How to write a successful application for Best Workplaces for Innovators 2026

The most frequent mistake companies make when applying? They fail to focus on a single, representative example of internally grown innovation. Here’s some advice on how to produce a more compelling application for Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators in 2026.

Get real

Jargon won’t win you any awards. Applications that read as if they were written to appeal primarily to an internal audience are not likely to earn high marks from our judges. Use clear language to describe your innovation programs. We’re looking for companies that do more than just talk the talk.

Be current

Focus on a recent or ongoing example. We’re looking for current hotbeds of innovation—organizations that are working to sustain a creative culture and aren’t resting on the laurels of a handful of breakthroughs from a decade ago.

Be specific

We’re looking to honor companies that are accomplishing real innovation, not merely laying the groundwork for future breakthroughs. In other words, focus on real projects delivering measurable results.

Be precise

To recognize companies for Best Workplaces for Innovators, we need details. Who did what when, and how? How’d the idea come about? What initial hurdles needed to be overcome? How big was the team? How long did it take? How much investment was required?

Emphasize outcomes

Tell us exactly what was accomplished and what it means. What are the impacts or implications for the company, the industry, the broader community?

Be democratic

Your big idea may have originated in the C-suite, but (full disclosure) we’re a bit biased toward ideas that come from the bottom up, from unexpected sources (think interns) because a) they’re more surprising and make for better stories, and b) they are more indicative of the kind of pervasive culture of innovation that we’re looking to recognize in Best Workplaces for Innovators. That said, wherever the idea originated, the emphasis should be on the quality of the innovation, the rigor with which it was pursued, and the inclusivity of the effort to bring the idea to fruition.

Tell a story

Exhaustive lists of initiatives are boring. Pick a project that seems most emblematic of your own particular culture of innovation and tell the story. (See Be precise and Be democratic above.) You can always include at the end of your example a quick list of other significant recent efforts that have benefited from the same culture.

Don’t procrastinate

This year’s deadline for Best Workplaces for Innovators applications is now just a few days away, March 27.  

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