1. Value fame as an "asset"
2. Willing to share certain types of sensitive information on the web
3. Believe it is appropriate to criticize their organizations on the web
4. Believe that "organizations need to be more transparent to succeed"
5. Believe "there's no harm in openly discussing the work I do inside my organization with others"

Obviously I agree with all those points. However, the fame part I think is a temporary thing. Folks who are open and transparent today are getting famous for their candor but in another couple of years this candor will be the norm. Folks like Scoble when he was Microsoft (he's now at Podtech), and Jeremy at Yahoo, were viewed as shocking two years ago, important this year, and in two years they will simply be the norm. That's how trends go.

• #6: Willing to listen to all sides of a debate openly
• #7: Willing to change their position quickly and without remorse

As Ted points out, I brought this brutal honesty to AOL and that was always the plan (Ted, Jon MIller, and Jim Bankoff very clear with me to "go for it" and not pull punches). A year after I was there folks were routinely "mixing it up" on the group listsrvs and the heroes started to emerge. The folks who cared, the folks who were engaged, and the folks who could keep up chimed in--those who couldn't stood on the sidelines.

These were flat out sparring matches and we debated major topics. One exchange that went for what seemed like 50 comments was a debate surrounding Netscape's video hosting. (As in should Netscape have it's own video hosting or should it just dump folks to AOL's video service). I argued that Netscape should have it's own video services even if there was some overlapping pieces. Others thought I was crazy and doing duplicate work (shades of peanut butter--yes). Of course, in business most answer are not right or wrong--they are 50, 60, 70, or 80% right or wrong.

1. Fast followers
2. More flexible
3. Open communicators
4. Aspire to greatness
5. Looking for new, innovative ideas
6. In short - your future leaders

• #7 Passionate
• #8 Lovers of intelligent debate
• #9 Don't take themselves to seriously

Time Warner Names
NBC's Falco to Lead AOL

In its effort to remake its AOL unit into an ad-driven Internet business, Time Warner Inc. named Randy Falco, a top executive at General Electric Co.'s NBC, to become the primary driver of that push.

The early success of AOL's recent strategy shift has made it easier to attract someone of Mr. Falco's caliber to the online business, company insiders say. Mr. Falco, 52 years old, will succeed AOL Chief Executive Jonathan Miller, 50. Mr. Miller has run AOL for more than four years, overseeing its rocky relationship with Time Warner and guiding the AOL ship through a period of upheaval in the rapidly changing digital world.

The management change comes at a tricky time for the online company. AOL is in the midst of implementing a radical new strategy to offer its service free to generate more revenue from advertising. Time Warner says it is pleased with the early returns from its new business model. But the plan to abruptly change AOL's senior executive appears to indicate that Time Warner wants someone with a more aggressive management style to execute the new strategy.

Mr. Falco, who was in the running to get the top job at NBC Universal Television Group last year but lost out to Jeff Zucker, has spent more than 30 years at the network, most recently as chief operating officer. In that role, Mr. Falco oversaw Spanish-language network Telemundo, the NBC-owned television stations and NBC's sales units. Though he has never run an Internet company like AOL, Mr. Falco does have extensive experience in the advertising business, AOL's new lifeblood. Over the years, he has been instrumental in coordinating NBC's coverage of the Olympics and refining NBC's approach to selling advertising based on young, upscale viewers.

He also recently oversaw a major drive to sell advertising on NBC's various new-media platforms, including NBC.com and iVillage, the women-focused Web site NBC bought earlier this year for about $600 million. News of Mr. Falco's likely move was reported in the New York Times.

A cornerstone of AOL's strategic makeover has been to draw in users with more programming content, in particular, video. One of Mr. Falco's main tasks will be to continue that push, drawing on his long experience as a network-television executive to turn AOL's video portal into a major destination. Mr. Falco recently directed NBC's effort to distribute video from the network to the Web.

NBC Universal is unlikely to replace Mr. Falco, people close to the company said. Instead, the network will likely divvy up his duties among other executives. An NBC Universal spokesman declined to comment.

Mr. Miller's likely departure comes after months of speculation inside and outside the company that he would be pushed out. Time Warner senior management repeatedly denied the rumors. Earlier this month, for example, Time Warner Chief Executive Richard Parsons told analysts that Mr. Miller was doing a "terrific job."

Indeed, AOL's new strategy seemed to be working. The unit posted a 46% jump in advertising revenue in the third quarter, taking share from rivals such as Yahoo Inc.

NBC Official Is Expected to Join AOL

The move to shake up the top ranks of the two big media companies is expected to be announced as soon as this week. But it was unclear last night, the executives said, whether Mr. Falco, 52, would hold the title of president or chief executive at AOL, and what position Jonathan F. Miller, AOL's chairman and chief executive, would maintain after the move.

Spokesmen for Time Warner, AOL and NBC Universal declined to comment.

Mr. Falco, two people briefed on the discussions said, is considering the position because it would be a chance to run his own business after more than three decades at NBC. Since December, Mr. Falco has reported to Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of NBC Universal Television, who has emerged as the most likely internal candidate to succeed Bob Wright as the chief executive of NBC Universal.

While Mr. Wright's empire, a division of General Electric, also includes the company's movie studio and entertainment parks, the television group under Mr. Zucker oversees the NBC television network, Universal Studios, the Spanish-language network Telemundo and cable channels including USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel, Bravo and CNBC.

• Question #1: Can the profits from AOL's advertising business grow fast enough to offset subscriber losses?
• Question #2: Can AOL keep its departing paid users and get new users to try its services?
• Question #3: Can AOL grow its page views and audience even as it loses paid subscribers?