What's on Your Mind?

Things are moving quickly in the Middle East following the February 28 attack by Israel and the United States on Iran. Repeated waves of US-Israeli strikes have hit military and government sites across Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and prompting a temporary leadership council to take charge in Tehran. Iran has responded with threats to close the Strait of Hormuz and launched retaliatory attacks around the Gulf, raising fears that the conflict could spill over into a broader regional war and disrupt global energy supplies. One way the average Joe is trying to keep track is by “monitoring the situation” using dashboards—many of which, their creators admit, were spun …

The J. Paul Getty Trust has a flexible new logo that ties its extensive art collections and various programs into a single yet versatile identity. The trust, founded in 1953, today runs the Getty Center and Getty Villa art museums in Los Angeles, as well as a foundation, conservation institute, and research institute. The new logo brings all the entities together as a unified brand. “We needed a visual identity that was uniquely Getty and distinct enough to unify how we show up globally,” Yasmine Vatere, assistant director of brand management and marketing, said in a statement. Famed designer Saul Bass created the outgoing logo for the opening of the G…

Bootstrapping a company from a startup in Croatia to a global platform is not an easy task. When my cofounder Izabel Jelenić and I created Infobip, my parents gave us a modest loan of about $28,000, and we had to find ways to use that investment strategically until we could raise external funding. Over the past 20+ years, we have learned valuable lessons along the way as our company evolved. We have developed newer versions to keep pace with the fast-moving digital world where businesses need to connect with customers quickly and in ways that feel personal. And what we’ve found is that these four strategies worked during the startup phase of our company and are still …

Since its invention in 1903, the classic Monopoly board game has spawned such a plethora of spin-offs that they nearly span the breadth of all possible human interests. From gardening and beer drinking to the FIFA World Cup, Star Wars, and the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, if you can think of it, there’s a fair chance it’s been turned into a Monopoly game. Now there’s yet another version out there. This one celebrates the life and legacy of artist Keith Haring in a design by WS Game Co., a licensee of Hasbro (Monopoly’s parent company) that specializes in deluxe versions of classic tabletop games. For the 40th anniversary of Haring’s iconic New York City store, Po…

Airport lounges are getting bigger, flashier, and increasingly crowded. American Express (Amex) believes the next evolution might actually be smaller. On Wednesday, the company opened the doors to Sidecar by The Centurion Lounge, a new 33-seat speakeasy-style lounge concept at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The space is designed specifically for travelers who have 90 minutes or less before boarding, offering a quick stop for food, drinks, and a moment of calm before heading to the gate. The opening represents the first new format for the Centurion Lounge brand since the network debuted more than a decade ago. According to Audrey Hendley, p…

Americans are feeling financially stretched: 92% cut back on spending last year, including curbing essentials like healthcare and groceries. Is this really the time for Target to be focused on trendy throw pillows, luxury beauty products, and premium sodas? At Target’s investor day on Tuesday, CEO Michael Fiddelke tried to convince Wall Street that the retailer is about to undergo a massive turnaround, after years of declining comparable sales, most recently in this last quarter. His reinvention plan is anchored in stylish design, differentiation from other retailers, and delighting the customer in-store. But none of these strategies seemed built for the economic mome…

Nike’s recently relaunched sub-brand, ACG, just created a soccer field that can host a game anywhere—from a snowy slope to an island vista or a desert landscape. It’s made of more than 1,500 portable components. The creative agency Amsterdam Berlin designed the pitch kit, called the “All Conditions Cup System.” It includes everything one might need to host a game—from goals and field lines to chairs, lights, and whistles—all made out of lightweight, portable materials. The All Conditions Cup System was designed for the announcement of a new apparel collection between ACG and the Italian soccer club Inter Milan. (ACG, which stands for “All Conditions Gear,” re…

Anyone who knows me knows I’m an optimistic, joy-seeking, recovering workaholic committed to leading a joyful rebellion against stress and burnout. So when friends started tagging me in posts about U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu’s joyful gold medal win at the Winter Olympics in Milan, I paid attention. Because this isn’t just a sports story. It’s a leadership story. When Liu stepped away from competitive figure skating at the height of her career, it wasn’t because she lacked grit. It was because pushing harder was costing her joy. That choice runs against everything we tend to praise in high performers: Push through. Power through. Never quit. In an interview with …

Leadership isn’t just about making decisions, driving results, or inspiring teams. It’s about the willingness to confront uncomfortable truths: about your business, your team, and yourself. The leaders who thrive aren’t the ones who avoid hard questions; they’re the ones who seek them out and act on the answers. “The pace at which we’re all working today doesn’t naturally lend itself to being reflective,“ notes Peter Winick, founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. “As a leader, you don’t get enough quiet time. The thought leaders and business leaders I work with figure out how to make it part of their routine. For some, it’s during a commute, a workout, a show…

Authenticity is a critical leadership trait. Research shows that it facilitates more trusting relationships and a more positive working environment. Often, though, in my executive coaching practice, I hear senior leaders use ‘authenticity’ as a covert excuse to resist development. When clients say, “That doesn’t feel authentic,” it’s often a signal they’re avoiding growth. They’re fearfully or righteously attached to a static version of their leadership. This is a major liability. As leaders elevate in seniority, they must adapt their approach. They need to experiment with different ways of thinking, communicating, and engaging to navigate increased scope and complexi…

Aspiring entrepreneurs often ask me whether they should quit their full-time jobs and go all in on starting a business. “Keep your job,” I always say. (That’s what I did; I worked in manufacturing for 20 years before I became an entrepreneur.) “Prove your idea for a business works. Prove you can make money. Prove you’re willing to do whatever it takes. If you’re not willing to spend nights and weekends on your startup, instead of running toward the business you feel compelled to start, you’re probably running away from a job you don’t like.” That advice, or at least the reasoning behind it, always falls a little flat. To many people, choosing not to go all in imp…

Economist Larry Summers will resign from his tenured job as a professor at Harvard University, the school announced on Feb. 25, 2026, following heightened scrutiny of his ties with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Summers will leave at the end of the 2025-26 academic year, with a new title: president emeritus. It’s a soft landing for his fall from grace. In November 2025, Harvard launched an investigation of Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary who previously served as Harvard’s president. The probe looked into whether Summers and other members of Harvard’s faculty and administration had interactions with Epstein that violated its guidelin…

Below, co-authors Dave Evans and Bill Burnett share five key insights from their new book, How to Live a Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every Day. Dave and Bill are co-founders of the Stanford Life Design Lab and co-authors of the New York Times bestseller, Designing Your Life. What’s the big idea? A meaningful life isn’t something you discover once or achieve at the top of a hierarchy. It’s something you design through daily practices, mindsets, and experiences. Listen to the audio version of this Book Bite—read by Dave and Bill—below, or in the Next Big Idea App. 1. What’s better than fulfillment? Learning to b…

The conference room door opened, and the team filed back to their desks. Sam had missed the meeting. A client call had run long; it happens. He leaned over the cubicle wall as Elaine sat down. “What did I miss?” he asked. She paused. “Nothing big. Just the usual.” That answer should concern every leader. Because something did happen in that room. Slides were shown. Words were spoken. Time was invested. But nothing stuck. No idea traveled, and no action accelerated. A meeting happened, but communication did not. George Bernard Shaw once wrote that the biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. Leaders fall into that illusion more …

Globally, the majority of people say they’re extroverted, and if you’re an introvert, you may feel out of touch, out of sync, or disconnected. You may also struggle to find friends, make friends, or sustain friendships. But it’s possible to feel not only connected and fulfilled, but also comfortable with yourself as an introvert. It’s a critical issue today. We’ve all become more isolated, with increasing numbers of people who say they’re lonely or they don’t have enough friends. Relationships are critical to physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being. But it’s possible to create great friendships at work and in life, even if you’re an introvert. THE IMPOR…

In the late 1920’s, Einstein and Bohr were engaged in a series of famous debates about the future of physics, in which Einstein insisted that “God does not play dice with the universe.” “Einstein, stop telling God what to do,” Bohr retorted. Einstein lost the argument and his career as a productive scientist was largely finished after that. Ostensibly, the debate was about quantum mechanics and whether what we can know about subatomic particles is absolute or merely a function of probability. But at a deeper level it challenged a basic philosophical principle that had been around since before Plato or Aristotle: that essence precedes existence. If essence precede…

A journalist is assigned a profile of a prominent politician on a tight turnaround. With the interview just hours away, she asks ChatGPT to generate a list of questions. Satisfied with the 30 questions churned out in under a minute, she shares them with her editor to make sure no stone is unturned. The editor nearly rewrites the list entirely. It’s missing questions about pivotal early-life experiences, why the senator dropped out of college, parting ways with her first campaign manager, and more. All of these missing questions stem from understanding the larger context and years of honing editorial judgment—the kinds of things AI can’t replace. Just as generative…

Anthropic is making hay while the sun shines. The AI company’s high-stakes dispute with the Pentagon—in which it refused to allow its product to be used for autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance—generated intense mainstream media coverage and a wave of public support, including from many within the artificial intelligence community. Claude rose to No. 1 in the Apple App Store’s free app rankings on Sunday, February 28, and on Tuesday, March 3, it hit No. 1 in a similar ranking for the Google Play store. The government is effectively banning the use of Anthropic models and tools within government agencies and their suppliers, and has labeled Anthropic…

The battle of the burgers is on. But at the center, there’s no actual fast food. Instead, it features viral moments of the companies’ leaders. In case you missed it: Last weekend, an Instagram video of McDonald’s CEO and chairman Chris Kempczinski—looking rather uncomfortable as he sampled his own company’s newly launched Big Arch burger—was widely circulated and mocked across the internet. He took only one small bite and repeatedly called the food a “product.” “I love this product,” Kempczinski said. “It is so good.” The comments were ruthless. “From this video, it seems likely the CEO of McDonald’s has never eaten McDonald’s before,” one user wrote. “What a…

HBO Max might be getting a brand update. Again. The streaming service has notoriously waffled between different names and logos over the past several years. More recently, it got caught up in an intense bidding war between Netflix and Paramount Skydance to acquire its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. On February 27, Netflix finally admitted defeat and abandoned its takeover bid—meaning Paramount is set to acquire WBD for $110 billion. The transaction is expected to close later this year. This supersized deal will undoubtedly have major ripple effects across the broader entertainment industry. But, for HBO, it might mean yet another blow to an already di…

When Taco Bell CEO Sean Tresvant first joined the company as chief brand officer back in 2021, he saw a unique opportunity in the brand’s cultural potential. “Sports, entertainment, music, food…it was like the Beautiful Mind meme with the equations spinning,” he told me in 2024. “They just needed someone to put it on the wall.” None of his moves since embody this idea more than Live Mas LIVE, Taco Bell’s live stage show in the spirit of Apple’s WWDC. The show began in 2024, when Taco Bell fanatics (myself included) traveled to Las Vegas to watch company execs unveil the brand’s new and limited edition menu items for the year. It was an absurdly perfect premise (a…

Oil prices are on the rise, hitting an 18-month high as of Tuesday as the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran continues. The war against Iran, which started in earnest over the past weekend, has disrupted oil and gas shipments in the Middle East, constricting supply, and with no clear timetable as to when the war could end (or if there’s a plan for a drawdown), markets are spooked about the potential for a prolonged conflict and market hiccups. Specifically, concerns about shipments getting through the Strait of Hormuz—a busy shipping lane for fossil fuel-carrying tankers—have been effectively stopped, and no one knows with any certainty as to when i…

A note to corporations everywhere: Asking politely for the internet to stop making fun of you often has the opposite effect. Microsoft may have just learned that lesson the hard way, after it accidentally helped a not-so-nice nickname go viral. As Microsoft’s AI assistant Copilot is integrated into features across the company’s products—from its controversial Recall feature, to a dedicated AI button on Windows keyboards—it’s catching more and more flak, including a new term coined just to clown on Copilot: “Microslop,” a portmanteau of “Microsoft” and “AI slop.” The word was flying freely on Microsoft’s official Copilot Discord server, until users noticed a new fi…