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The idea of the “Queen Bee” has been buzzing around corporate life for decades. You’ve heard the story: A woman finally breaks into senior leadership, only to turn around and block other women from rising behind her. She is territorial, icy, maybe even hostile. She has clawed her way to the top, the logic goes, and she intends to stay there alone. It is a vivid image, and that is precisely why it has survived. It gives managers a neat explanation for gender inequity: maybe women just don’t support each other. Maybe the problem isn’t the system; maybe it’s . . . women. But that explanation falls apart the moment you look closely. A zero-sum world The term “Queen…

“Somehow, it didn’t leak.” When I caught up with Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe after the company’s “AI & Autonomy Day” keynote on December 11 at its Palo Alto headquarters, he marveled that the company had managed to keep the event’s news under wraps until it was ready for its big reveal. It did—and there was a lot to discuss. At the keynote, Rivian unveiled its Gen 3 platform, which will turn the maker of EV trucks, SUVs, and vans into an autonomy company, a focus he says will subsume “the whole business” of transportation. Debuting late next year in a version of the upcoming R2 SUV, the Rivian Autonomy Computer platform is powered by a chip the comp…

Weight-loss giant Weight Watchers is relaunching itself for the Ozempic era. Six months after completing a Chapter 11 restructuring, the company is rolling out a revamped app and digital platform, a reimagined digital coaching experience, and a new brand identity. It’s even bringing back its old, two-word name, Weight Watchers. (The company had changed its name to WW in 2018 and later styled itself WeightWatchers.) Weight Watchers’ pitch: Any telehealth company can get you a GLP-1 prescription—including Weight Watchers itself—but Weight Watchers has unique programs to keep you healthy and on track. Those offerings include coaching, fitness classes, and a menopause…

The Mozilla Corporation, maker of the popular Firefox web browser, has announced the appointment of a new CEO Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, general manager of Firefox, will become top boss at a time when Mozilla is trying to rebrand itself as “the world’s most trusted software company.” Here’s why and what you need to know about Mozilla’s new CEO. Who is Anthony Enzor-DeMeo? As of today, Anthony Enzor-DeMeo is Mozilla Corporation’s new chief executive officer. However, while his position may be new, his involvement with Mozilla is not. Enzor-DeMeo was previously the general manager of Firefox, which is Mozilla’s most well-known product. Under Enzor-DeMeo’s…

When Calvin McDonald was appointed CEO of Lululemon in 2018, the activewear brand was a cult brand. But it had the potential to become a retail giant. Chip Wilson founded Lululemon in Vancouver in 1998 as a yoga brand. When he left the CEO role in 2005, the company was generating $80 million a year. In the decade that followed, Lululemon grew steadily, boosted by the broader athleisure trend. But it was McDonald—who previously spent five years delivering double-digit growth as CEO of Sephora Americas—who transformed Lululemon into one of the biggest clothing companies in the world. Over the course of his seven-year tenure, McDonald more than tripled the company’s…

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…

In recent years, organizations have launched neurodiversity and mental health initiatives with the best of intentions: to raise awareness, launch employee resource groups, and create a culture where team members embrace diverse neurotypes and learn to coexist in an ecosystem. Yet, neurodivergent employees still tell me the same thing: they feel misunderstood as they navigate masking, burnout, and eventually leave organizations that genuinely believe they’ve done their best. So, what’s missing? The gap isn’t in policy or process—it’s in our understanding of the emotional landscape inside the neurodivergent experience. Leaders may recognize ADHD or autism as concept…

An increasing number of companies are finding the much-promised financial gains of implementing artificial intelligence in the workplace have been slow to materialize. But that isn’t stopping many CEOs from spending even more on AI in the coming year. A new study from advisory firm Teneo finds that 68% of CEOs will increase their AI spending next year. A growing number, however, are aware that they need to start showing returns on that investment—and an important part of their job is convincing shareholders to remain patient. “As efforts shift from hype to execution, businesses are under pressure to show ROI from rising AI spend,” the company wrote. “Large-cap CEO…

When the U.S. government cut funding for local news stations, the Knight Foundation moved quickly to help stabilize a rapidly eroding industry. President and CEO Maribel Pérez Wadsworth unpacks the evolving roles of philanthropy and government, and why philanthropic organizations must learn to move at the speed of the news cycle. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by former Fast Company editor-in-chief Robert Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your p…

Like many people, I use AI for quick, practical tasks. But two recent interactions made me pay closer attention to how easily these systems slip into emotional validation. In both cases, the model praised, affirmed, and echoed back feelings that weren’t actually there. I uploaded photos of my living room for holiday decorating tips, including a close-up of the ceramic stockings my late mother hand painted. The model praised the stockings and thanked me for sharing something “so meaningful,” as if it understood the weight of them. A few days later, something similar happened at work. I finished a long run, came home with an idea, and dropped it into ChatGPT to pres…

For many office workers, the typical “lunch hour” is a sad desk lunch of a sandwich or slop bowl supplemented by a rotating schedule of snacks. According to a poll conducted by Yahoo and YouGov, half of employed Americans regularly eat at their workstations. And now they’re sharing it all on TikTok. Office snack content is hooking viewers online with captions such as “WIEIAD” (what I eat in a day) and “what I ate at my 8-4,” featuring office workers’ time-stamped eating schedules. Employees post montages of their morning coffee and breakfast of choice, followed by a time-lapse video of a variety of snacks and beverages consumed at their desk. Some videos have vo…

I’ve tried them all. A fancy planner, “perfect” workout routines, ambitious ways to read more, and writing rituals to get more done. I did the research. But what ultimately worked is something called the kaizen incremental method. An idea is from Japanese manufacturing, of all places. It means “continuous improvement.” The practice of tiny actions. A step so small your brain’s resistance (a built-in fight-or-flight response to big, scary changes) doesn’t even bother to fight it. I use the kaizen approach as a backdoor to building new neural pathways. I’m not forcing change; I’m gently guiding my brain into new habits, one step at a time. That’s how I started writ…

One of Michael’s friends told him recently, “I’m not burned out; I’m just feeling empty.” She shows up, meets deadlines, and manages to smile in meetings. But her work feels weightless and disconnected from purpose. She’s not alone. Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report found that only 21% of employees worldwide are engaged, and just one in three say they’re thriving. That’s not a blip—it’s a warning signal for leaders and cultures. When emptiness shows up at work, our reflex is to pathologize: “Is this burnout? Do I need a diagnosis?” Sometimes, yes—clinical conditions require clinical care. However, many of today’s struggles are fundamentally philosophi…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. After announcing another 25-basis-point cut to the Federal Reserve’s short-term rate, Fed Chair Jerome Powell—whose term ends on May 15, 2026—was asked about the U.S. housing market. Powell acknowledged that recent rate cuts won’t restore affordability to the U.S. housing market. He suggested that the country needs to build more housing units—and noted that central bankers “don’t really have the tools to address” it. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters on December 10, 2025: “So the housing market faces some really significant challenges, …

A lot has been written about how AI is coming for your job, but EY’s latest AI survey found some surprising results. Out of 500 top executives at major U.S. companies who said artificial intelligence was boosting productivity at their companies, only 17% of those polled actually turned around and laid off workers or cut their jobs. Instead, the new survey found they are reinvesting those gains back into the company. “Executives are plowing productivity gains right back into more AI tools and more talented people,” EY America’s consulting leader Colm Sparks Austin said. “The real breakthrough isn’t automation—it’s amplification. Leading companies are using AI …

In theory, AI should have transformed manufacturing by now. From predictive maintenance and fatigue detection to real-time quality control, the promise has always been smarter, faster, and safer operations. But in practice, the factory floor is still a place where AI ambitions often run into real-world limitations. That’s a huge problem, especially because the size and weight of this industry are hard to ignore. U.S. manufacturing alone contributes $2.9 trillion to the economy, accounting for over 10% of total output and supporting nearly 13 million workers, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. Globally, manufacturing represents 16% of world GDP and…

“Christmas at Pemberley Manor” and “Romance at Reindeer Lodge” may never make it to Oscar night, but legions of fans still love these sweet-yet-predictable holiday movies—and this season, many are making pilgrimages to where their favorite scenes were filmed. That’s because Connecticut—the location for at least 22 holiday films by Hallmark, Lifetime, and others—is promoting tours of the quaint Christmas-card cities and towns featured in this booming movie market; places where a busy corporate lawyer can return home for the holidays and cross paths with a plaid shirt-clad former high school flame who now runs a Christmas tree farm. (Spoiler alert: they live happily eve…

“There are boy aquariums all over the United States,” a TikTok creator explains in a recent post. The video then shows a clip of someone carrying a bucket filled with hockey pucks. “Come feed the fish at the boy aquarium with me,” the closed captions read. The person tosses the pucks onto the rink as players skate past. On TikTok, ice hockey arenas have been rebranded as “boy aquariums.” Videos show women tapping against the battered Plexiglas, filming the players warming up and encouraging others to go on a girls’ night to the rink. The players themselves are in on the joke. Earlier this year, the official TikTok of the Canadian junior ice hockey team Monc…

The holidays are the perfect time to show people that you appreciate their time, their effort, and the value they bring. But when it comes to giving gifts at work, most people are confused about what to do. Should you, or shouldn’t you, buy your boss a present? What about your coworkers or direct reports? How much should you spend for the office gift exchange? What about your office bestie? We asked the experts to weigh in, and here’s what they had to say. Is it acceptable to give holiday gifts at work? “To gift someone in the workplace is always acceptable, Alyse Dermer, founder of Mr. Considerate, a luxury gift concierge service, tells Fast Company. “Gift…

Across the internet, eagle-eyed sleuths are crying “AI slop” after Saturday Night Live aired segments with what looks like AI-generated imagery. The first instance, from Saturday’s cold open, shows an illustrated Christmas storybook. The images feature a hazy, yellow-ish hue and an image of streets that don’t connect. The next, in “Weekend Update” showed an image of a woman playing a slot machine in an otherwise empty casino while using an oxygen tank with tubes that weren’t connected. While the images were on screen for a fraction of the episode, they have led to some very vocal backlash by fans, who are convinced they are AI-generated.On Reddit, viewers ca…