a phone itself. Even the name Facebook is put in the background. Rather, 鈥淗ome鈥� was designed to sit on a phone鈥檚 home screen and provide a direct social-networking connection to friends, family, and associates.

鈥淭oday our phones are designed around apps and not people,鈥� Mr. Zuckerberg said. 鈥淲e want to flip that around.鈥�

While it may not succeed, 鈥淗ome鈥� shows how much collaboration in general has become a necessity 鈥� in technology and in the economy. Many of today鈥檚 innovations come not from brilliant inventors or through charismatic leadership like that of the late Steve Jobs, but through a collaborative workplace culture.

Facebook made famous the practice of software engineers working together late into the night in what is known as 鈥渉ackathons.鈥� Instead of competition with others, this type of collaboration relies on sharing a common purpose, which in turn drives trust, generosity, and a cross-pollination of ideas.

This runs counter to the traditional notion of people as inherently selfish 鈥� as takers rather than givers 鈥� or workers who must be guided by strict rules, raises, promotions, and performance reviews.

Like the offices at many high-tech companies, Facebook鈥檚 buildings are designed to encourage spontaneous exchanges and informal encounters that break down barriers and nurture empathy. Both the architecture and the activities help workers get out of a 鈥渟ilo鈥� mentality, or focusing on their own work, and engage with workers of other departments in fun ways.

Finding new ways to drive constant innovation has become a common quest among advanced economies in Europe, Japan, and the United States as a way to return to strong economic growth. Rather than simply look for new technologies, however, these economies should first look at the quality of relationships in the workplace.

Old ways of viewing employees have changed. Like social media, the new ways rely more on cooperation than competition. Facebook isn鈥檛 only a site. It鈥檚 becoming a metaphor for the new economy, one sought by Obama and Zuckerberg alike.