What's on Your Mind?

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: How should I respond to rude comments at work? A: If I were to make a pie chart of most people’s complaints about work, the actual work would be one of the smallest slices. Bad bosses and annoying coworkers would take up the biggest slices, for sure. There are a few factors to consider if someone in your office is making rude comments. Is it a one-off or part of a pattern? If someone who is usually pleasant to work with says something rude out of …

As one of the world’s leading charity auctioneers and a seasoned keynote speaker for companies like Goldman Sachs and Google, I have spent 80 to 100 nights on stage every year for over two decades. Since I am typically one of the last people to take the stage at a fundraising event, I have watched countless people in various stages of panic just moments before they go on stage. After they find out my role, I usually receive a predictable set of rapid-fire questions from upcoming speakers in the hopes that some last-minute tips from a pro can help them do more than keep from passing out when they hit the stage. Here are five things I tell people in the final moments b…

There’s one big thing about Rodrigo Corral that does not initially make sense: The book cover maestro does not have a signature style. Consider his chameleonic cover hits. The Fault in Our Stars. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Survivor, Lullaby and the rest of Chuck Palahniuk’s catalog. Rachel Cusk’s books. James Frey’s controversial A Million Little Pieces, the cover that helped launch Corral into ubiquity. Recent collaborative output like Intermezzo and Mojave Ghost. The books don’t have obvious visual connective tissue between them—but somehow, as creative director of Farrar, Straus and Giroux and his eponymous studio, Corral has spent the past three decade…

It’s an ordinary morning. You’ve woken up from what you thought was a blissfully restful night’s sleep. To ensure your body and mind aren’t playing tricks on you, you check the activity tracker that you’ve recently strapped on your left wrist. You hope it’ll turn you into a fitter and healthier version of yourself. But your sleep score says otherwise. It indicates that you’ve woefully underperformed across all stages of the sleep cycle. It’s also the end of a long month on the job. You’ve completed all your deliverables on time, impressed your bosses, and, by all accounts, been a pleasant and reliable colleague. You decide to check your bank account. The balance stari…

Researchers at Northwestern University just found a way to make a temporary pacemaker that’s controlled by light—and it’s smaller than a grain of rice. A study on the new device, published last week in the journal Nature, found that the tiny pacemaker delivered effective pacing in both animal subjects and human hearts from organ donors. The device is designed specifically for patients who need temporary pacemaking—like newborn babies with heart defects or heart surgery patients—and it’s made with materials that allow it to safely dissolve into the body once it’s no longer needed. The current standard in temporary pacemakers (called an “epicardial” pacemaker) invo…

During his family’s annual summer vacations on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, high schooler Ajith Varikuti began to notice something concerning. Homes on the narrow line of barrier islands that Varikuti had grown up visiting from his hometown Charlotte were no longer there. “I started seeing more and more news articles about entire houses being completely destroyed. And it started clicking, because some of those houses that were being destroyed I’d seen in my previous years there,” he says. Varikuti, who was then a 9th grade student, knew there had to be a solution. So, as part of a student design competition organized by the design software company Autodesk, Varikuti …

The Flying Sun 1000 is exactly what its name implies: a very powerful light source that flies. It is not as strong as the sun, but fitted with a powerful 3,333-watt light source—the equivalent of a typical flood lamp in a stadium—it is enough to turn night into day instantaneously. This drone is aimed at commercial and government users for the rapid deployment of industrial-level lighting solutions, such as construction and engineering jobs, area security, and disaster relief efforts that require 24-hour operation. A single operator can deploy the Flying Sun in minutes, instantly illuminating as much as 130,000 square feet. According to its manufacturer, Freefly Systems, …

If you’re searching for a job, you’ve probably heard about how important it is to tailor your résumé and cover letter, showcasing your measurable achievements, and incorporating relevant keywords from the job description. These elements can make a big difference in catching a hiring manager’s attention. But beyond these essentials, there’s one powerful sentence that can truly set you apart from the rest: the one-liner. According to Sam DeMase, career expert for Zip Recruiter, this line in your cover letter is important because it highlights exactly what employers want to see. “Employers are looking for relevant work experience and aligned skills. So if you’re…

In the world of interior design gaming, where perfection is often the goal, Redecor, a 3D design-simulation game, has taken an unexpected turn—celebrating flaws. The limited-time Real World Beauty collection, available free until April 15, highlights the authentic, lived-in charm of real homes. Instead of perfection, this update introduces design elements that reflect everyday life, such as coffee stains on wooden tables, sofas worn by pets, and walls decorated with kids’ doodles. The “flawed” collection features elements that players never explicitly asked for but quickly embraced. Natalie Gal, senior director of content for Redecor, explains the inspiration behind i…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. A year ago, our company made a bold move. We put up a million dollars in prize money for any of our team members—no matter their role—who came up with transformative ways of using AI to serve our clients. As a health marketing agency, we saw it as our version of the renowned XPRIZE, hoping that this initiative would truly spark meaningful change and inspire us to think bigger for our clients. …

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. In today’s shifting political and economic climate, companies are reassessing their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Many are pulling back, and in the process, investments in women’s sports—often lumped into DEI initiatives—are being questioned. But treating women’s sports as merely a diversity play misses the mark. This isn’t just about fairness; it’s about smart business …

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. The way we work is changing. Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the workplace, automating tasks, creating new efficiencies, and helping us accomplish more across virtually all industries. In this environment, new hiring strategies based on evaluating a candidate’s full skillset—including their ability to problem-solve, think creatively, and adapt rather than solely relying on…

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, climate change is projected to cause the extinction of over a third of the species of plants and animals in the world in 25 years. But scientists at genetics laboratory Colossal Biosciences are claiming that they may have a solution—one that has now resulted in the birth of the first dire wolves in over 10,000 years. Colossal’s website proclaims the lab to be the world’s only company working on “de-extinction,” which it defines as “the process of generating an organism that both resembles and is genetically similar to an extinct species by resurrecting its lost lineage of core genes; engineering natural resistances; an…