We’ve all seen the Tom Hanks movie Big, right? A teenage boy magically wakes up as an adult, lands a job at a toy company and spends his days playing with prototypes. As president of the Mattel Brands division at Mattel Inc., Neil Friedman has his share of Big moments, when his office is strewn with toys and he’s fiddling with new products around the clock. Of course, life isn’t all play and no work for this industry veteran, but he admits the job keeps him a kid at heart.

“It’s just one of those industries that, if you really like it, it’s really hard to go anywhere else because it’s fun, it really keeps you young at heart and it brings smiles to the faces of kids,” Friedman says.

Given his 37-year track record in the industry, it’s no wonder he hasn’t strayed. Friedman is credited with pioneering the fusion of technology and toys, revitalizing the Barbie brand and ushering in the “Elmo effect”—and that’s just during his 12-year run with Mattel. He has also been named a Toy Industry Hall of Famer and an International Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association’s Hall of Famer, among other awards.

Now, Friedman, who turns 62 in August, presides over all Mattel, Fisher-Price and Radica brands—including such hits as Hot Wheels and Little People—in addition to toys by entertainment properties such as Disney/ Pixar’s Cars, Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street.

And, to think, this career was set in motion by a help-wanted ad. That’s how the Rider University alum landed a job at Pennsylvania toy chain Lionel Leisure/ Kiddie City, where he climbed his way up to become executive vice president and COO over the course of a decade. Next, he worked for such heavy hitters as Hasbro, Gerber and MCA/Universal before starting at Tyco Preschool in 1995.

At the time, Tyco Preschool had a new toy in the works for the 1996 holiday season: Tickle Me Elmo. “When you played with it the first time, it brought a smile to everyone’s faces,” Friedman remembers. “It was a magical surprise.”

The toy went on to become a huge phenomenon that helped drive traffic to toy aisles early in the holiday season, a force now called the “Elmo effect.” Friedman recalls visiting stores after Elmo’s introduction and seeing women picking up stuffed animals and “squeezing them to see what they would do,” he says. “It became very obvious that, by bringing these toys to life, we really hit a nerve for moms and kids. Because it became alive to them; what’s technology to us is magic to a child. And that was really what set that [trend of combining technology and toys] off.”

Tyco Toys Inc. merged with Mattel in 1997, and they followed the success of Tickle Me Elmo with more advanced versions, such as T.M.X. Elmo in 2006 and Elmo Live in 2008. As president of Fisher-Price Brands from 1999–2005, Friedman took the trend a step further by creating technologically enhanced toys that not only entertain but educate, too, and have become a large part of Fisher- Price’s core business.

Another coup for Friedman was revitalizing the floundering Barbie brand in 2006. The iconic doll—which turned 50 in 2009— “had been suffering from a lack of focus, a lack of excitement, and competition,” he remembers. “I put one of my top marketeers on the business who is really good on structure, focus, getting back to the basics, instilling a business plan into the business, and he made incredible strides in structuring the business.”

Then Friedman assembled a team of his top marketeers and creatives. “And when you take your best people who have a sense of style and a sense of relevance, on top of your brand, it really makes a huge difference,” he says. In 2006, Barbie saw its first year of growth in six years.

Teamwork is a key component of Friedman’s success at Mattel, he says—in fact, it’s one of his “rules of the road.”

“We always treat each other like we want to be treated. We’re always considerate of other people’s time. We always work together as a team. And what we say we’re going to do, we do,” Friedman says. As coach of his team, he leads his players with a common goal: “to be the best at what we do and to execute as a team.” One of their priorities is staying on top of trends to keep their brands fresh.

“Our job is to be ahead of the curve, doing things that not necessarily nobody’s done before, but doing things better than anybody else has been doing,” Friedman says. “Because a child is the most fickle customer. They have a very short attention span. So you need to be able to do it better, faster and on trend more than anybody else to stay in the lead.”

He does so by choosing talented team members and emphasizing the fact that “no idea is a bad idea,” Friedman says. “If you have an idea, it may not be appropriate for now, but it may spark somebody else’s imagination for something now or be something that you store for a later date. Nobody is ever chastised for an idea, no matter how silly it may sound.”

Recognizing a winning toy may be the toughest part of the job—“There’s no real science to picking a great product”—but there are two ways to do it, Friedman says: “One, if you find a product that makes everybody smile, especially children, generally that toy is a winner. It’s a gut feeling.”

But, when he has his doubts, Friedman relies on his staff. “If someone who’s working on that product feels strongly about it, you have to let them go forward with it,” he says. “And, if they’re right, it’s great for them and you learn something. If they’re wrong, then they learn something. The way most people learn is through making mistakes.”

No matter how much is on the line, Friedman always fosters a fun work environment. “Because, if [employees] enjoy getting up in the morning and coming to work, they’re going to stay. If you get up in the morning and you don’t enjoy coming to work, then it’s probably time to find another job. I’ve always lived my life that way.”

As a father of three adult children and a stepfather to two young ones, Friedman draws inspiration simply by “watching children play, watching what they play with, how long they play with it, what they like, what they see their older siblings play with that they want but can’t have. But there are things that happen all around you that you can see, and it’ll spark an idea. It can be anything or it can come from anyone.”

In a way, Friedman owes his success to his target audience—children—so it’s only natural that he fi nds ways to repay them. He serves on the boards of several child-related charities, including Save the Children and its Survive to Five Council, the executive advisory board of the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, and the Northside Center for Child Development in New York City.

“I have always found that there are ways to give my time or money or both to help children through,” he says. “Giving back when you do well is important. It makes you more complete.”