What's on Your Mind?

If you’re familiar with Gallup data about employee engagement, they have been playing one of their Top 40 hits for decades now. It’s a classic we’ve all heard. The tune? “People don’t quit companies; they quit managers.” We’ve known this for years, but here we are, still stuck in the same leadership crisis. Too many managers don’t understand the difference between managing work and leading people. Here’s the plain truth: You manage the work; you lead humans. And when leaders miss that, the culture and performance pay the price. The brutal truths So, if you’re willing to take a hard look in the mirror, here are seven brutal truths about leadership every leader n…

A brand that isn’t thinking globally is limiting its reach. The four 2025 Brands That Matter global honorees know that and have worked hard to make their messaging reach beyond their home countries. All based outside the United States, these brands demonstrated that good messaging and authentic connection have no nationality. 1Password People don’t like to think about their digital security, so Toronto-based 1Password has become an expert at making it fun, and doing so using sports as the backdrop. The brand used its sponsorship of the Presidents Cup golf tournament in fall 2024 to debut its “What Not to Do” campaign. With more than 12 million impressions, the spot…

When we talk about phones and location sharing, we’re typically talking about limiting how much info overly aggressive apps can access. But there’s another side to location sharing—and that’s actively opting to share your location with specific people (not companies!) for your own personal purposes. Whether it’s being able to keep tabs on kids, confirm the safety of parents or other loved ones, or simply know where a partner is at any given moment (with their permission, of course), your existing phone can turn into a powerful peace-of-mind provider and real-world life enhancer. The key is having the right software to make that happen in a way that’s both help…

After more than a decade of planning, an overlooked side of the ski haven of Aspen, Colorado, will soon be revamped into a new base village. Named Chalet Alpina and covering two-and-a-half city blocks, the development will build a new modern ski lift that is closer to the city’s downtown and flank it with a luxury hotel and residences, a restaurant and ski museum inside relocated historic chalet buildings, and a broad new public plaza. The project, which broke ground last fall, is situated at the loading point of the 1937 tow line that was the city’s first mechanized route up the mountain. Remnants of the steel lift that replaced it a decade later will be preserve…

As we count down to the last days of the year, we are looking ahead to what may be one of the next big work trends of 2026: shift sulking. Read on to find out what it is, and what to know about it heading into the new year. What is shift sulking? “Shift sulking is the moment when hourly workers arrive already depleted because the conditions surrounding their work—unpredictable schedules, inconsistent hours, and rising demands—are simply unsustainable,” says Silvija Martincevic, CEO of Deputy, a workforce management platform for hourly workers. “Because millions of shifts run through our platform every week, Deputy sees this deep-seated strain in the data we…

Anthropic has announced a new “memory” tool that allows Claude users to copy over their chats from other AI chatbots, giving those who want to switch over from ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot an easy way. The new memory tool is available to paid Claude subscribers only and enables them to import saved memories from rival AI chatbots, and comes as more people seem to be turning toward Claude and away from ChatGPT over growing concerns about how, and to what end, the U.S. military will use AI chatbots. (While OpenAI signed a deal with the Pentagon, Anthropic said no.) As Fast Company previously reported, despite Pentagon demands to use AI assistants for “all lawful pur…

Porte Neue is the typeface of effortless sophistication, and that’s why the ‘Fast Company’ design team chose it for the latest issue View the full article

You don’t have to be an avid reader of restaurant industry trade publications—though I can attest that they are oddly fascinating—to realize that everything’s getting more expensive. The good news is that there’s an easy way to counteract those rising menu prices. By purchasing discounted gift cards, you can defray the cost of fast-food, fast-casual, and sit-down chains, and maybe even some other retailers that have nothing to do with stuffing your face. All you need is a place to find authentic, cheap gift cards and a little foresight on when to buy them. This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue …

French authorities have warned they may block access to Shein after it emerged that the online fast fashion giant had been selling sex dolls with a childlike appearance. France’s consumer watchdog, the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, said last week it had discovered the dolls on Shein’s website, noting that their descriptions and categorization left little doubt as to their child-pornographic nature. The agency has referred the case to public prosecutors, and Economy Minister Roland Lescure said on Monday he would seek to ban Shein from the French market if such incidents were to occur again. “This is provided for by la…

Yes, it’s that time of year again: when we don’t just wrap up one chapter but start anticipating the next, determined to begin with something that resembles a clean slate. The ritual is familiar: a little reflection, a little optimism, and a list of promises to our future selves. New Year’s resolutions are extremely popular, particularly relative to their low execution rate. According to a recent 2025 YouGov survey, 31% of U.S. adults can be expected to set at least one resolution for the new year–with the highest participation among younger adults (under 30), of whom 58% say they will make a resolution. Saving money emerges as the single most common New Year’s re…

The Bronx stands apart from New York City’s four other boroughs in stark ways. Home to 1.4 million residents and the nation’s poorest congressional district, it once flourished as fertile farmland. Today, we’re restoring this land—not to its agricultural roots, but as fertile ground for raising healthy, happy, and prosperous children. And in the process, we’re cultivating opportunity for a new generation of citizens. My wife Lizette and I founded and run Green Bronx Machine (GBM). Our nonprofit is dedicated to rewriting the narrative about the Bronx and its residents. Inside Community School 55, just across the tracks from rows of dilapidated public housing towers…

Below, Gene Ludwig shares five key insights from his new book, The Mismeasurement of America: How Outdated Government Statistics Mask the Economic Struggle of Everyday Americans. Gene is the former Comptroller of the Currency and founder of the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP), a nonprofit dedicated to uncovering the truths that official statistics too often obscure. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Politico, The Financial Times, and TIME. What’s the big idea? Americans keep hearing that the economy is strong. Unemployment is low. Wages are rising. Growth is steady. But for millions of…