What's on Your Mind?

Do artists and scientists see the same thing in the shape of trees? As a scientist who studies branching patterns in living things, I’m starting to think so. Piet Mondrian was an early 20th-century abstract artist and art theorist obsessed with simplicity and essence of form. Even people who have never heard of Mondrian will likely recognize his iconic irregular grids of rectangles. Tableau I by Piet Mondrian, 1921. [Image: Kunstmuseum Den Haag] When I saw Mondrian’s 1911 “Gray Tree,” I immediately recognized something about trees that I had struggled to describe. By removing all but the most essential elements in an abstract painting, Mondrian demonstrated som…

Finding fulfilling and motivating work is a challenge for many people, but it can be especially difficult for those just starting their careers. And as Generation Z professionals—those born between 1997 and 2012—increasingly seek personalized career paths, managers are tasked with helping employees find meaning in their roles while also meeting organizational goals. Some managers may view Gen Z’s desire for meaningful work as a form of entitlement, but dismissing it can be costly. Research shows that employees who find their work meaningful experience greater job satisfaction, which directly boosts productivity. Meanwhile, ignoring this need can lead to higher employe…

Hollywood is waking up to the power of influencers. That starts with MrBeast. Amazon’s Beast Games cost hundreds of millions to produce. Some of that came from the streamer, but much of it came from the pockets of MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson. On the Diary of a CEO podcast, he estimated “tens of millions” in losses from the show, admitting that he was an “idiot” for spending so much. But it was all for one goal: To knock down the Hollywood door so other creators could score their own production deals. But MrBeast misunderstands the power balance. In the attention economy, influencers have the eyeballs right now. Amazon’s acquisition of Beast Games …

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Carter G. Woodson is the reason we celebrate Black history this month, and every February. Not many people know him, but he was a scholar, a journalist, and an activist who decided in the early 1900s to document how formerly enslaved Africans and the broader African diaspora contributed to the prosperity and growth of this country and beyond. At the time, our nation’s na…

The dramatic images of wealthy neighborhoods burning during the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires captured global attention, but the damage was much more widespread. Many working-class families lost their homes, businesses, and jobs. In all, more than 16,000 structures—most of them homes—were destroyed, leaving thousands of people displaced. The shock of this catastrophic loss has been reverberating across Southern California, driving up demand for rental homes and prices in an already unaffordable and competitive housing market. Many residents now face rebuilding costs that are expected to skyrocket. Climate-related disasters like this often have deep roots in p…

As a leadership advisor, I’ve worked with countless executives who wrestle with failure—some fearing it to the point of paralysis, others glorifying it without extracting real lessons. Failure is inevitable. Growth is optional. The difference between leaders who thrive and those who stagnate isn’t the absence of failure—it’s how they respond to it. Fear of failure holds many organizations back, stifling creativity, slowing innovation, and fostering a culture of risk aversion. But failure, when embraced correctly, is one of the most powerful catalysts for growth. The problem? Too many leaders either avoid failure altogether or celebrate it without reflection. The k…

Companies are spending more than $65 billion globally on corporate wellness, offering everything from meditation rooms and resilience webinars to nap pods and self-help apps. Projections suggest this market will exceed $100 billion by 2032. And yet burnout is worse than ever. Post-pandemic, 77% of U.S. employees report experiencing workplace stress, according to the American Psychological Association, and 82% say they’re at risk of burnout. Experts blame collaboration overload, digital fatigue, and blurred work-life boundaries. Even artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, intended to streamline work, can amplify pressure by raising expectations for speed and o…

Another day, another recall. It if seems like there have been a number of recalls recently, you’re not imagining it. In the last month alone, there has been a recall for particular brands of soup, sparkling water, and vegetables. This time, it’s for butter. What’s happened? Agri-Mark, the maker of Cabot Creamery dairy products, conducted a voluntary recall for a single lot of its Extra Creamy Premium Butter, Sea Salted, totaling 1,700 pounds in 189 cases. Testing revealed an elevated level of coliform bacteria. The recall was initiated on March 26. Coliform bacteria often are considered indicators of fecal contamination. The U.S. Food and Drug Administratio…

As return-to-office policies take hold and fully flexible work arrangements decline, employees are re-adapting to in-person interactions. One of the biggest challenges? Giving and receiving constructive feedback. Unlike praise, constructive feedback highlights areas for improvement—a critical driver of individual and organizational success, yet one that many find difficult. Whether remote or in-person, various factors, like overestimating negative consequences or fearing relationship fallout, often make both giving and receiving feedback feel high stakes. While virtual feedback has its own challenges—limited nonverbal cues, potential misinterpretation, and techno…

It’s the dynamic pulse that surges through our electrical lines, the unseen force that illuminates the dark, and the silent but commanding engine propelling the future of artificial intelligence. Though intangible, its influence is omnipresent in our daily lives. This invisible force is power. As the world shifts from fossil fuels to embrace renewable energy, power is emerging as an ultimate finite resource. The ever-growing demands on our electrical grid, driven by the explosion of data centers, electric vehicles, and the proliferation of AI are creating a race against time where needs outpace supply. Consequently, our insistence on tech innovation may be hindering e…

It’s not been a good start to 2025 when it comes to major retailers shuttering locations. Since the end of last year, numerous companies have announced their intention to close swaths of their brick-and-mortar stores, including Party City, Big Lots, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, and Macy’s. Just this week, another retailer—Joann fabrics—announced it would be closing hundreds of locations, as well. And now, department store icon JCPenney has also announced it’s closing some locations. Here’s what to know: JCPenney has had a roller-coaster few years The iconic department store chain has faced several struggles in recent years, most notably from the fall of foot traffic …

For the first time since 1984, the airline Korean Air is updating its charmingly retro look to new branding that’s better suited for the modern era. The rebrand, designed by the global creative consultancy Lippincott, includes a new wordmark, refreshed logo, and pared-down color scheme. It’s set to debut across Korean Air’s operations and on the livery of its aircraft in the coming weeks. The rebrand comes just a few months after Korean Air officially completed merger negotiations with Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second-largest airline. The two companies will become one mega-airline. [Image: Korean Air]As Korean Air begins to integrate Asiana Airlines’ operations with …

When Netflix reality show Dubai Bling debuted in 2022, it became a global sensation, garnering viewers across 51 countries. And it’s kept up the momentum: The show’s recently released third season racked up 18.6 million hours of viewing time in its first week alone. Dubai Bling, filmed in English and Arabic, is subtitled in 31 languages and dubbed in 5. The show has been part of a surge in Arabic content on Netflix attracting global viewership. Last spring’s Honeymoonish, an Arab-language rom-com from Kuwait, trended in the top 10 film list of 73 countries, amassing more than 22 million views. Danya “Diva Dee” Mohammed in Dubai Bling, Season 1 [Photo: Hyku Deses…

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. As the number of internet of things (IoT) devices is projected to reach 40 billion by 2030, IoT integration into our daily lives is undeniable. From smart homes to industrial systems, IoT devices offer unprecedented convenience and efficiency. Netgear’s 2024 IoT Security Landscape report found that IoT devices, including TV sets, smart plugs, routers, and more face frequent atta…

Once upon a time, back in 1995, BYD was a little-known battery maker. Today, it is the world’s largest electric vehicle producer after surpassing Tesla in global sales in 2024. This rise reflects a relentless focus on automation and vertical integration. It controls every part of its supply chain. It makes its own batteries, with features unmatched in the industry, even mining raw materials like lithium. Its factories are robotic wonders that run about 97% on their own, building a never-ending stream of cars better than Western equivalents at lower price points. And it also transports its own cars across the world with its own fleet of ships specially designed to carry au…

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. When I was a college student renting an apartment in New York City, I learned firsthand that the rental process was overly complex and inefficient. My friends and I lost out on an apartment we really wanted simply because we couldn’t gather the necessary documentation fast enough. That experience stuck with me, and it sparked an idea—why not electronically store all of the d…

As we enter spring, the days may be getting longer, but the average workday seems to be contracting. Corporate employees in the U.S. now seem to be ending their day at 4:39 p.m., according to a new report by the workforce analytics platform ActivTrak. That’s more than 40 minutes earlier than when workers clocked out just two years prior. While employees still start their day on average just before 8 a.m., the average length of the workday has dropped to about eight hours and 44 minutes. The report, which looked at data from nearly 220,000 workers at 777 companies, indicates that productivity has actually increased by 2% despite the slight reduction in time worked. Som…

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 famous computer scientist Bill Joy once said, “No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else.” If you want to build something on the bleeding edge, you must have an open ecosystem that can pull in as many ideas as possible, skills and talents that exist beyond the four walls of your office building. This is the ethos of open source, the idea that the world is open …

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Since the pandemic housing boom fizzled out, the number of unsold completed U.S. new single-family homes has been rising. Here’s a look at the recent historical numbers for January: January 2018: 63,000 January 2019: 76,000 January 2020: 76,000 January 2021: 40,000 January 2022: 32,000 January 2023: 68,000 January 2024: 83,000 January 2025: 115,000 The January figure (115,000 unsold completed new homes) that recently published is the highest level since July 2009 (126,000). Let’s take a closer look at the data to bett…