What's on Your Mind?

For decades, America has told a singular story about success, suggesting that the only acceptable path to success is a four-year degree. Any other trajectory was treated as a detour. Fortunately, that story is changing with new, acceptable ways to achieve success. At both the federal and state levels, the U.S. is gradually reinventing its education system to value skills, not just diplomas. From new federal initiatives like Workforce Pell to state-led Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), policy is beginning to catch up to what the economy has been signaling for years. As a country, we need electricians, plumbers, welders, and builders as much as we need white-collar wor…

Most managers are using AI the same way they use any productivity tool: to move faster. It summarizes meetings, drafts responses, and clears small tasks off the plate. That helps, but it misses the real shift. The real change begins when AI stops assisting and starts acting. When systems resolve issues, trigger workflows, and make routine decisions without human involvement, the work itself changes. And when the work changes, the job has to change too. Let’s take the example of an airline and lost luggage. Generative AI can explain what steps to take to recover a lost bag. Agentic AI aims to actually find the bag, reroute it, and deliver it. The person that wa…

No matter how much you like your coworkers, you’re going to have some conflicts with them. Most of those conflicts involve differences of opinion or approach. A colleague may do something that irks you or causes difficulties for the work you’re doing. While those conflicts may lead to tension for some period, you typically get beyond those difficulties and may even wind up with a closer relationship to them later. But, there are some colleagues where anger hardens into resentment. That can cause real workplace problems, because you’re going to have to engage with that colleague which can get in the way of a project’s success. Plus, no matter how good you think you are…

When Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards steps onto the NBA All-Star court in Los Angeles with the league’s best players, there will be cameras following his every move. But it won’t just be NBC clocking the action. Edwards’s own Three-Fifths Media will be there for his ongoing unscripted show, Year Six. It’s the second season chronicling the daily grind of his NBA exploits, building on last year’s Year Five. Three-Fifths Media started in 2019, with Justin Holland, Edwards’s business partner and manager. They signed a production deal with Wheelhouse in 2024 to collaborate on projects like Year Six. So far, Three-Fifths has produced Serious Busines…

Hello again, and welcome back to Fast Company’s Plugged In. A February 9 blog post about AI, titled “Something Big Is Happening,” rocketed around the web this week in a way that reminded me of the golden age of the blogosphere. Everyone seemed to be talking about it—though as was often true back in the day, its virality was fueled by a powerful cocktail of adoration and scorn. Reactions ranged from “Send this to everyone you care about” to “I don’t buy this at all.” The author, Matt Shumer (who shared his post on X the following day), is the CEO of a startup called OthersideAI. He explained he was addressing it to “my family, my friends, the people I care about wh…

When I spoke at the Arabian Business Awards a few years ago, I showed a slide describing research that shows meetings literally make people dumber: a study published in Transcripts of the Royal Society of London found that meetings cause you to (during the meeting) lose IQ points. A bunch of people in the audience took photos of that slide. The same was true when I presented a slide describing research published in Journal of Business Research showing that not only do 90 percent of employees feel meetings are unproductive, but when the number of meetings is reduced by 40 percent employee productivity increases by 70 percent. A bunch of people took photos of th…

If you are dealing with an employee or colleague who consistently underperforms and makes excuses, it can be extremely frustrating. When someone underperforms it not only slows down team progress and lowers the quality of work, but also forces others to take on extra tasks. This increases the workload for the rest of the team, which often means more stress and potential burnout for those left picking up the load. It can also create a sense of unfairness and lead to conflicts among team members due to the uneven distribution of effort and responsibility. For managers, handling underperformance adds extra work as well, taking up valuable time and energy that could be sp…

Somewhere around the turn of the 20th century, archaeologists in Heerlen, Netherlands, came across an odd-looking smooth white stone. They knew the territory was once the Roman settlement of Coriovallum, but had never seen anything like it and had no idea what it was for. For the better part of the next 100 years, it sat in a storage unit at the Thermenmuseum, a mystery taunting researchers. Then, six years ago, archaeologist Walter Crist spotted the stone while wandering the museum. Crist specializes in ancient board games and recognized it as one, though not one he had ever seen before. That sparked his curiosity. Now, with the help of artificial intelligence, he th…

Maybe you first bonded over shared workplace frustrations. You gradually started finding each other every lunch break and synchronizing trips to the coffee machine. Eventually they become a confidant for venting about your real life outside of work. They become your work spouse. And if you find yourself strolling the greeting card aisle sometime today, you may even feel compelled to get this person in your life a trinket for celebrating the most romantic day of the year. Turns out, there are options available. “For my work wife on Valentines day,” one option reads from Card Factory. “I’ve finally found someone just as inappropriate as me!” A card to show…

Ellie Frazier first started posting content three years ago, sharing day-in-the-life vlogs and content tips for fellow creators. As her following grew, she began noticing other creators posting videos with uncannily similar scripts to her own. The clips felt the same. The editing style, identical. In one example, Frazier stretched in front of a window; another creator stretched in front of a window. Frazier chopped vegetables; the other creator chopped an orange. On its own, that might not seem especially striking. But the voiceover script used by the other creator was also almost verbatim Frazier’s words. “There’s a very stark difference between taking inspir…

A quarter of those under 30 say they’ve used AI for companionship, according to Associated Press-NORC polling. The one thing missing? Somewhere to take your AI Valentine on a date. Ahead of Valentine’s Day, EVA AI decided to solve that problem. The app—where users can text or, more recently, video chat with AI dates—organized a pop-up social experiment at Same Same Wine Bar in Manhattan this week. Over February 11 and 12, the dimly lit space was filled with patrons seated at tables for one, their AI companions propped up on phone stands. Attendees could bring their own existing AI partners or speed date from a selection of 100 characters. “This is another …

Could a film industry entirely crafted from AI ever exist? Social media is abuzz with movie scenes made with Seedance 2.0, the latest tech in AI video generation, including everything from a fight scene between Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise to an alternate ending for The Lord of the Rings. The tech’s proponents predict AI is the future of movies—but an actual brain behind Hollywood hits, Ben Affleck, is trending for his counterargument: AI may be a powerful tool, but it’s nothing without human creativity. Affleck recently shared his take on AI-generated writing in an appearance on a podcast. As an Oscar-winning screenwriter himself for Good Will Hunting (not to mention…

Much of healthcare still operates like a series of snapshots. For most routine care, you go in once a year for a physical. Maybe you get a few labs drawn. If something looks off, you might get a follow-up or a prescription. But within the constraints of a short visit and limited longitudinal data, care often ends with broad guidance like “eat better” or “check back next year.” Meanwhile, your health is changing every day. Metabolic function, inflammation, aging, and chronic disease don’t switch on overnight. They unfold gradually over time, shaped by lifestyle factors including sleep, nutrition, movement, stress, as well as genetics and environment. But unless…

The global market for hair extensions is booming, and projected to hit $14 billion by 2028. What was once a niche luxury item for women is now widely available. Now, a new study from Silent Spring Institute says many hair extensions—including products made from human hair—contain dozens of hazardous chemicals, some linked to cancer. The research, published in the American Chemical Society journal Environment & Health, provides the strongest evidence to-date about the potential health risks associated with these beauty products, which are largely unregulated. The risks disproportionately affect Black women: The study found over 70% of Black women report wearing…

In late January, like Dr. Frankenstein pulling the knife switch to jolt his monster alive, entrepreneur Matt Schlicht flipped the digital switch on his vibe-coded social network, Moltbook, unleashing his own monster into the world. The platform made headlines for being the first social media site expressly for AI agents, not humans. But for me, its significance goes way beyond that. Moltbook is a harbinger—the first real sign that a new type of internet is upon us. No, not a dead internet. Something much more epochal: a zombie internet that could have devastating consequences for advertising, social media, and the human web in the years ahead. Or, perhaps it could…

If you’ve been dreaming of adding a mid-sized SUV to your cart alongside a bulk pack of granola bars and a new air fryer—well, we’re not quite there yet. But that day is getting closer: Amazon has officially rolled out its car-buying program. But before you prepare your driveway to make room for a two-ton Prime delivery, you should know that buying a car on Amazon isn’t exactly like buying a Kindle. Here’s the lowdown on how it works, who it’s for, and why you definitely can’t return a Hyundai to Whole Foods. What’s for sale Right now, your options are limited. The main partner for new vehicles is Hyundai. If you’re in the market for a Santa Fe, a Tucson, or a…

A viral X post from late last year pitted images depicting two hustle-culture lifestyles side by side: tech bro hoodie and Notes app icon on one side, a business suit and a copy of Cal Newport’s Deep Work on the other side. “Left guy will most likely beat the right guy,” it concluded. “Guy on the left makes more money but guy on the right is happier,” one user commented. Whether it’s “grind mode,” “routine maxxing” or some other high-octane “sleep when you’re dead” approach to work, the right specific approach within that umbrella is unclear. It’s the question plaguing young founders and Silicon Valley types. Maybe some aim to lock in, grind away from 9 to 9 …

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. With apologies to T.S. Eliot, some CEOs are finding that February, not April, may be the cruelest month. In recent weeks, Workday, PayPal, and The Washington Post parted ways with their chief executives, suggesting that high CEO turnover, which reached record levels in recent years, may con…

If you stop by the “as-is” section at one of Ikea’s U.S. stores, you might now find a vintage table from the 1980s. The company recently started accepting older products in its Buy Back & Resell program, which gives customers store credit for bringing back used items, and then offers them for sale to other customers. Since launching as a pilot in the U.S. five years ago, the program—still the only one of its kind at a major furniture retailer—has steadily expanded, underscoring the demand for circular options. The program “is our opportunity to bring our products back into the store from our customers to keep them out of landfill,” says Mardi Ditze, sustainabi…

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader’s assassination, died Tuesday. He was 84. As a young organizer in Chicago, Jackson was called to meet with King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis shortly before King was killed and he publicly positioned himself thereafter as King’s successor. Jackson led a lifetime of crusades in the United States and abroad, advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues from voting rights and job opportunities to education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through…

This should come as a shock to very few people, but Krispy Kreme doughnuts, which typically needs very little reason to give away its doughnuts, is giving away free doughnuts today. This time, the free doughnut giveaway is in honor of Fat Tuesday 2026. But there’s a catch. Here’s what you need to know. What is Fat Tuesday? Today (Tuesday, February 17) is Fat Tuesday, otherwise known as Mardi Gras. The holiday always falls on the final Tuesday before the Christian holy day of Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of the Lent observance period. Traditionally, Christians refrain from eating certain foods during Lent, particularly rich and fatty ones. As a…

Today marks the start of the Year of the Fire Horse, which in Chinese tradition is all about action, boldness, and taking on new challenges. And what better way to celebrate a year that should be full of red hot, blazing energy than with a hand-crafted cowboy hat from Stetson? The color? Red, of course. The company, started by John Batterson Stetson in 1865, invented the cowboy hat. Today, it’s still known for embracing the spirit of the West with its quality hats, boots, and outerwear. And to mark the year of intensity, which hasn’t happened in 60 years, the brand is partnering with Gold House to turn an iconic cultural item—the cowboy hat—into a modern…

For the past decade—and really, for its entire 84-year history—the laundry detergent brand Tide has been trying to simplify the process of doing of laundry. From its original all-in-one powder to 1980s-era liquid soap to the 2012 introduction of the packet-based Tide Pod, the brand and its parent company Procter and Gamble have regularly reformulated the core product to accommodate the seemingly simple but highly diverse act of washing one’s clothes. “There are 55 unique steps we’ve identified in the laundry process,” says Marchoe Northern, president of North America fabric care at Procter and Gamble. “Our job is to continue to think about ways to solve today’s modern…