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Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said in a speech Monday morning that the central bank will introduce two capital proposals that she said are aimed at boosting banks' role in the mortgage market. View the full article

Hiring an SEO agency can be a game-changer for brands looking to outshine the competition in search results. That said, an SEO agency is only as good as its partnership with its clients. That’s when SEO’s true value can be realized. What this looks like practically is working together towards shared goals and keeping momentum high. Sometimes that’s easier said than done. Here’s what you can do to ensure you get the most from your SEO agency partnership. Because when you’re aligned, you make progress faster and, in turn, can better prove ROI. Align SEO with what moves the business Your company sets the business goals, and SEO’s job is to get the traffic to help you reach them. The more you align on goals with your agency, the more effective an SEO program will be. Before any campaign is launched, the business and the agency need to discuss how to align SEO with your business goals. This meeting is even more effective when you can get cross-departmental stakeholders to weigh in. Objectives can be anything – for instance, market expansion, revenue, building brand authority, enhancing the customer experience, or something else. When executed well, SEO can support nearly any business goal. This is also an excellent time to facilitate SEO training across teams. When departments are aligned on the foundational concepts of SEO, they can understand SEO’s function and their role in it. Dig deeper: SEO prioritization: How to focus on what moves the needle Set the agenda for a productive kickoff What does a productive kickoff meeting look like? Here are some things that are important to cover: Your pain points: Even if you already discussed your SEO pain points during the sales call, it’s important that your SEO team hears it directly from you and has an opportunity to ask questions. The ins and outs of your business: Help the SEO team understand your business as best you can. You know your industry better than anyone, and the more the agency knows, the better your SEO program will be. The program’s scope: Make sure you understand the scope and everyone’s role in the project. For example, how long is each phase of the project? Who is responsible on the agency side for which tasks? Who will move things forward at the client company? In-house capabilities: Update your SEO team on your current capabilities and resources, such as how many writers, developers or designers you have available for tackling tasks. Common roadblocks: Discuss how to prepare for common roadblocks in SEO implementation. Your SEO agency is well-positioned to speak about these kinds of things, so you can be proactive on your end. Communication methods: You will want to know how to communicate with the agency (emails, Slack channels, Zoom meetings, etc.) and how often. The more communication, the better. Both parties benefit from staying top of mind; the last thing you want is to sign a contract and then things go dark. Reporting methods: Find out how the agency will report progress. Is it monthly? Quarterly? In what formats will the reports be delivered? Will the reporting structure meet your needs to show ROI to stakeholders? Setting all these expectations early creates accountability that keeps the project moving and makes it easier to measure success later. Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand shows up. The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need. Start Free Trial Get started with If needed: Shift your mindset from ‘SEO vendor’ to expert partner If you’ve put in the research, vetted several agencies, and hired the best one, then there’s a bit of mindset work that may need to happen next to make the relationship as strong as it can be. While blind trust isn’t the goal, SEO agency clients should prepare themselves to receive and trust their SEO agency’s advice – after all, that’s why you hired them. Give your agency the visibility it needs to perform This is relatively simple. Giving your SEO agency full visibility into historical and real-time performance sets your SEO team up for success on day one. Set up a protocol for agency access to: Google Search Console, GA4, Bing Webmaster Tools, your CMS, and relevant third-party analytics or reporting tools. CRM data or lead-quality feedback to help the agency align SEO efforts with revenue goals. Any context on past search performance, campaign history, and prior SEO initiatives. Revenue or operational data as needed, so you have another way to corroborate SEO performance. Finally, ensure agency access is built into onboarding for any new tools and systems you adopt that may impact SEO. Dig deeper: How to onboard an SEO agency the right way Make SEO a cross-functional effort SEO often needs the cooperation of many teams. If you’ve done a good job of including the department leaders in the SEO planning phase, then you will likely get more done. To remain accountable, it’s advisable that all necessary team members attend key meetings with your SEO agency. The more they hear things firsthand, the smoother the implementation will go. However, even the best plans can go awry when teams with competing priorities collide. This might be a question of culture, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make progress. You might look into solutions like: Cross-departmental team-building activities. Open communication about the purpose and goals of the SEO project. Feedback loops to review the status of your interdepartmental collaboration and identify ways to improve. The more streamlined and responsive the collaboration, the faster your SEO efforts can gain traction. Create SEO content that’s powered by brand knowledge Your agency brings deep expertise in SEO, but only you know your brand, offerings, and customers on a deep level. This is why collaboration on content is necessary to create truly relevant, helpful content that search engines will rank. Rather than relegating SEO content to the agency with minimal involvement, commit to being an active partner in the process. This can include the following action items: Align on voice, brand, and messaging early Sharing brand guidelines, tone of voice, and existing messaging frameworks are all helpful. Your agency should work as an extension of your marketing team, and that starts with having some guidelines for how the brand communicates. Transfer institutional knowledge Nothing can get a content team up to speed quicker than reviewing existing content assets or plugging into an internal calendar. Here are some ways to transfer knowledge with your SEO agency: Provide access to internal resources like product documentation, customer FAQs, or sales enablement content. Keep the team updated on relevant marketing and sales activities, such as events and promotions. Give real-time access to an editorial calendar to help plan for future content for the site, whether it’s editing existing pages or creating new ones. Bring subject matter experts into the process Identify in-house subject matter experts who can provide input or be interviewed as needed for the content. You can’t satisfy the “experience” or “expertise” aspect of Google’s E-E-A-T framework for quality content without some firsthand knowledge. Collaborate before content is written Work together on outlines or briefs to align on structure and intent before drafting begins. Content is much stronger when in-house and agency teams are aligned before the content creation process starts. Review for relevance Review drafts not just for accuracy, but for alignment with your customers’ needs and expectations. The most important thing in SEO content is ensuring it’s relevant to your customers. The best content will align with your brand and your customers and sound like it came from your company. Strong SEO content comes from brands that bring the knowledge only they can provide. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. Remove the approval friction that slows SEO down One of the biggest bottlenecks to SEO progress is waiting. Waiting for approvals, feedback, access, answers – all of these hinder your ability to compete faster in the search results. For a more streamlined process, approve all deliverables and tasks promptly. Making a commitment to moving the project forward could mean you have hard deadlines for turnaround times. To make this step more efficient, you can look into: Analyzing the approval workflow and identifying any bottlenecks upfront. Eliminating unnecessary approval steps or people to simplify the process. Establishing clear review/approval guidelines upfront to reduce confusion, which can slow the approval process. Using technology that helps make the process smoother (like Slack or others), where people can collaborate with ease. Leaning on your SEO agency to prioritize which tasks will yield the highest return and go from there. In SEO, speed is often a competitive advantage. Streamlining the approval process is one way to keep momentum. Prioritize implementation above all else Don’t be surprised by the results you didn’t get from the work you didn’t do. Often, there are SEO tasks that need to be implemented on your end and require resources. Not implementing SEO agency recommendations is a prevalent challenge, and probably one of the biggest reasons clients end up leaving an agency. The sole purpose of spending anything on marketing is to bring more money in than went out. When internal teams stall on implementing SEO tasks, it can halt the agency’s momentum, hinder your search progress, and waste the company’s budget. Technical SEO execution is often where SEO projects lose the most momentum. This is where bringing in IT and dev teams early on in the SEO process is invaluable. When they understand why a change matters and impacts performance, they are more likely to get on board. Regardless, you can still build in some guardrails to be proactive: Prioritize SEO tickets in sprint planning. Involve IT or dev early in discussions that include technical implementation. Allow direct communication between your agency and development team to speed up resolution. Create a process for flagging and tracking outstanding technical tasks. Take the time to make the updates that your SEO team says are worth the effort. If the task is difficult or time-consuming but will have a big impact, do everything you can to get it done. Doing what your competitors are unwilling or unable to do is how you win. The technical foundation is what enables SEO to scale. The faster you can clear any roadblocks here, the sooner your investment starts delivering results. Dig deeper: Why governance maturity is a competitive advantage for SEO See the complete picture of your search visibility. Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform. Start Free Trial Get started with Stay engaged long after the kickoff SEO is a long game. It’s only natural that excitement and momentum are high early on, but after a while, engagement can taper off. Client-agency partnerships often find their groove over time. The brand trusts the agency, and the agency knows what to do. But from this place, cracks can begin to form. Maybe you’re not communicating as much, and that lack of communication can lead to gaps in knowledge – on both sides. Here are some tips to help you stay just as engaged on Day 365 as you were on Day 1. Be present in reviews and check-ins Be sure to attend regular check-ins and reporting calls to review progress and surface questions. It’s easy to miss calls when things pull you away, but staying committed to SEO means showing up, even if it’s just for 15 minutes. Keep SEO connected to business changes Share updates on business priorities, product launches, or changes in market strategy. It’s important that SEO remains at the strategy table so it can adjust as needed. Use performance data to drive conversations and decisions Trust in your SEO agency also comes with accountability. So hold your SEO team accountable. If you see a decline in rankings, traffic, or revenue coming from search, you need to have a conversation if they haven’t already brought it up. Use these performance insights to adjust tactics, reallocate resources, or explore new opportunities. Strong SEO results start with strong partnerships SEO works best when both sides do their part. The more aligned and collaborative you are with your SEO agency, the faster your SEO program can gain traction and deliver value. When both sides bring their expertise, stay engaged, and remove friction from the process, SEO becomes a strategic business initiative. View the full article

Bets against currency have outweighed positive wagers so far this yearView the full article

There is some new data out that shows that yes, Google's AI Overviews are causing a huge decline in clicks to websites organically but it is also showing that for e-commerce queries, there is a massive increase in clicks on search ads and product/shopping ads.View the full article

Google's John Mueller warned one site owner not to load "not available" in the JavaScript before the actual content that loads is available. It can lead Google to believe the page does not exist, preventing indexing and ranking in Google Search.View the full article

Google Ads has this new feature that lets advertisers calculate your conversion value for new customers. It says, "Select a lower target ROAS to adjust the incremental conversion value used to bid for new customers."View the full article

Regulator’s move comes amid pressure from government to boost pipeline of IPOs View the full article

We covered the topic of markdown files before but now we have more commentary from official representatives from Google and Bing on the topic. In short, they call markdown files messy, it can cause issues with finding errors, cause more crawl load and either way, the search engines use what people/humans can see over what bots can see.View the full article

US secretary of state hails ‘golden era’ in relations with Hungary View the full article

Keep international PPC campaigns aligned with practical frameworks for consistency, localization, and multi-agency coordination. The post International PPC: Why Consistency Is So Hard To Maintain appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

A moment of calm in relations between Europe and the US is a prelude to crises aheadView the full article

Google AdSense has ended its Parked Domains (AFD) as an ad surface within the Search Partner Network effective February 10, 2026. Google wrote, "Parked Domains (AFD) will cease to be an ad surface within the Search Partner Network effective February 10, 2026."View the full article

For Americans with conventional work schedules, Monday holidays are often a blessing. However, despite the extra weekend day, these observances can also sneak up on you and be confusing. Today (Monday, February 16) is Presidents’ Day, which is officially known as Washington’s Birthday. In this story, we’ll break down what exactly is open and closed on the day that we celebrate all the commanders in chief. Before we get into all that, let’s look at the history of the day and how it came to be. What does George Washington have to do with it? George Washington, the first president of the United States, has everything to do with Presidents’ Day. The holiday evolved out of a remembrance of the man who helped defeat the British and usher the country into a new era as an independent nation. Washington served as head of state from 1789 to 1797 and died in 1799. The following year many began celebrating his legacy on his birthday, February 22. It wasn’t until 1879 that his birthday became a federal holiday, when President Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law. At first this new edict only included Washington, D.C., but in 1885 the whole country got in on the act. What about Abraham Lincoln? The 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, is also associated with Presidents’ Day because of his February 12 birthday. Some states such as Illinois recognized it as day of observance even though it was never an official federal holiday. Lincoln’s leadership through the Civil War cemented his legacy as a major political figure. What is the Uniform Monday Holiday Act? The Uniform Monday Holiday Act was signed into law on June 28, 1968, by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It did not take effect until January 1, 1971. This new law essentially created the modern three-day weekend. Before it was the law of the land, Representative Robert McClory of Illinois tried to attach a provision to the act that would have combined both Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays into one observance. The Virginians in Congress disagreed, and the provision was dropped. Officially, on the federal level, the holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February is George Washington’s birthday. But over time, advertisers and many on the state level began calling the holiday Presidents’ Day. Now that you know who and why we celebrate, let’s get into what this means on the day itself. Are stock markets open on Presidents’ Day? No. Because it is a federal holiday, most markets are closed. This includes the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq exchange. This also applies to most U.S. bond markets. The only exception is cryptocurrency markets. Will mail be delivered on Presidents’ Day? Post offices will be closed and no mail will be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on Presidents’ Day. UPS will conduct business as usual. FedEx will also operate but some early on-call or drop box pickups may be modified or unavailable. Are banks open on Presidents’ Day? No. Banks will be closed on Presidents’ Day. This includes major chain banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. The good news is online banking and ATMs outside of branch locations are available. Are schools open on Presidents’ Day? No. Most public schools will be closed. Some may even take Lincoln’s birthday off in addition. Are restaurants and fast-food chains open on Presidents’ Day? Yes. Most restaurants and fast-food joints want your business and hope you dine out. Your local McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Popeyes, or Wendy’s should be open for business. Are grocery stores open on Presidents’ Day? Yes. Most grocery stores are open on Presidents’ Day. Some may have modified hours so it is always a good idea to check ahead. Aldi and Costco are typically open, but hours vary by location. Are stores open on Presidents’ Day? Yes. Most stores are open on Presidents’ Day. Many will also have sales to attract business on the three-day weekend. This includes big-box retailers such as Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and others. Presidents’ Day is typically a big day for mattress and furniture sellers like Mattress Firm and Raymour & Flanigan. Are pharmacies open on Presidents’ Day? Yes. Most pharmacies are open on Presidents’ Day, including chain pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens, but it is always good practice to double-check with your preferred location to prevent a wasted trip. View the full article

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 continue in 2026. CEO turnover remains high Russell Reynolds Associates, the global leadership advisory firm, found that 234 CEOs of globally listed companies departed their roles last year, up 16% from 2024 and 21% above the eight-year average. Last year marked the second consecutive record-breaking year for CEO exits, according to the firm’s Global CEO Turnover Index Report. The Russell Reynolds report attributes the high turnover in part to pressure from activist investors who want faster results. (Its research shows that 32 CEOs resigned within one year of an activist campaign in 2025, compared to 27 in 2024.) The data also suggests that boards are willing to pull the trigger earlier when performance stalls. “It’s too early to predict whether 2026 will set another record for CEO turnover, but the underlying macro pressures—including activist influence, market volatility, and ongoing transformation—remain in place,” says Laura Mantoura, managing director in Russell Reynolds’s U.S. Board & CEO Advisory practice. “As a result, sustained high levels of CEO turnover should be expected.” However, not everyone is convinced this is the new normal. Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, sees turnover leveling off after three years of brisk executive change, which followed a reluctance to change leaders during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and 2021. “I think our initial expectation right now is that the demand for change at the top is cooling a bit despite some big recent examples,” he says. Challenger notes that there’s one scenario that could trigger another record wave of CEO exits: a recession. Experience wins Investor demands appear to be pushing boards to favor experienced CEOs at public companies. Of the CEOs who took the reins at S&P 500 companies in 2025, 79% were first-time CEOs, down from 83% in 2024, and lower than the eight-year average of 85%, according to Russell Reynolds. That trend is playing out in 2026 succession scenarios: Alex Chriss, who had been an executive vice president at Intuit before becoming CEO of PayPal, is being replaced by Enrique Lores, who spent six years as president and CEO of HP. Workday cofounder Aneel Bhusri, who has served as the software company’s CEO or co-CEO at various points during the last 15 years, takes over from Carl Eschenbach, who had been a partner at Sequoia Capital and president and chief operating officer at VMware before joining Workday. Whether the recent spike in CEO turnover represents a temporary surge or permanent shift, executive recruiters and advisers say boards need to prioritize succession planning, and they need to think about the company’s needs in the coming years. As leadership expert Bill George has said: “Figure out what [the company] is going to need for the next 10 years, and find people with the mental agility and courage to look at it differently than you looked at it.” Your leadership outlook Do you see CEO turnover continuing at a rapid pace? Or are you, like Challenger, expecting it to level off? Let me know your thoughts. My email address is stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. Read more: CEO turnover The surprising power of interim CEOs How two CEOs hold themselves to a high productivity standard AI is rewriting the CEO job description. Are you ready? View the full article

In relation to gathering effective feedback, crafting the right survey questions is vital. The questions you choose can notably impact the quality of insights you receive. For instance, a mix of rating scales, open-ended inquiries, and targeted prompts can help you capture both quantitative and qualitative data. Comprehending which questions to include will guide you in making informed decisions. So, what fundamental questions should you consider to improve your feedback collection strategy? Key Takeaways Use open-ended questions to gather detailed opinions and insights from respondents about their experiences and expectations. Incorporate multiple-choice questions to streamline data analysis and quantify customer preferences effectively. Utilize rating scale questions to measure satisfaction levels, capturing nuances in customer sentiment across different aspects. Include closed-ended questions for straightforward statistical comparisons and to assess specific metrics like NPS or CSAT. Pretest survey questions with a small group to refine clarity and ensure they align with research objectives for maximum effectiveness. Importance of Effective Survey Questions When you design a survey, the significance of effective questions can’t be overstated, as they serve as the foundation for collecting meaningful feedback. Clear, neutral, and unbiased questions are crucial for gathering accurate insights, directly influencing the quality of the feedback you receive. When crafting business survey questions, guarantee they align with your research objectives, so the data gathered leads to actionable information. For instance, market research survey question examples can guide you in creating relevant inquiries. Combining different question types, like qualitative open-ended and quantitative closed-ended questions, improves the depth of insights you gather. Moreover, the careful selection of formats, including multiple choice and rating scales, contributes to a thorough comprehension of respondent opinions. Finally, pretesting your survey questions with a small group can help identify potential issues, refining clarity and finally improving survey effectiveness and response rates. Types of Survey Questions Comprehending the types of survey questions is crucial for gathering effective feedback. Open-ended questions allow you to capture detailed opinions, whereas multiple-choice and rating scale questions help you analyze quantitative data efficiently. Open-Ended Questions Benefits Open-ended questions play a crucial role in surveys by allowing respondents to share their thoughts and feelings in their own words, which often leads to richer qualitative insights. Unlike quantitative survey questions for students, which limit responses, open-ended questions encourage deeper engagement, enabling participants to elaborate on their experiences. This can uncover unexpected themes or trends that closed-ended questions might miss. For instance, in customer feedback surveys, these questions capture nuanced opinions about products or services, driving actionable improvements. Even though analyzing responses can be complex and time-consuming, the valuable insights gained often justify the effort. When considering how to create survey questions, incorporating open-ended formats can greatly improve comprehension of your audience’s perspectives. Quantitative Data Advantages Though open-ended questions offer valuable insights, quantitative data advantages also play a significant role in survey design. Using quantitative survey types, like multiple-choice and rating scales, you gain measurable data that’s easy to analyze for trends and patterns. Closed-ended questions limit responses to predefined options, which simplifies statistical analysis and facilitates comparisons among different respondent groups. Likert scale questions allow respondents to express their agreement or satisfaction on a consistent scale, effectively quantifying sentiments. By utilizing quantitative data, organizations can track changes over time, measure the impacts of interventions, and make informed decisions for improvement. The structured nature of these questions improves the reliability of your study survey results, ensuring findings can be replicated and validated. Combining Question Types Effectively To create effective surveys, combining different types of questions is crucial, as it allows you to gather a richer set of data that can lead to more informed insights. By using a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions, you can improve feedback quality. Question Type Purpose Multiple Choice Easy data analysis Rating Scale Quantifies opinions and experiences Open-Ended Captures detailed feedback Incorporating Likert scale and dichotomous questions helps gauge sentiments accurately, during maintaining clarity and engagement. Thoughtful selection of these question types contributes to the overall effectiveness of your surveys, enabling you to make informed decisions based on diverse data sources. Customer Feedback Questions Comprehending customer feedback questions is crucial for you to gather key insights about your product or service. By asking targeted questions, like what users appreciate most or what challenges they face, you can identify improvement opportunities that improve their experience. Implementing metrics such as NPS and CSAT, alongside open-ended queries, further supports your goal of refining your offerings based on real user input. Key Insights Gathering Gathering customer feedback is essential for businesses looking to improve their products and services, as it allows you to uncover users’ main goals and expectations. By asking targeted questions, you can identify what matters most to your customers, tailoring your offerings effectively. Comprehending customers’ greatest concerns about your product or brand helps pinpoint potential barriers to conversion and retention. Open-ended questions, like those asking about changes experienced after using your product, provide qualitative insights that reveal hidden pain points and unexpected delights. Furthermore, structured metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) quantify satisfaction, enabling you to track improvements over time. Combining both quantitative and qualitative feedback gives you a thorough view of your customers’ experiences. Improvement Opportunities Identification Identifying improvement opportunities through customer feedback questions is crucial for refining your products and services. By asking targeted questions, you can uncover hidden pain points and unmet needs that improve user experience. Consider these key questions: What do you like least about our product/service? What features could we add to improve your experience? How does our product compare to competitors in your view? Is there anything you’d like to add? Utilizing these questions can provide actionable insights for product development. Metrics like the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) can help quantify customer sentiment and track improvements over time. Open-ended questions encourage detailed feedback, highlighting specific areas for improvement, in the end driving better customer satisfaction and loyalty. Employee Engagement Survey Questions How can you effectively gauge employee engagement within your organization? Start by utilizing employee engagement surveys that assess job satisfaction, as 70% of employees cite this as vital for their overall engagement and retention. Incorporate Likert scale questions to quantify attitudes, allowing you to measure changes in sentiment over time. Focus on areas like professional development opportunities and recognition, which greatly impact motivation and commitment. Furthermore, include open-ended questions to capture insights on workplace culture and leadership, providing qualitative data to complement your quantitative findings. Regularly administering these surveys, ideally on a quarterly basis, helps you track trends, identify areas for improvement, and promote a culture of open communication. UX Survey Questions What makes a user experience truly effective? To understand this, you can use well-structured UX survey questions that capture user feedback thoroughly. Incorporating a mix of question types helps you gather valuable insights. Consider these key areas: Likert scale questions: Measure satisfaction levels regarding navigation and usability. Open-ended questions: Allow users to share detailed experiences, revealing insights that closed questions might miss. Visual appeal inquiries: Assess user preferences about design elements to guide improvements. Feature effectiveness: Identify which functionalities users value most and understand why they matter. Post-Event Feedback Questions Gathering feedback after an event is essential for comprehending participants’ experiences and improving future gatherings. Post-event feedback questions typically use closed-ended formats, allowing you to quickly gauge participant satisfaction. Common questions assess overall event ratings, staff helpfulness, and the likelihood of future attendance. To help structure your survey, consider the following table: Question Type Example Questions Overall Satisfaction How would you rate the event overall? (1-5) Specific Elements How relevant was the content? (1-5) Future Intentions How likely are you to attend again? (1-5) Crafting Questions for Clarity and Relevance When crafting questions for surveys, clarity and relevance play pivotal roles in obtaining useful feedback. To guarantee your questions are effective, consider these key elements: Use neutral language: Avoid biased wording to prevent influencing responses, which can distort your data. Align with research objectives: Tailor your questions to directly support your survey goals, enhancing the relevance of the responses. Incorporate diverse question types: Mixing open-ended and closed-ended questions can yield both qualitative insights and quantitative data, providing a well-rounded view of opinions. Pretest your questions: Running a small pilot survey can help identify ambiguities and improve clarity, guaranteeing your final survey captures the intended information. Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Questions Combining qualitative and quantitative questions in your surveys is crucial for gaining diverse insights into respondent opinions. As quantitative questions provide measurable data that helps track trends, qualitative questions offer deeper comprehension by revealing motivations and sentiments. Striking a balance between these two types improves the depth of your survey, leading to richer insights and more actionable information for informed decision-making. Importance of Diverse Insights Incorporating a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions in surveys can greatly improve the insights you gather, allowing for a more nuanced grasp of respondent feedback. By blending these question types, you can achieve a deeper awareness of customer experiences. Here are some key benefits: Measurable data: Quantitative questions, like Likert scale items, facilitate easy statistical analysis. Nuanced opinions: Open-ended qualitative questions capture thoughts that numbers alone can’t convey. Comprehensive insights: Quantitative data highlights trends, whereas qualitative responses reveal underlying reasons. Higher response rates: Diverse question types cater to various preferences, encouraging thoughtful engagement. Balancing Data Types Balancing data types in surveys is essential for capturing a well-rounded view of respondent feedback, as it allows you to gather both measurable statistics and rich, contextual insights. By combining quantitative questions, like Likert scale ratings, with qualitative open-ended questions, you can obtain numerical data that’s easy to analyze alongside nuanced opinions that add depth. This mix often leads to richer insights; for instance, following a closed-ended question with an open-ended follow-up lets respondents elaborate on their ratings. Research shows that surveys using both data types result in higher response rates and more actionable insights, as they engage respondents on multiple levels. Effective survey design caters to varied preferences, encouraging a more engaging feedback process. Enhancing Survey Depth Effective survey design goes beyond simply gathering data; it focuses on how questions are structured to yield meaningful insights. By combining qualitative and quantitative questions, you can improve the depth of your survey results. Consider incorporating: Likert scale questions to quantify attitudes and opinions. Open-ended questions for detailed insights into respondents’ experiences. Diverse question formats that allow for both measurable data and contextual explanations. Follow-up prompts to uncover hidden pain points and unexpected delights. This blend not only provides a thorough view of the subject matter but also promotes informed decision-making. In the end, it creates a culture of continuous improvement, empowering you to analyze feedback thoroughly and make strategic improvements. Tips for Writing Effective Survey Questions Writing effective survey questions requires careful consideration to guarantee that you gather meaningful feedback. Start by using simple language and avoiding jargon to make sure all respondents grasp the questions. This clarity is vital for obtaining reliable data. Next, craft neutral and unbiased questions. Leading respondents can skew your results, so aim for objectivity in your phrasing. Pretesting your survey questions with a small group can help identify potential issues and gather valuable feedback for refinement. Make certain that each question aligns with specific research objectives, as customized questions lead to more accurate and actionable responses. Furthermore, utilize a mix of question types, such as open-ended and closed-ended formats. This approach allows you to gather both qualitative and quantitative data, providing a thorough grasp of respondent perspectives. Analyzing Survey Responses for Actionable Insights Analyzing survey responses is an essential step in transforming raw data into actionable insights that can drive improvements within your organization. By categorizing data into quantitative and qualitative insights, you gain a thorough comprehension of respondent feedback. Here are some strategies to reflect upon: Use tools like Gallup Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) to quantify customer sentiment. Identify trends in employee feedback, as engaged employees can boost productivity by 14.9%. Implement follow-up questions on open-ended responses to investigate deeper into specific concerns or suggestions. Regularly review and adapt your survey strategies based on your analysis to guarantee continuous improvement. Frequently Asked Questions What Are Good Survey Questions for Feedback? Good survey questions for feedback should be clear and relevant to your objectives. Consider including both open-ended questions for detailed insights and closed-ended ones for measurable data. Use formats like Likert scales or multiple-choice questions to simplify analysis. Focus on inquiries about satisfaction, specific concerns, and suggestions for improvement. Regularly review and adapt your questions based on feedback to guarantee they remain effective and relevant, finally leading to actionable insights. What Are the Best Questions to Ask for Feedback? To gather effective feedback, ask clear and specific questions. Start with quantitative ones like, “How satisfied are you with our service on a scale of 1-10?” This gives measurable data. Follow up with qualitative inquiries, such as, “What’s one thing we could improve?” Avoid leading questions to guarantee unbiased responses. Adapting your questions based on previous feedback can improve future surveys, making them more relevant and effective for your audience. What Are Some 360 Feedback Questions? When considering 360 feedback questions, focus on key areas like communication skills, adaptability, and decision-making abilities. You might ask, “How well does this individual communicate with the team?” or “How effectively do they resolve conflicts?” Including a Likert scale can quantify responses, whereas open-ended questions allow for specific examples and insights. Such an all-encompassing approach guarantees you gather valuable perspectives from peers, subordinates, and supervisors, promoting accountability and continuous improvement in leadership practices. What Are the 5 Questions to Ask in a Questionnaire? When creating a questionnaire, you should ask questions that yield useful information. Start with an overall satisfaction question, like “How satisfied are you with our service?” Next, inquire about specific experiences, such as, “What did you like most?” Follow with a question about areas for improvement, like “What can we do better?” Include a rating scale question for quantitative analysis, and finish with an open-ended suggestion question to gather qualitative insights. Conclusion Incorporating effective survey questions is essential for gathering valuable feedback. By using a mix of qualitative and quantitative inquiries, you can gain insights into customer satisfaction, preferences, and areas for improvement. Whether you’re focusing on customer feedback, employee engagement, or user experience, crafting clear and relevant questions will improve your data collection. Analyzing the responses allows you to make informed decisions that drive improvements. In the end, well-designed surveys lead to better comprehension and stronger relationships with your audience. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "10 Essential Survey Questions Samples for Effective Feedback" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Antitrust filing argues Google cannibalizes audience visits to sites it uses to power AI results. The post Antitrust Filing Says Google Cannibalizes Publisher Traffic appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

The Public Interest Law Center filed an amicus curiae brief arguing against a joint motion to end a redlining agreement early against Lakeland Bank. View the full article

Picture a memory from childhood, one that feels real and nostalgic, but somehow just out of grasp: perhaps a family trip to the beach, or a moment mid-swing on the playset, or an afternoon spent hunting for four-leaf clovers. Now, imagine that you could bottle that golden moment into a fragrance. One scientist at MIT, Cyrus Clarke, is working to do just that. Alongside a team of fellow researchers, Clarke has developed a physical machine called the Anemoia Device, which uses a generative AI model to analyze an archival photograph, describe it in a short sentence, and, following the user’s own inputs, convert that description into a unique fragrance. The word “anemoia” was coined by author John Koenig and included in his 2021 book, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. It refers to a specific feeling of nostalgia for a time or place that one never actually experienced themselves—and it’s exactly what Clarke’s team hopes to capture with the Anemoia Device. According to a paper published by the team, the device explores the concept of “extended memory,” or the idea that, in the digital age, memory is increasingly stored and accessed through external media, like digital archives. Studies have already shown that memory can be formed vicariously—like when a second-hand account, perhaps from a parent, shapes one’s own memories—but the Anemoia Device is a delightfully physical, interactive experiment into how AI might allow users to experience a memory of a past they never actually lived. The Anemoia Device The Anemoia Device looks like something that one might find in the medical bay of a retro sci-fi spaceship. It’s a slim, metal-and-plastic contraption accented with a singular neon green screen and a simple array of three physical dials. At the bottom, a glass beaker waits to catch the final fragrance. To start, a user inserts a photograph into the device. A built-in vision-language model (VLM) analyzes the image and generates an initial caption based on what it finds. For a picture of tourists in China, an example used in the paper, the device might write, “A tourist in black shorts and a child pose in the doorway along the Great Wall of China, with the iconic stone steps and mountainous landscape stretching up toward the sky.” Users can then adjust the parameters of the caption with the three dials: one to decide which person or object in the image should be the subject; a second to describe the age of the subject; and a third to describe the mood of the scene. “I’m personally very interested in inventing new physical interfaces for generative AI,” Clarke says. “Generative AI usually starts with a blank prompt. The dials replace that with a physical, easy to understand grammar. You’re not trying to ‘say the right thing’ to an algorithm, it’s more akin to tuning an instrument.” A language-learning model (LLM), built from ChatGPT-4o, aggregates the original caption and the user’s inputs into a short, poetic narrative. If one were to select the Great Wall of China itself as the subject of the aforementioned prompt, the result would be something like, “For centuries, from the Warring States to the Ming, I’ve joyfully observed time’s march and countless travelers along my path of stone, brick, and wood.” Next comes the LLM’s most impressive task: converting this written poem into a tangible scent. Smell as a memory portal The scent-development process relies not just on identifying the appropriate olfactory notes, but also on evoking the right emotions. Clarke’s team trained the model to select from a scent library of 39 different fragrances (since expanded to a broader portfolio of 50 scents), ranging from old books to leather and dirt. Each fragrance was coded with a set of descriptors, labeling them with details like their primary notes, associated concepts, and strongest emotions. The LLM uses its training to select the right fragrances and determine how much of each should be used in the final concoction. All of that information is funneled to a custom olfactory display, which uses four pumps to draw the necessary liquid out of their vials and into the waiting beaker (the final formula for the Great Wall of China fragrance includes campfire, dirt, cedar, and bamboo). The Anemoia Device is capable of capturing an essentially infinite range of fragrances, from the smell of a sandy beach on a hot summer day in the ‘80s to the aroma of a couple enjoying a pear in a scenic garden. Ultimately, the study concludes, the device is a provocation that asks “what it means to remember when memory itself can be generated, what it means to feel when that feeling is co-authored with a machine, and what it means to be human when we can craft beautiful, fragrant fictions of pasts we have never lived.” View the full article

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Integrity, understood as a disposition to behave in prosocial, ethical, and principled ways rather than corrupt or self-serving ones, is among the strongest and most consistent predictors of job performance and leadership effectiveness. The reason is far from mysterious. Leadership, whatever its context, is a collective enterprise. No meaningful goal, from building empires to running companies, has ever been achieved alone. Across history, not just in humans but also other animals, cooperation has depended less on raw power than on trust. Ancient trading societies flourished precisely because reputation constrained behavior: merchants in Phoenician city-states, medieval guilds, and Silk Road networks relied on repeated interactions and informal enforcement mechanisms to ensure that partners honored their commitments. Those who cheated were excluded, not merely judged. Trust, in effect, functioned as an early mechanism for coordination and enforcement. The same logic applies in modern organizations. Teams perform better when members believe that leaders will act fairly, keep promises, and avoid exploiting asymmetries of information or power, or are so focused on their personal gain that they have little concern in harming the group. In line, research shows that leaders perceived as lacking integrity struggle to attract talent, elicit discretionary effort, or sustain collaboration over time. Conversely, leaders known for ethical consistency benefit from faster coordination, lower monitoring costs, and greater willingness among others to take risks on their behalf. The cost of distrust Given a choice, people prefer to collaborate with those they trust not because they are naïve, but because distrust is expensive. Working with unreliable or unethical partners increases the likelihood of failure, conflict, and reputational damage. In business, this may mean backing leaders who misrepresent performance or shift blame. In politics, it can mean empowering those who erode institutions for personal gain. In both cases, the costs are borne not only by the followers but by the system as a whole. This is why chronic corruption is one of the most reliable markers of institutional breakdown. As documented year after year by Transparency International in its Corruption Perceptions Index, countries that score lowest on integrity and trust tend to share familiar pathologies: weak rule of law, politicized institutions, capital flight, and persistent underinvestment, generally caused by parasitic governments and destructive leadership. By contrast, countries that consistently rank at the top of integrity and trust measures benefit from stronger institutions, more predictable governance, and higher levels of social and economic cooperation. To be sure, these societies are not free of self-interest or ambition; rather, they have succeeded in aligning incentives so that ethical behavior is rewarded and corruption is costly, censoring selfish short-term individual gains in favor of collective long-term benefits. Measuring integrity So, how can we tell whether a person has integrity, or gauge someone’s moral reliability? The question is especially consequential when applied to leaders, whose decisions shape the success, welfare, and future prospects of others. Fortunately, behavioral science offers several useful insights, even if it stops short of perfect certainty. First, integrity is not directly observable. Unlike physical attributes such as height or hair color, it cannot be seen or measured at a glance. Instead, it is inferred or deducted from patterns of behavior, consistency over time, and alignment between words and deeds. Integrity is therefore an attribution rather than a trait we can observe directly, which makes assessment inherently probabilistic rather than definitive. Second, short-term interactions are often misleading. Because appearing ethical brings clear benefits (trust, influence, reduced scrutiny, and access to resources) people are incentivized to signal integrity even when they lack it. This helps explain why superficially ethical environments can sometimes attract parasitic actors who exploit the goodwill and assumptions of others. In contrast, in persistently corrupt settings, distrust becomes the default, and even well-intentioned individuals are treated with suspicion. Context shapes both behavior and perception. A parallel and increasingly robust line of evidence comes from research on the so-called “dark traits”, narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Although conceptually distinct, these traits share a common core of low empathy, emotional coldness, and a tendency to instrumentalize others. From an integrity standpoint, this combination is toxic. Individuals high on these traits are less constrained by guilt or concern for others, more willing to bend or ignore rules, and more likely to justify unethical behavior as necessary, deserved, or clever rather than wrong. Psychopathy is most directly linked to callousness and fearlessness, reducing sensitivity to punishment and moral emotion. Machiavellianism predicts strategic deception, cynicism about human motives, and a belief that ends justify means. Narcissism, especially in its more grandiose forms, adds entitlement and moral exceptionalism, the belief that normal rules apply to others but not to oneself. Together, these traits reliably predict counterproductive work behaviors, ethical transgressions, and integrity failures, particularly in roles that confer power, discretion, and weak oversight. Crucially, this is not because such individuals lack intelligence or self-control, but because their motivational architecture is misaligned with prosocial norms. Where integrity depends on empathy, respect for authority, and an internalized concern for collective outcomes, dark traits tilt decision making toward self-interest, dominance, and short term gain, making them among the strongest dispositional red flags for integrity risk in organizational life. Third, while integrity cannot be measured perfectly, it can be assessed meaningfully. Research shows that peer ratings are among the most reliable indicators, precisely because integrity is reputational: it reveals itself in how people behave when others depend on them. Longitudinal data, such as 360-degree feedback, is especially informative. Personality traits like conscientiousness, altruism, and self-control (including the capacity to self-edit) also predict ethical conduct, as does past behavior. Self-reports are often dismissed, but well-designed measures still differentiate reliably between individuals with higher and lower integrity. Track records matter, even if they do not render anyone immune to temptation. As Warren Buffett famously observed, reputation takes a lifetime to build and a moment to destroy. Finally, the environment matters. Ethical failures are not only the result of “bad apples,” but also of “rotten barrels.” Weak governance, misaligned incentives, and tolerance for small transgressions can erode integrity even among otherwise decent individuals, while well-designed systems can reinforce ethical behavior by making misconduct costly and transparency unavoidable. Sapping growth Taken together, these points suggest that integrity is neither inscrutable nor guaranteed. Whether in governments, firms, or teams, integrity functions as an enabling condition for coordination and progress. When trust erodes, actors devote more effort to monitoring, hedging, and self-protection, leaving less energy for innovation or growth. In this sense, integrity is not merely a moral ideal, but a form of social infrastructure: largely invisible when it works, and painfully obvious when it does not. View the full article

But many brands have no idea what’s happening inside ChatGPT. They’re showing up in thousands of responses without knowing which queries mention them, what’s being said, or how they stack up against the competition. You can build basic vibe-coded tools…Read more ›View the full article

Below, Brad Stulberg shares five key insights from his new book, The Way of Excellence: A Guide to True Greatness and Deep Satisfaction in a Chaotic World. Brad is on faculty at the University of Michigan. He is a performance coach and regularly contributes pieces about sustainable excellence to the New York Times. His work has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic, among many other outlets. He serves as co-host of the podcast excellence, actually. What’s the big idea? What if excellence isn’t about winning, talent, or perfect conditions? Lasting performance and real fulfillment live in our curiosity, resilience, and love of the process. Listen to the audio version of this Book Bite—read by Brad himself—below, or in the Next Big Idea App. 1. The power of curiosity to fuel greatness. Before Kobe Bryant’s tragic death, he was asked, “Do you love to win or do you hate to lose?” He responded, “I’m neither. I play to figure things out. I play to learn something.” When you fixate on winning or losing or some other external outcome, it takes you out of the present. It makes it impossible to enter a flow state. It makes you fragile. But when you adopt a mindset of curiosity and growth, it relieves pressure and helps you stay anchored in the moment. Kobe Bryant was known for his killer instinct—The Mamba Mentality—and yet, even he recognized the difference between the finite game and the infinite game. The finite game is time-bound; there are winners and losers. The infinite game knows no end; the only goal is to keep playing, keep learning, and keep discovering. All the greats have had to learn that the infinite game is every bit as important as the finite one. Whether you play basketball or cello, repair cars, build tables, write books, or coach young people, your craft can be a vessel for self-discovery. We have a biological imperative to flourish, evolve, and grow. There’s no greater source of fulfillment and satisfaction than pushing yourself, pursuing a challenge, and developing along the way. “The real cycle you’re working in is a cycle called yourself,” wrote Robert Pirsig, about his experience with motorcycle maintenance. “The machine that appears to be ‘out there’ and the person that appears to be ‘in here’ are not two separate things. They grow toward Quality or fall away from Quality together.” Excellence requires a hunger for growth—a deep curiosity to figure out what you’re capable of, a curiosity to better know your craft, and a curiosity to better know yourself. 2. The power of performing well, even when you don’t feel your best. A surgeon that I have coached for a long time was called into an emergency case at two in the morning, and his goal was simple: save as much of someone’s leg as possible. My client was tired, and his mind was noisy. He felt off, and yet he took all that with him into the operating room and nailed the case anyway. Something that we see over and over in the current culture is that people think they need to fix something before they can act. Now, you shouldn’t suppress or ignore your emotions. If you can do something to feel better, do it, but the truth is you can feel like crap and still perform well. “It’s easy to do great work when everything is clicking, but excellence means being able to deliver even when it’s not.” Often, it’s the act of getting started that shifts how you feel. It’s easy to do great work when everything is clicking, but excellence means being able to deliver even when it’s not. It’s saying, Okay, this might be harder than usual, but I can manage, and then you manage. The greats aren’t great because they always have perfect conditions to do meaningful work. The greats are great because they show up and give their best shot even when they don’t. You could be a surgeon who didn’t get enough sleep, a student with a headache before a big exam, or an athlete who couldn’t get their usual pre-event meal. Those conditions aren’t ideal, but catastrophizing is worse. Too often, we spiral because we feel off, but the problem isn’t always the feeling. The problem is freaking out about the feeling. You can feel tired, stressed, unsure, and still deliver. You can put the not-so-great feelings or conditions in the passenger seat, take them along for the ride, and show up anyway. The ability to remain calm amid challenges is a core element of what psychologists call self-efficacy, meaning an evidence-based belief that you are capable of showing up, working through challenges, and excelling in uncertain or highly-charged circumstances. Decades of research show that individuals who score high in self-efficacy are better able to work through moments when they feel lost or stuck, be that in operating rooms, on playing fields, in the classroom, or in a boardroom. One of the best things you can do for your confidence is to feel off and yet still perform well. It frees you from needing to have perfect conditions to give it a go. You give yourself the evidence that you are resilient, durable, robust, and can get the job done. 3. True discipline versus fake discipline. True discipline bridges the gap between motivation and action, making the former less necessary for the latter. When you have discipline, you don’t need to feel a certain way to show up and get started. You just do. Fake discipline is a chest-thumping, performative act of toughness. That’s not the real thing. The real thing is showing up for what matters and doing what you need to do. The irony is that when you do hard things that you don’t feel like doing in the short run, you usually end up feeling better in the long run. “The real thing is showing up for what matters and doing what you need to do.” Fake discipline is loud, performative, and wants everyone to pay attention to it. Real discipline is quiet because it’s too busy getting what you need to get things done, rather than parading around. 4. The 48-hour rule. Whether you succeed or fail, give yourself 48 hours to celebrate the victory or grieve the defeat. Then, get back to doing the work. Results are an emotional roller coaster, but the work doesn’t change. Neurons that fire together wire together. It’s easy to get addicted to the high of external validation or become consumed by the low of failure. You want to avoid this trap at all costs. It’s kryptonite for sustaining high performance. Doing the work has a special way of putting both success and failure into their respective places. The work itself doesn’t change nearly as fast as our emotions—win or lose. Great day or terrible day, the blank page is still the blank page. A lap in the pool is still 25 meters. The classroom still needs to be taught. The pregame speech still needs to be given. Returning to the work keeps our focus rooted in the process, not the outcome. It reminds us of why we committed to our crafts in the first place. The work is the win. It’s the best medicine. 48 hours is an arbitrary amount that you can stretch or shrink to suit you, but the concept still stands. It ensures that we don’t become overly attached to success or failure, each of which comes with its own trappings. 5. Fulfillment and joy versus external achievement. Matthew Perry was one of four actors to ever have a number one movie and TV series. During that time, he dated Julia Roberts, bought the oceanfront house of his dreams, and made $1 million per episode of Friends. But as he repeatedly wrote in his memoir, none of it was enough. You can have it all, but there is no greater trap than thinking external achievement will fulfill you. The neurochemicals associated with wanting dopamine are much stronger than the ones associated with liking serotonin. The human brain is wired to want more. It’s how we evolved. We are suckers for the chase. We struggle to be content. “The only Zen you’re going to find on top of the mountain is the Zen that you bring up there along the way.” We all have holes we’re trying to fill, but no achievement, income, fancy watch, or substance is going to fill those holes in any meaningful way. Researchers call this the arrival fallacy, and recognizing it is liberating because you can stop expecting the next accomplishment to make you feel like a finished product. You can turn your attention to the process, finding joy, energy, and fulfillment in the work, rather than in the illusion of what might happen if or when you arrive. In his 2022 memoir, Perry wrote, “I’m certain that I got famous so I would not waste my entire life trying to get famous. You have to get famous to know that it’s not the answer. And nobody who is not famous will ever truly believe that.” The trap of fame status doesn’t just affect actors. It affects artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, writers, bakers, athletes, knowledge workers, teachers, coaches—many of whom have made it to the proverbial mountaintop. It affects all of us. If you can’t find joy and fulfillment in the climb, none of it is going to matter. The only Zen you’re going to find on top of the mountain is the Zen that you bring up there along the way. The only place you’re going to find the love you are looking for is by losing yourself in meaningful pursuits, expressing your innate gifts and creativity, and walking the path with good people. That’s what excellence is all about. Enjoy our full library of Book Bites—read by the authors!—in the Next Big Idea app. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission. View the full article

AI inspired many employers to take a wait-and-see approach to hiring in 2025, but new data suggest they’ll be returning to the market in search of certain skills in 2026. According to Upwork’s In-Demand Skills 2026 report, demand for AI-specific proficiencies have more than doubled on the freelancer platform over the last year. But at the same time, nearly half of employers also say they’re also putting a premium on human skills, like creativity, emotional intelligence, resilience and innovation. “When we look at the fastest growing skills in terms of demand, AI is all over it. That’s not surprising,” says Dr. Gabby Burlacu, licensed organizational psychologist and Upwork’s senior research manager. However: “What is interesting is that this is not growing demand for AI generalists, or even necessarily people who can build AI tools, but rather it’s growing demand for AI applied within a context.” In 2026, more employers want to inject AI into more business operations, and are seeking candidates that are not only able to utilize the technology, but also maximize its impact by leveraging their human skills and unique experience. Integrating, Not Building According to the Upwork study, demand for skills tied to AI is up 109% year-over-year. Skills related to AI video and content creation saw the biggest jump with a 329% increase, followed by AI integration (which helps inject the technology into existing business practices) at 178%. AI data annotation, which specializes in preparing and training content for the purpose of AI model training, ranked third with 154% demand growth. At the same time, the study found that employers are looking for what are traditionally labelled as “soft skills” or “human skills,” which are increasingly viewed as vital enablers of new tech tools. “We are seeing enormous demand and recognition from business leaders of just how important nontechnical and uniquely human skill sets are,” says Dr. Burlacu. “They want human judgment, they want creativity, they want innovation, and when we asked business leaders what skills are becoming critical in an AI world, the ability to build or even engage with AI tools wasn’t at the top of that list; it was learning agility and adaptability.” The study, and others like it, suggest AI isn’t replacing human workers on a wide scale as initially feared. Instead, it’s changing the kinds of skills employers are looking for, putting a higher premium on traits that can’t be automated. A Labor Market Bounce-back in 2026? Dr. Burlacu explains that each time a new disruptive AI tool or category of tools hits the market, employers tend to pull back on hiring in that domain as they figure out what exactly the technology is capable of, and where it falls short. “This [research] suggests that the impact of AI is taking shape, and that it is much more about augmenting how existing domains and roles are done, versus completely replacing the need for human skills,” says Dr. Burlacu. “There’s a tremendous opportunity to use AI to do the work that you do and that you specialize in [today] differently. That is what business leaders are seeking.” Dr. Burlacu adds that as employers gain a deeper understanding of how AI will impact their business, they’re gradually moving off the sidelines and pursuing the skills they need to best utilize the new technology. Towards an AI-Enabled Human Workforce The Upwork study is consistent with a recent McKinsey report titled “Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI,” which suggests the future of work will be defined by harnessing the best of both technology and humans. In that study, researchers examined 7,000 commonly sought-after skills from real job postings across industries and organized them based on those that could be fully automated today, those that will likely never be automated, and those that fell somewhere in between. They ultimately found roughly 70% of skills can be enhanced by technology, but still rely on human expertise. Another 12% remain entirely within the domain of humans while just 18% can be fully handed over to technology. “The implication is that it’s going to be a world in which we upgrade that skill by using it in conjunction with AI,” says the study’s co-author and McKinsey Global Institute Partner Anu Madgavkar. “If we can use AI as an assistant or a collaborator or a co-worker, then our own ability to use that skill and deploy it will be enhanced.” Madgavkar explains that in our AI-enabled future, workers won’t need the deep technical expertise required to build their own AI tools. Instead, they will be challenged to utilize the technology to enhance their own capabilities. “People’s roles are going to change quite a lot and very fast, and you can imagine there’s a degree of anxiety or uncertainty about that,” says Madgavkar. “It’s not just about adoption; it is indeed about reimagining how work gets done, not just at the level of an individual’s job or set of tasks, but really as a whole workflow.” The Transition is Already Underway Whether it was the ability to use word processors, social media or cloud computing, candidates have long been encouraged to list proficiency with the hottest technology of the day on their resumes. “What’s new is the pace and the level of acceleration,” explains Aashna Kircher, the group general manager of CHRO products at Workday. “The evolution of some of these tools is happening at a pace we’ve never seen, where every day there are new skills, new learnings, new understandings of what is and isn’t possible.” Fortunately, AI is itself making that education more attainable. According to a Workday’s Elevating Human Potential: The AI Skills Revolution report, 83% of employees globally say AI has enhanced their ability to learn new skills. As the ability to leverage AI to work more efficiently becomes table stakes, Kircher says workers and candidates are quickly becoming valued for the things they can offer that the technology can’t. “You need to apply context, values, nuanced to AI outputs and systems, as well as ethical decision making, emotional intelligence, relationship building and connection conflict resolution, leadership skills,” she says. “It’s not that technical skills aren’t important. They certainly are, but some of these other skills are actually becoming outsized in importance relative to some of the technology skills.” View the full article

I’ve been in love with France ever since my first trip to Bordeaux in 2010. Friends I had met back in Thailand showed me around the area and introduced me to French culture. It was my first time in France and I loved the food, the wine, and the people. But that love became an obsession when, after Bordeaux, I stepped out of the Paris metro and onto the Champs Élysées. The lights, the energy, the mystique! There was magic in the air. I felt like I had known the city my entire life and I was simply returning home. Since then, Paris has had a firm grip on my heart. Over the years, I spent countless visits exploring France and Paris in particular. I’ve run tours in the city and I spent a few months living there in 2019. Last August, after yet another sojourn, I thought to myself, “What if I moved back?” I was growing a bit tired of the NYC dating scene, the rising cost of living, and felt like creatively, I was in a rut. With AI coming for creators like me and the industry changing, I was a little lost on what, career wise, would come next. In short, I needed a change. And Paris seemed like the best place to go. It’s cheaper than NYC, I had friends there already, I’ve always wanted to learn French, it would make a great base for exploring Europe, and I could start writing my next book there. There’s nothing like a change in scenery to get the creativity flowing! But the question remained: how do you move to France? After all, they don’t have a digital nomad visa, and you’re limited to three months if you visit on your regular Schengen tourist visa. Well, it turns out that it’s not actually that hard. (And while I can only speak for Americans, I suspect the criteria are similar for Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis, and other “developed” nations.) If you want to move to France, you have four main options: Student visa Long-term visitor visa Entrepreneur Talent visa The student visa is pretty straightforward. You need to enroll in a full-time university program and show you have enough funds to support yourself (around 600 Euros per month). A friend is currently there on this visa, as she is doing a nine-month intensive French program to become fluent. You still have to apply for the visa, but if you’re enrolled in an accredited school, you’ll likely get approved. Another benefit to this visa is that you can work part-time on it! But this visa is contingent on being in school, so if you leave or quit, it’s voided. However, when you are done, you can change this to a “job seekers” visa, which can give you up to another six months in France (or more depending on how long your program was). I thought about applying for the entrepreneur visa, but the application process is pretty complex and can take months to be approved. You have to set up your business in France — and that is a lot of paperwork. You have to show that your business makes money, has clients (at least one of them being French), and can support you full time (you have to make at least the French minimum wage). They will scrutinize your assets and financials a lot and you’ll need to register your business in France and pay French taxes. Additionally, France offers a talent visa. If you’re an expert in your field (with verifiable accreditations and accolades), this could be a good visa to apply for, especially if you plan to stay in France for a long time and want to physically work there. But, again, you’ll need to have some source of income and plan to do physical business in the France. If you’re not an academic but someone in the arts, you have to show how you are going to add to the “culture of France” in some way. While I would meet the requirements for both those visas, the process for either would have been time consuming, and, since I’m not sure France is going to be my forever home, I decided not to go through that process. So I went with the long-term visitor visa, officially called VLS-TS visiteur. This allows me to stay up to 12 months in France and is renewable in the country. It does come with a lot of restrictions, however: I can’t physically work here and I am not allowed into the French social welfare system. It’s also the visa a lot of Americans (and most retirees) are coming in on. If you have passive income or retirement savings and just want to live in France, this is a good option for you. It allows you to set up a bank account and it can be renewed pretty much indefinitely. The paperwork for this visa (which I’ll get into in a bit) essentially comes down to whether or not you can support yourself. French authorities want to make sure you won’t be a burden on the system. My biggest question centered around whether or not I could “work” on this visa. A lot creators and digital nomads are applying for — and getting — this visa. But remember: you aren’t allowed to work on this visa so how are you going to work if you can’t work? So let me take a moment to talk about “work” from a legal standpoint. As I mentioned, there’s no digital nomad visa that allows you to work in France. And the French tax office said last July that remote work is considered taxable — but there are no official laws that. That’s just their opinion and there’s been no progress in codifying that opinion. In fact, my visa doesn’t even come with a tax number, so it’s impossible for me to be taxed. I couldn’t pay taxes even if I wanted to. The visa office asks how you’ll support yourself when you are in France and one of the sources of income they accept is “income from work.” I was very open that my means of support would be the income from this blog and my books. The system there really hasn’t caught up to remote work. It still defines “work” as something you do physically that could take away a job from a French person. So could I run walking tours in Paris? Nope. Could you work at a café? Nope. But does writing this blog post count as work? After all, no one is paying for it. It’s a free resource. Does going to a café to work on the next great American novel count? What about my weekly newsletter that has affiliate links (that generate income) in it? Is writing that considered work? The gray area is considerable, so the best thing to do is to talk to a lawyer. I recommend Daniel Tostado (yes, that’s his real name), one of the biggest American-French immigration lawyers in Paris. He has a huge law firm and regularly meets with government officials to clarify the rules on this. He gave me some solid advice. For this long-term visitor visa, the application process is pretty easy. You go to the French government website, fill out your application, take the application number to the TLScontact website, and make an appointment. (France outsources the appointment process to this company, which then sends everything to the French consulate for approval.) The main things you’ll want to demonstrate are that you have accommodation for 90 days on your application and enough income to support yourself. They just want to make sure you aren’t going to be a burden on the system. I went overboard. Here’s what I brought to my appointment: The application (you need to bring a printout) A confirmation of the appointment Extra passport photos Proof of accommodation (this can be Airbnbs, hotels, or someone’s home — if it’s the latter, make sure that they are the owner!) A letter attesting I won’t work A financial summary letter explaining why I am moving there and my source of income Health insurance that meets French legal requirements (I used Mondassur.) Three months of bank statements showing regular deposits A second bank account, my tax returns, and my W-2 I didn’t need the second bank account, tax returns, or W-2 (they weren’t required) but the woman at the appointment said the more proof you had the better and it wouldn’t hurt. And another friend who got this visa didn’t bring beyond what was asked in the application form. But I wanted to take no chances! At the appointment, the staff double-checks your paperwork, takes your biometric data, collects the fees, and then sends your passport to the embassy for processing. Officially, it takes up to 15 days to process your visa, but everyone I know seems to get it back within a week. The worst part was not knowing if you are approved until your passport is returned. While you can track the progress of your application, you don’t know the verdict until your passport is back in your hands. While I was waiting (and anxiously spiraling), I looked on Reddit and found that most denials were for lack of income or issues with their accommodation, which seem to be the two most important things to have perfect on your application. Once you get your visa back, you can enter France any time after the start date. After you enter, you have 90 days to register your visa with the state (they give you a little QR code with instructions). This allows you to “officially” be on this long-term visa. (It’s a more paperwork kind of thing.) Once that is done, there’s nothing else to do and you can stay in France (and Europe) until your visa expires! So, if you’re considering moving to France, these are your options. But, as always, I’m not a lawyer and this is not legal advance. In regard to work and other issues or questions, it’s important that you seek legal counsel and get their expert opinion! Get Your In-Depth Budget Guide to Europe! My detailed, 200+ page guidebook is made for budget travelers like you! It cuts out the fluff found in other guidebooks and gets straight to the practical information you need to travel and save money while backpacking around Europe. You’ll find suggested itineraries, budgets, ways to save money, on and off the beaten path things to see and do, non-touristy restaurants, markets, and bars, and much more! Click here to learn more and get started! Plan your trip to Europe like a pro Get all my best Europe travel tips as well as free planning guides sent straight to you and see more of the country for less! Get your guides here! Book Your Trip to France: Logistical Tips and Tricks Book Your Flight Use Skyscanner to find a cheap flight. They are my favorite search engine because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned. Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the biggest inventory and best deals. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are: Safety Wing (for everyone below 70) Insure My Trip (for those over 70) Medjet (for additional repatriation coverage) Looking for the Best Companies to Save Money With? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use to save money when I’m on the road. They will save you money when you travel too. Want More Information on France? Be sure to visit my robust destination guide to France for even more planning tips! 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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 six days per week, fueled by White Monster, a laptop and a dream. Or perhaps the more effective rise-and-grind technique is to stick to some version of Patrick Bateman’s morning routine from American Psycho. Alarm at 3:55 a.m. Ice bath. Affirmations. Lift some weights. Supplements. Ready to stare at a three-monitor setup for the next eight hours straight, interrupted only by a wearable tracker reminding you to hit your ten thousand steps. One founder suggested the best combination is actually both. “There’s gonna be weeks where you have specific deadlines that you just have to grind it out, and you’re not getting good sleep, and you’re not really taking maybe the best health approach to your work routine,” explains Gannon Breslin, CEO of snowballapp.ai, in a recent TikTok post. He calls this “pure grind mode”. It’s a case of simply getting done what needs to get done, however you can get it done. This grind mentality is increasingly common among a new generation of Silicon Valley upstarts. In fact, many job listings for AI startups leave no confusion about their expectations from potential applicants. “Please don’t join if you’re not excited about… working ~70 hrs/week in person with some of the most ambitious people in NYC,” read the description for a role at Rilla, a New York-based tech business. “Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week,” Elon Musk once said. The key, according to Breslin, is to balance this out when your business is in “homeostasis”. This is prime time to optimize. “That’s when you’re really caring about your sleep pattern, making sure you have everything dialed in,” he says in the clip. This is when workers might reestablish a sense of routine – wake up early, focus on their nutrition that’s been neglected while living and breathing the 996 lifestyle, and reduce any inefficiencies (or health problems) that emerged while in “grind mode.” “And so it’s kind of this, like oscillating pattern between what state your company and business is in,” Breslin concludes. If this all seems unsustainable, that’s because it is. Burnout amongst workers is already at an all-time high. A 2025 report from online marketplace Care.com found, while companies believed 45% of their workers were at risk of burnout, in fact 69% of employees said they were actually at moderate to high risk. Luckily, there’s also a secret third thing. It’s called having a life. View the full article