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"Valley Of The Gods" Recounts The Wild Ride Of Peter Thiel's Fellows

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In a Q&A, author Alexandra Wolfe follows the lucky 20 who dropped out of college and were given $100,000 to become tech entrepreneurs.

For Peter Thiel, the ultimate contrarian, it was the ultimate prank.

Back in 2011, the legendary PayPal founder and Silicon Valley investor launched an initiative he'd been thinking about for years—encouraging brilliant young students with a genius idea to skip college and start a company and maybe become the next Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk. Known for his singular intellect and independent streak, Thiel and his partners came up with a crazy stunt that echoed—and subverted—a well-known adventure from the 1960s.

It was Inspired by Tom Wolfe's "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," which chronicled Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters' drug-fueled journey driving a multicolored school bus across the country from California to New York. Thiel and friends planned to reverse the journey, driving from New York to California, picking up the first class of Thiel Fellows on their way and stopping at college campuses to make mischief and convince smart students to drop out and join them on their way to Silicon Valley. To top off the parallel, Wolfe's daughter, journalist Alexandra Wolfe, planned to go along for the ride, chronicling the trip. They even planned to take Justin Bieber's old tour bus and plotted their course on a map—but the bus didn't start, coordinating the journey got too complicated, and they called off the stunt.

Alexandra Wolfe[Photo: Mark Seliger]

Though the journey never happened, the Thiel Fellows program was a big success and has attracted more applicants with every year. Only about 10% of fellows on average go back to finish their studies at college and several of them have become multimillionaires with thriving startups. Wolfe followed the fortunes of that first class of 2011, describing their successes and disappointments along the way in her new book, Valley of the Gods.

Below is a condensed and slightly edited version of my interview with Wolfe:

So, what is the track record of Thiel Fellows—how many went back to college in total?

About 10% went back to college, each class had two or three real monetary successes, and a couple were doing pretty well supporting themselves in Palo Alto and San Francisco. Most of them were still trying to make it out there, having lunch together every couple of weeks. Fellows get $100,000 per 2 years—that's always been the case since the first group in 2011, which I followed. The biggest success out of that group was James Proud, who founded Hello, which makes the Sense sleep tracker [he's raised about $40 million in the last four years and the startup has a $250 million valuation]. There are usually from 20 to 22 fellows each year and it's grown from 400 applicants the first year to 5,000 now.

How have the Fellows changed over the years and how have their interests developed?

It's gotten more diverse, more women, the ideas are probably more viable rather than moonshots. They wouldn't say that, but that's my perspective. More varied ideas.

More aligned with Peter Thiel's interests [libertarianism, life extension technologies]?

Not really. The two people who started the program with Peter—activist Patri Friedman [former Googler and founder of the Seasteading Institute, which explored the development of floating politically autonomous cities] and James O'Neill [former co-head of the Thiel Foundation]—they chose a lot of it. So I don't think Thiel was going through everything. I don't think it was a directive from Thiel, more that the people he hired were interested in those topics.

I'm intrigued by [2011 Fellow] John Burnham, who went from an obsession with mining asteroids to developing a faith in religion? Where is he now?

He really had this flip-flop life. He was a Fellow, then went back to Dartmouth, then dropped out, posted on a tech blog his new idea and then dropped out again after a few weeks, and went to the Valley, to Thomas More [College], and then back to Dartmouth again. [In Silicon Valley] he grew disenchanted and thought it was all smoke and mirrors. He felt like he lost his moral compass, got confirmed as a Catholic, went back to Dartmouth and became interested in philosophy. He's pretty much tried everything.

Any other fellows who grew so disenchanted with the ways of Silicon Valley that they ended up in a different direction?

There was this guy John Marbach in the first class, he applied and was going to do some online education company but he got into Wake Forest. His parents were supportive of him but they were like, "Why did we put so much money away for college?" And then his team kicked him out of their group because he couldn't join them until after his first semester in college. And when he arrived, he didn't know that many people, had no company idea, got very lonely, and ended up doing Y Combinator because it was more structured."

Thiel is a senior adviser to President Trump. Any Thiel Fellows whom Peter has recruited to join the Trump transition team or administration?

Not that I know of. Some of those who have been named have worked for Thiel and his team, such as James O'Neill [who has been considered for the Food and Drug Administration]. He ran the Thiel Foundation, hosted some lunches with the Fellows, talked to all their parents.

Were you surprised that Thiel supported Trump?

Not really. I saw it as another example of him being a contrarian. Like a chess player, he called the real estate bubble before anyone else. He saw the country feeling a certain way, he predicted how the Trump understood how people felt. Everyone there [in the Valley] was so against Trump. I just saw him the other day and he seems pretty happy.

What parts of Thiel rubbed off on the fellows?

This whole him and Elon [Musk] and all the other big names in the Valley of the Gods. A lot of these kids think of him that way and they go out there and follow the idiosyncrasies of Thiel and these other billionaires. It's harder to copy their genius. And a lot of his interests such as longevity, scientific research, and biotech stuff.


How I Trained Myself To Wake Up On Time Without An Alarm

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Half the battle is figuring out how much sleep your body needs, and the other half is consistency.

Sleep is one of my favorite things. I adore it. I've never been one for alarms, though. Potentially because they mark the end of my sleeping.

I started working remotely a few years ago, and intermittently went between working from home and working at an office. Having a more flexible schedule meant I didn't need to wake up at a certain time unless there was a meeting. Because of this, I've experimented with eliminating my morning alarm from my life. Here's how I went about it, and how you can, too.

Sleep Affects More Than Your Daily Coffee Intake

I'm all aboard Arianna Huffington's sleep train and am sure to get eight hours a night. I've read so many articles that explain how to make sure your alarm wakes you up. I remember in high school placing the alarm all the way across my room to make myself have to physically get out of bed to shut it off.

In university, I crammed so much into my schedule that sometimes I only slept five hours then tried to nap during the day. I obsessed over different sleep cycles to see if there was a more efficient way to do this sleep thing than powering off for eight hours straight. (I didn't get around to really making the shift, but it's an interesting take on sleep cycles if you're keen to keep reading.)

It wasn't until I started working remotely that I found the balance that has made me happy and productive.

Step 1: Learning How Much Sleep Your Body Needs

Either through your phone, or products like Fitbit and Jawbone Up, it has never been easier to track your movement and sleep.

I started tracking my sleep and movement a few years ago and at the time realized that seven hours and 45 minutes of sleep had me at the perfect amount for the day, but anything past eight and a half hours and I would keep wanting to sleep.

Everyone's optimal amount of sleep will be a little different. For guidance, the National Sleep Foundation states that people between the ages of 18–64 need anywhere from seven to nine hours of sleep a night.

Short of science and tracking, you can also do this on more of a feel basis. Ask yourself:

  • How you feel when you wake up?
  • How many hours of sleep did you get?
  • What amount of sleep feels like enough?

When I first started doing this, I quickly realized that I needed around eight hours to wake up and really feel like I could start my day.

Once you figure out where your body is on the sleep scale, it becomes a lot easier to know when to go to sleep so you can wake up on time.

Step 2: Waking Up Is Really About Going To Sleep

What time do you usually wake up?

I am usually keen on getting up early, at around 6 or 6:30 a.m., but what I didn't adjust in the past was when I went to sleep. I decided that my deadline for waking up would stay firm, but that my deadline for going to sleep would be more flexible. In retrospect, this doesn't really make much sense.

Waking up is really about going to sleep at the right time. Once you've learned how much sleep your body needs, it's easy to do the math to figure out when you might want to start thinking about heading to bed. For me personally, that's at around 10 p.m. so I can be up at about 6 a.m. naturally. So I make sure to close up electronics and start to wind down about 30 minutes before I head to bed.

Studies have shown that checking your phone before bed and ultimately stressing your eyes with too much light can have negative impacts on how you sleep.

"People are exposing their eyes to this stream of photons from these objects that basically tell your brain stay awake, it's not time to go to sleep yet," Dan Siegel, clinical professor of psychology at the University of California Los Angeles, told Business Insider.

The latest clock update for iPhone also has a Bedtime feature that can remind you at 30 minutes (or however long you think is best) before you go to sleep. It could almost end up being a "reverse alarm," an evening alarm but without a morning alarm. Setting a specific sleep routine that involves shutting off electronics and relaxing can help prepare your body to wind down properly.

Step 3: Listening To Your Body And Keeping Consistent

I've learned to trust my body when I wake up. Not to pay attention to the time and decide if it's too early to be awake, but to ask myself how I feel when I first wake up to make sure I got enough sleep.

I totally understand that this can be tough, though, and it's something I've struggled with myself quite a bit. In the beginning, I would set a backup alarm, which is an alarm for weekdays that would wake me up at the last possible moment before I would have to start getting ready in the morning.

I found though, that after analyzing how much sleep I really needed, I would generally wake up at the eight-hour mark—if I go to sleep at 10:30 p.m., that means waking up 6:30 a.m. I would then set my alarm to 7:30 a.m. (depending on the day), but found more regularly I would wake up right around 6:30 a.m.

Weekends are another great one to keep in mind. I've read in a few places that it's healthy to get the same amount of sleep every night, and keep a consistent pattern.

One Northwestern University study found that going to sleep at the same time every night could lower the risk of heart attacks. And Stanford researchers have claimed that keeping regular sleep hours will help you be more alert when you wake up and manage your time better.

Consistency is the key to all of this. Our bodies are creatures of habit, and if we train them to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day, they will make it happen. But consistency is easier said then done. Outside of our control, there are things like daylight savings, holidays, evening celebrations, and so on. Flexibility is key as well. Full-time consistency in anything is a challenge, so instead I look at it as more of a goal to live 90% of the time without an alarm than to do so 100% of the time.

That means that my schedule sometimes shifts around the holidays, and if there's something I really can't miss, I'll go back to using an alarm. All it takes to go back to living alarm-free for me is going to sleep at a regular time a few days in a row, and then I'm reset.

A final note: I've always used my iPhone as my morning alarm, so the added benefit of not doing that is that I don't look at my phone first thing in the morning. I now keep my phone in another part of my home. I've also been limiting the amount of notifications I get in order to try and remedy this, but it can be tough when I want to keep on Slack notifications, for example, and my team all works in different time zones.

That's a minor hiccup, though. And so far, all signs point to a well-slept future that's finally rid of alarm clocks.


A version of this article originally appeared on Buffer. It is adapted and reprinted with permission.

Five Ways To Say "No" So You Can Finally Reclaim Your Focus

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Staying productive is all about consciously deciding what not to do. Here's how.

It isn't news that culture is obsessed with doing—with being in motion, with being occupied, with being busy. But the upshot of all this doing is that we spend very little time deciding exactly what we should be doing in the first place.

Real productivity is more than just activity, after all. And when we're asked to act upon (or ignore) hundreds of updates, requests, and interruptions every single day, to actually step back and decide can be much more difficult than to simply do. Amid all this bombardment, being truly productive depends upon your ability to say "no." In other words, what you don't do on a daily basis is at least—if not more—important than what you actually do take action on.

Of course, saying "no" is easier said than done. Many of us have an intuitive desire to please others, to explore every opportunity, to take on more than we can handle, and worry about the consequences later. But if you can master the art of saying "no," you can prevent your time and focus from being held captive by a constant barrage of requests and distractions. Here are a few practical techniques that can help.

1. Make A "Stop-Doing List"

Saying "no" is all well and good as an abstract concept, but you can't do it consistently without a plan. The first step is to identify what activities are creating the biggest drag on your productivity—and to actually list them out. I picked up this tip from best-selling business author Jim Collins, who makes a habit of sitting down at the outset of every year to draw up a "stop-doing" list.

The idea is to identify a short-list of habits you want to avoid in the new year. Some things on my "stop-doing" list:

  • I don't schedule meetings in the morning (my prime creative time).
  • I don't treat emails from strangers as urgent.
  • I don't read the news at work.

But keep it short, and focus on just a few key things you can really commit to avoiding. A brief list of simple, broad-strokes ideas is better than a long, overly detailed list of pet peeves.

2. Write Tomorrow's To-Do List Tonight

The easiest way to avoid distraction is to hit the ground running. That's why I like to close out my workday by jotting down in advance my to-do list for the day ahead.

If I wake up with a clear picture of my key priorities, I'm infinitely more productive and relaxed. What's more, I'm also much better at deciding what not to do and which requests to turn down, because what I need to do is already mapped out—I've already decided. By contrast, kicking off the day without a plan opens you up to working reactively, letting other people's demands dictate what you do with your day.

It's a lot easier to say no to unwanted additions to your to-do list if you're crystal clear on what you want to accomplish and why.

3. Switch To Batching Your Email Time

Inefficient emailers operate as "reactors," relying on notifications and near constant monitoring to nibble away at an endless pile of unread messages throughout the day.

Productive emailers, on the other hand, are "batchers," setting aside a few time slots each day to power through their inboxes—and say "no" to email interruptions outside those designated windows. Not surprisingly, batchers , happier, and less stressed out at work.

Here are a few tips for shifting toward a batched approach:

  • Set aside two or three 30– to 45-minute windows each day for processing your inbox, giving it 100% of your focus.
  • Turn off all push notifications and instead use an app like Inbox When Ready to show you new messages only when you want to see them.

4. Teach People To Expect You'll Say "No"

Whether it's in your inbox or in-person, don't fall victim to the assumption that you have to say "yes" to every single request. If you do, others will quickly pick up on that and take advantage.

This is especially true for things you probably can go either way on—a request for an interview or coffee meeting, an invitation to speak at a conference, or a pitch to demo a product. In most of these cases and many others, the person doing the asking is just testing the waters. They'll be happy if you say yes, but they don't feel entitled to your time.

So rather than assuming that every asker expects you to say "yes"—and resenting the unwanted obligation—experiment with assuming that they already think it's a long shot. Reframing the situation like this makes it easier to put seemingly pushy emails or phone calls into perspective so you can consider the opportunity with a relaxed attitude.

Once you level the playing field between the possibility of saying "yes" and the possibility of saying "no," it becomes easier to gracefully decline inquiries that don't match your priorities.

5. Swap "I Can't Do That" With "I Don't Do That"

Another way to reclaim your focus is through simple tweaks to how you communicate. Language is powerful, and the way that you say "no" can have an outsize impact on people's perception of you at work. In a 2012 study, researchers found that it was easier for people to stick to resolutions if they said "don't" instead of "can't."

So, for instance, you might say, "I don't answer emails on Saturday" instead of "I can't answer emails on Saturday." (Scroll or swipe back up to my "stop-doing" list above and you'll notice there are all kinds of ways to make this change.)

When you say you "can't do" something, it may implicitly convey weakness and inadequacy—giving the sense that you might want to do the task but aren't actually able to. Whereas when you say you "don't do" something, it conveys power and conviction, a feeling of a rule to which you are staunchly committed.

And make no mistake: Preserving your productivity and defending your focus does take commitment. But once you actually decide to do it, it's something you can keep saying "yes" to.


Jocelyn K. Glei is the author of Unsubscribe: How to Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done. Follow her on Twitter at @jkglei.

Your 90-Day Plan To Becoming An Entrepreneur

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Here are some things you can do this month and even this week in order to launch your company this quarter.

Maybe you've been thinking about launching your own company for a long time. Or maybe you're just staring at your cubicle walls for the zillionth time but only now starting to consider ditching them for good.

Making the leap can be daunting, but you don't have to dabble on the side for upwards of a year before going all in (though some entrepreneurs do!). In fact, not only can you start building the foundation for your company months before you commit full-time, you can even set an ambitious but achievable timetable for that process.

How does 90 days sound?

What To Complete In The Next Three Months

First, it's helpful to reckon with the (relatively) longer-term priorities you'll want to accomplish by the end of the three-month period you're setting yourself. And that mainly comes down to getting your finances in order.

Suze Orman might cringe if she knew that when I started my business, I had zero savings and some hefty student loans. In retrospect, this was a poor decision. If I could do it all over again, I'd save up enough financial padding for six to 12 months of living expenses before leaving my job. Using credit cards to get started ended up working out in the long run, but it was a risky and very stressful move.

There are plenty of ways you can start saving and become financially prepared for your first venture. From skipping your daily $5 latte to moving to a cheaper apartment, even surprisingly small tweaks to your lifestyle can turn you into your own angel investor. Cutting back on expenses for just 90 days can give you enough funds to hire a designer to mock up your idea.

And for me (but not just me), design proved the most important investment I could've possibly made in order to establish my credibility early on. Even with a savings account (or, in my case, credit card limit) of just $500, you can typically design a sales PDF, build a simple landing page, and print a stack of business cards. Once I'd made those three initial investments, I was able to start pitching and secure some early contracts.

Hyekyung Hwang, CEO of the Seoul coworking space Hive Arena, recommends cutting back 30% of your normal expenses when you're planning to launch a company. "When I was getting ready to take the plunge, I moved back with my parents for a few months to meet my business goals," she says. Like Hwang, I also realized I'd have to abandon my New York City apartment to find a less expensive abode. To get back on track financially, I moved to a small town in Spain, knowing rent would be one-fifth the cost of living in Manhattan.

Before quitting his job, Arthur Zudin, a self-employed UX/UI designer, found a number of coffee shops and meeting rooms to conduct business in while saving thousands on office space. "When I first started my company, I kept costs low and didn't buy fancy equipment to meet my goals." says Zudin.

What To Start This Month

While you start working on paring back expenses, there are a few things you'll want to tackle sooner, ideally within the next 30 days.

First up, prove market validation. If you have a business idea in mind, start looking for ways you can begin testing it in the next few weeks. Have a website idea? Build a prototype and get feedback from potential customers. Want to create physical products? Mock them up with Photoshop and show them to your friends to see what they think.

You can take some low-tech steps in the same direction. Before starting my company, I asked friends and colleagues if they thought there was space in the market for a PR and design agency specializing in hospitality. These conversations helped me flesh out my idea very quickly and refine my startup's initial offering of services.

"If you know what business you want to start, I would work part-time for the next three months on that business," says Ajay Yadav, founder of Roomi, an app for finding roommates, apartments, and sublets. "See if there is a problem you can solve, or if you can really get your idea off the ground during that time. If you can, then go for it full force."

Worried someone will steal your idea if you start floating it to people and testing some products and services? Don't be. One lesson I've learned is that execution is really tough. Many people don't have time to pursue their own ideas, let alone steal others'. And if you've set yourself an overall 90-day timetable to launch, you'll most likely beat out any would-be competitors to market.

You'll also want to fail a few times within that first month—not intentionally, of course, but as a result of starting small and iterating quickly from there. If you labor a long time on perfecting a grand scheme, by contrast, it'll be months before you finally test anything and learn you've got something wrong, and by then it may be too late to fix it.

Before starting my company, I made a list of short-term goals and how I'd get to each one within just a few weeks. That list ultimately became a flexible business plan that helped me focus on taking small, achievable steps to reach my bigger goals. Since starting my business, I've failed countless times. What's important to know is that failure is inevitable—the sooner you trip yourself up, the sooner you'll know what changes to make to move ahead. It's pushing through the lows that will help you succeed in the long run.

Roman Romanuk, founder of the marketing tool Prezna, recommends selling something small before you build. "Sales is the most important part of starting a business," says Romanuk. "If you can't sell, find a partner who can. You can also find companies that already have relationships with your target market and offer them the ability to resell your product or service, and incentivize referrals."

No matter what kind of company you're looking to build, it's important to just get started. Now that you've got a few concrete steps to take within the next month and the next quarter, here's one more you can tackle this week: On your way home from work, pick up a few business books and start reading up on how others have done it. Before long, you'll have a few ideas to start tossing around within your network, and your 90-day plan will already be under way.

Four Tips For Communicating Well In Nerve-Wracking Situations

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High stakes can make even the most confident speakers crumble. Here's how to keep it together.

A group job interview.

A high-stakes board meeting.

A pitch to investors.

If you've been in any of these situations, you know how hard it can be to speak confidently, articulately, and convincingly. Even if you think you know your message really well, speaking becomes a lot more challenging when the stakes are high. But while you can't exactly control the outcome, you can control how you communicate in the moment. Here's how to speak well in even the most intimidating environments.

1. Focus On What You Want To Say, Not What They Want To Hear

First things first, you need to stay centered. If you're too concerned with trying to read the room and adjust your message accordingly, you may lose your focus completely. You may think you know what your audience wants to hear, but you aren't a mind reader. Obviously, what they want to hear is important, but can't let yourself get too obsessed with pleasing everyone in the group.

First of all, you don't know them. You might know their backgrounds or have heard bits and pieces of information from colleagues, but you typically don't really know the people you're speaking to in high-pressure situations. Plus, in small-group environments where it's you up against three or four VIPs, each one of them may want something completely different.

And don't count on a lot of facial feedback from your audience. Experienced investors and job interviewers are trained not to be expressive; they'll be polite and professional but won't necessarily divulge their impressions. But it's important to remember that those deadpan looks have nothing to do with you.

As a rule of thumb, the more high-level your audience is, the less reactive they'll be (at least in terms of their expressions). So try not to worry to much about what they're thinking. Say what you came there to say, and make it heartfelt. That's the only part you can control.

2. Share Something Different About Yourself

In nerve-wracking situations, you need to stand out for the right reasons, but it can feel risky trying to differentiate yourself. There are a few straightforward ways to do that, and it doesn't mean going out on a limb. You can use compelling imagery, colorful examples, or a heartfelt story in the process of delivering your message.

I asked my team in a recent meeting to go around and share a time they overcame an obstacle—a common job interview question. The most memorable story was recounted by an employee who was living paycheck to paycheck before coming to work with us. He was faced with either moving back in with his parents in California or going for his dream of braving the cold winters of the northern Midwest—which felt like an adventure for a West Coast native.

Moving back home was the safer choice, but he took the risk and came up here to Minnesota. The decision paid off, he said, not just for his career but for my company, which is lucky to have him. A personal story doesn't need to be totally jaw-dropping to be colorful and memorable. It just needs to shed light on the values, ideas, and the experiences that have had the most impact on you. Do that, and you'll differentiate yourself even in a high-stakes scenario.

3. Start Every Follow-Up With A Refresher

I was recently working with the CEO of a major corporation who'd hired me to help some of his senior leaders speak more effectively to his board. He said that one of the biggest challenges is that the board has what he called "bathtub brains"—they drain after every meeting, so you can't assume they'll remember what happened previously.

That's a challenge for speakers who want to leave their VIP audiences with something they'll actually hold in mind for the next time you meet. To do that, a little context goes a long way when you reconvene. For example, if you're presenting to a team of investors for the second time, spend a minute or two going over the highlights of your first presentation.

By providing the appropriate context for the new set of remarks you're about to deliver, you'll be able to plug those leaky bathtubs. Same goes for keeping things moving in your favor throughout a long, drawn-out job interview process.

4. Channel Your Nerves Into A Strong Opening

Finally, when you're speaking in high-pressure environments, you need to manage your inevitable anxiety. Some people find this easier than others. In order to manage your nerves, you can actually channel your tension into your speaking cadence. Start strong by using rhythm—for instance, in an opening structured around a series of questions:

What are the challenges we've overcome in the past? What are the challenges we need to overcome right now? What are the challenges we may need to overcome in the future?

You can also repeat phrases, like "Think about x. Think about y. Think about z." If you can get into a rhythm from the get-go, you'll give an outlet to that anxiety and find your confidence zone. Rhythm is just one speaking technique to help you manage nervousness, though; here are a few more.

Even the strongest speakers can struggle when the stakes are sky-high. But if you keep these strategies in mind, you'll be able to rise to the top by speaking with power and purpose—even if you're feeling jittery at the start.

How Well Can You Trust Your Boss? Here's How To Tell

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When your boss says, "Trust me," should you?

Here's the funny thing about integrity: It's one of the most crucial ingredients of effective leadership, but it's notoriously hard to measure. One reason is that integrity is somewhat contextual; psychologists have found that the same person may act with integrity in some situations but not others. And it's true that corrupt, mischievous work cultures tend to unleash deviant behaviors even in those who'd behave ethically under other circumstances. By the same token, "prosocial," ethical cultures discourage naughtiness, forcing even those with relatively little integrity to act in uncharacteristically moral ways (at least for a while).

So if you're not sure how well you should trust your boss, the first place to look is at the work culture he or she operates within. If your organization is comprised of a pretty upstanding bunch, there's at least a decent likelihood that your supervisor will need to conform to it.

But it isn't quite that simple, either, and make no mistake: Your relationship with your boss—and the level of trust between you—is crucial to your overall job satisfaction. The alarming rates at which workers are considering greener pastures this year have a lot to do with those relationships. A whopping 84% of U.S. employees often come into conflict: being too focused on our achievements and careers makes us selfish and can justify nasty behavior towards others; but being too nice and deferential to people can harm our own career prospects, especially if we let others take take advantage of our generosity.

Luckily, scientific research suggests that one of the best ways to evaluate managers' integrity is through the their subordinates' perceptions and expectations of them. In other words, you might be a pretty good judge of your boss's character simply because you interact with them so much. If fact, just asking employees to assess the likelihood that their managers may cheat, misbehave, or deceive them can actually be fairly predictive of whether they actually will. So if you and your colleagues think you can trust your boss, you're probably right. And if you don't, you're probably right, too.

That said, you can't always judge a book by its cover. Some highly desirable personality traits may actually indicate poor integrity while other, less appreciated traits do the reverse. These are a few things to watch out for.

Creative Bosses Are More Likely To Cheat

As behavioral economists have shown, creative people tend to engage in dishonest behavior more frequently than others. One theory for why is because they have a vivid imagination to generate alternative "truths."

So if your boss is particularly creative, they may be better equipped to bend the truth and make stuff up, then use their imaginative mind to find a justification for it. (Nietzsche similarly noted that while honesty is lazy—it simply involves recalling facts and one's own experience—deception takes a lot of effort, creativity, and intelligence.)

Psychologists also know that creative people are generally more unconventional, thrill-seeking, and antiauthoritarian, all upping the chances that they may have fewer moral inhibitions when situations incentivize breaking the rules.

Charisma Is Often Psychopathy In Disguise

Some bosses, of course, are charismatic without being psychopathic; others are psychopaths with zero charisma. However, some bosses are both, and this can be quite dangerous.

From an evolutionary perspective, it isn't hard to imagine that charisma evolved in part as an adaptive decoy strategy for hiding psychopathic tendencies. When you're able to charm and schmooze others, you can get away with quite a lot, and people won't even notice. In a similar vein, bosses with high social skills and emotional intelligence may use them to scheme—successfully.

When you are incredibly skilled at influencing others, you need to have a great deal of moral inhibitions—integrity—to not take advantage of them. And fortunately, many of those people don't. Others do, though, and Machiavellian and psychopathic bosses (the two traits are closely linked) are remorseless manipulators who feel little empathy and take pleasure in breaking the rules—think Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood in House of Cards. Managers with this personality profile may be great fun in some situations, but you should beware working for them.

Boring Often Means Trustworthy

When it comes to integrity, boring and predictable is good. Arguably the most relevant factor when it comes to assessing integrity is emotional intelligence (EQ). Yet contrary to popular belief, people with high EQ are neither overly spiritual nor overly emotional.

The best way to think about emotional intelligence is in terms of emotional stability—or the reverse of neuroticism. It's also been linked to higher levels of self-control, risk-aversion, and agreeableness. That means that bosses who are predictable, cool-headed, polite, and maybe even a little boring as a result are likely to have higher EQ and, subsequently, good integrity.

In short, if you and your colleagues think you can trust your boss, you probably should, especially if they're dull, uncharismatic, and uncreative. There probably won't be any books or movies memorializing their wild exploits, but you wouldn't want to work for the "Wolf of Wall Street," either—trust me.

12 Facebook Groups To Join Before Quitting Your Day Job To Work For Yourself

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One entrepreneur says Facebook is a bottomless resource for first-time business owners. You just have to know where to look.

I now generate 95% of my consulting clients through Facebook groups. But even before I built up my business on the social network, I relied on a handful of Facebook groups to learn the ropes as a first-time entrepreneur. In fact, I quickly discovered that there's a group for everything. Whether it's focused on automated software for "solopreneurs" or on tips for building your first sales funnel, Facebook groups are a hugely helpful resource for new business owners who are just getting started.

That is, if you know where to look. Even a year ago, I had no real idea which Facebook groups to join. But since then, I've become much more savvy about hunting down groups that'll be useful to my business and skipping those that won't. And while it isn't comprehensive or an endorsement of individual groups by Fast Company, this list might prove a great starting point for new entrepreneurs who are looking to tap into the power of Facebook groups.

Building A New Business

Screw the Nine to Five Community. Are you fed up with your nine-to-five job and ready to have a go as an entrepreneur? If so, this might be a great group to join first. From learning how to monetize your blog to building a membership site, this group is a supportive community of people navigating similar challenges. And the types of discussions that take place are all animated by the goal of giving two weeks' notice and designing a new lifestyle instead.

Freedom Hackers Mastermind. The host, Kimra Luna, doesn't advertise this group as one specifically for nine to fivers looking to leave their jobs and become entrepreneurs, but those folks tend to migrate here. If you're looking to grow your side hustle or get serious about starting your business this year, start here for actionable advice that ranges from branding to video marketing.

Millennial Entrepreneur Community. This group is a great mix of up-and-coming millennial entrepreneurs and newbies making their way in the entrepreneurial space. You can ask virtually any question about growing your business, and someone in the group will chime in to get you headed in the right direction.

Marketing

The Ad Strategist Insiders. If you're trying to run your own Facebook ads for your small business, this is where you'll want to start. The host of this group, Amanda Bond, created the best Facebook ads course I've ever taken (and I've taken quite a few), and she gives away tons of free advice in this group. Don't be afraid to ask questions—this group is full of people who can help you sidestep every pitfall you're bound to face creating Facebook ads.

The Front Row. Another great group for social media marketing, this one goes beyond Facebook ads and helps you learn the latest strategies and tactics for leveraging a whole slate of social platforms. Be sure to check out the "Files" section for tons of free resources.

Market Like a Nerd. Want to learn how to work smarter, not harder as a first-time business owner? (Of course you do.) This group is full of actionable advice on how to build your business while avoiding burnout. Learn all about the systems you can put in place that allow elements of your business to run on autopilot, and how to get those quick cash injections you need.

Marketing Solved. Ready to take your email marketing to the next level? This group helps small business owners break down complicated marketing strategies so they're ready to implement, from email marketing to social media and other online tools.

Global Speakers, Radio Show Hosts, Authors, Publishers & Media Experts. If you're looking for speaking gigs or media opportunities to get your name and business out there, this is a great place to start. Host Patty Farmer is an experienced speaker, radio host, and author who shares tips, puts out calls for speaking proposals, and facilitates collaboration and partnerships between members.

Sales And Passive Income

Female Entrepreneurs Collaborate. Sorry gents, but this group is women only. If you're a woman who's starting your own business but don't know what a sales funnel is or how to create one, this group is for you. Its host, Stephanie Nickolich, went from $100,000 in credit card debt to a seven-figure business built largely on passive income streams. She does a great job of teaching members a basic understanding of sales funnels and provides a great deal of actionable advice in her live video training sessions.

Straight Up Entrepreneurs. Sales mentor Aaron Janx leads this group, which describes itself as a place for "real-talking, straight-shooting, no-BSing, tell-it-like-it-is, anti-flowery hustlers"—but basically, it's a group for entrepreneurs sharing their sales strategies. If you're ready to start scaling your business, this is a great Facebook group to tap into.

Teachers' Lounge for Entrepreneurs. Are you ready to create your first course? Lindsay Padilla, "The Rebel Professor," is a recently retired sociology professor who uses her years of teaching experience to show entrepreneurs how to expand their reach by launching coursework. Everything you need to know about teaching and learning can be found inside this group, which also includes phenomenal live instruction from experts in a variety of fields—such as launch strategy and publicity—every week.

Blogging

Blog + Biz BFFs. If you're looking to grow the audience for your blog or start monetizing it, this group is a great resource with engaged members who are quick to jump in and help. From choosing the right plugins and themes to branding and engagement, this group covers a lot of territory when it comes to monetizing content and developing a readership.

Again, this rundown is just the tip of the iceberg. The more you look, the more you'll find vibrant communities of new and experienced entrepreneurs and independent workers who share their knowledge and support with one another. But if you need help making the most out of these groups once you dive in, you can steal the strategy that's worked for me.


Kristi A. Dosh is a publicist and the founder of Guide My Brand. Formerly a finance attorney, she is also a nationally recognized sports business analyst and a published author.

Why Your "Career Path" Probably Won't Lead You To Your Dream Job

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Create new opportunities for yourself, keep an open mind, and see what you discover.

By one estimate, there's an almost 75% chance that your current job is unrelated to your college major. You spend four years sweating for that BSc in accounting, only to end up as a field sales rep for a pharmaceutical company. You break your back for your BA in modern European history, and now you're a fleet manager for a rental car company.

Or, in the case of Lindsay Moroney, you follow your heart and obtain a degree in art history, and then through a series of twists and turns, you find yourself VP of strategy and operations at The Muse.

Moroney, a recent guest on my "Happen to Your Career" podcast, is a perfect example of someone who hopscotched her way to her current position, going from pre-med to art history to a job in the art industry before landing—quite happily, it's worth adding—in her current role. She got ahead even when she didn't know where she was going. Here's how she did it.

In Praise Of Ditching End Goals

As much as you may want to view your "career path" as something that's been laid out for you, illuminated by lights like an airplane runway, it's really nothing of the sort. In fact, it's a journey through a labyrinth, with myriad twists and turns and unlikely surprises.

You may wonder, then, what's the point of setting goals, working hard, and ending up somewhere you never intended to be? How can you make progress if you continually break course? How can you be successful if you can't even follow a straight line?

Here's the thing: The more activities you participate in, the more people you meet, the more opportunities you grab hold of, the more likely you are to find something amazing along the way—regardless of (or maybe especially if), your path is quite windy. In the words of the inimitable Oprah Winfrey, "Luck is preparation meeting opportunity."

Moroney and I (and, apparently, Oprah) are strong believers in saying yes to the next cool opportunity, even if the end goal isn't abundantly clear. When I asked her how her career evolved, Moroney said, "I didn't have an end goal in mind. I never thought, 'Well, if I do these things I'll end up at The Muse.'" Instead, her guiding light has been to look for new opportunities and chances to learn and grow. "That just kept taking me on steps that were really wonderful," she says.

So how can you adopt this philosophy of action in your career, once you've shaken off the idea of having a clear-cut career path? It's all about the habits you practice day by day.

Make "Yes" Your Default

When your manager needs someone to take part in an interdepartmental project, volunteer. When you see that the internal documents needs updating, take on the task. Poke your head outside your cubicle and look around. You never know what you'll find.

It doesn't matter if a project or opportunity isn't the stuff of dreams; not every single occasion is going to be the best thing ever. But embrace the less exciting moments, and you'll reap the benefits: Learn a new skill, expand your experience, grow outside your comfort zone.

Expand Your Circle

Connect with people outside of your normal "orbit." Get back in touch with your old high school friend who's now a record producer. Have lunch once a month with a former colleague, just to catch up. Talk to the guy sitting next to you at the dog park. Find commonalities and differences between your industries.

An early connection through a friend of her father's was able to show Moroney that a career in the art world was possible. "She had turned a passion into a real job," Moroney recalls, and that was inspiring. Conversations with people who were living the life she imagined made her dream seem achievable.

Give Serendipity Room To Operate

Not all opportunities have to come from the office. Take that Spanish refresher course, volunteer for a cause you believe in, join a running group. The great thing about serendipity is that it can—and does—occur everywhere.

Over half the people I've helped make career changes have gotten job offers that originated from chance encounters or relationships. So don't leave your career up to chance—create more opportunities for yourself, and see what you discover.

For instance, I'm a big fan of the airplane encounter. Sure, I could be silent the whole flight, focus on my iPad (I'm an introvert, after all), and not strike up conversation with my seatmate, but then I'd miss out on opportunities to meet people and expand my network. This is how and where serendipity happens.

In sum, your path doesn't have to be linear, taking you from A to Z. What looks like a side trip may actually end up being your next great career move. It truly is as much about the journey as the end destination.

As Moroney says, "I've just followed what I've enjoyed and what I've been passionate about." Things had a way of working out for her. If you want to get ahead, you've got to stop stressing over the unplanned course of your career. Keep your life in motion and your eyes open, and chances are it'll work out for you, too.


A version of this article originally appeared on The Daily Muse. It is adapted and reprinted with permission.


This Google Expert's Top SEO Tips For Job Seekers In 2017

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Putting "customer happiness ninja" as your LinkedIn headline—even if that's your actual job title—won't do you any favors.

When's the last time you Googled yourself? If you said never, it's time to start. Recruiters and potential employers are already searching you to decide if you're a candidate worth pursuing. And if they aren't searching you by name because they don't know who you are (yet), then you've got a head start. Now's the time—not when you send in your resume or get called in to interview—to make sure you come up for keywords related to your personal brand.

And yes, everyone has a brand—it's your reputation in the job market and what you're known for. The good news is that you get to define it. Once you decide how you want to position yourself, the next step is to optimize your brand content across your online channels so it's easily found by search. Here's exactly what to do.

Flesh Out Your LinkedIn Profile

Lots of people have LinkedIn accounts, but few of them are as polished or robust as they can be for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes. For starters, replace that picture of you and your dog. It's cute but not the right type of photo for a professional network. It might be right for another platform, but you'll probably want to use a more professional headshot for a solid first impression on LinkedIn.

Next, edit your headline (here's how if you need instructions). It defaults to your current job title, but you can modify it—and you should. Use keywords related to your current skills and what you want to be doing with them in the future. Stay away from trendy headlines like "chief happiness officer," even if that's your actual job title. Creative job titles are a lot more common now, and they do indicate a customer support or human resources role. But a recruiter is more likely to search "customer support" or "human resources" than "happiness" when looking for candidates.

Never leave the summary field blank. Max it out to the 2,000-character limit. This is where you highlight your accomplishments rather than your formal job description. Recruiters want to see what you've done so they can decide if you're a good fit for their client.

Claim the vanity URL that has your name so it looks like "linkedin.com/in/yourname" (here's how to do that). Since LinkedIn often ranks well in organic search, including your name directly in the URL can also help you rank well. Once you've finished giving your LinkedIn a spit-shine, you can add that URL to the bio of your other social media profiles.

Include other places where people can find you online by customizing the website listings in your contact information. Rather than using LinkedIn's default of "website," select "other" when you add links to your profile so you can label them with a specific company name or note it's a writing portfolio, for instance. That can help it stand out when someone views the contact info on your profile.

Your final step in optimizing LinkedIn is deciding how much of your profile you want to make available to the general public. Your public profile can be modified so you limit what people see when they aren't logged into LinkedIn. There are some upsides to doing that; requiring people to log in before they can see your employment history and accomplishments allows you to see who viewed your profile, unless their own viewing settings are set private. But if you want to make it easy on recruiters (and you do!), make your full profile available to everyone without requiring a login.

Add Video

2017 is already shaping up to be the year of video. YouTube has over a billion users to date, and that figure is only growing. The format's ubiquity is making it synonymous with web content overall—and that can be a good thing for job seekers.

If you create videos that have anything to do with your job (tutorials, recordings of talks you've given), host them on YouTube rather than another video channel. The reason is simple: Google owns YouTube, and your goal is to rank well on Google. Use keywords and descriptions on your YouTube channel that explain who you are and highlight your job skills. Similar to LinkedIn, stay away from any internal lingo and go with general terms recruiters are likely to search for.

Your videos show who you are more than a resume can, and in some cases these days, they may even be required as part of the interview process (particularly for remote-work positions). Whether your video is a quick personal introduction or an in-depth demonstration of your skills, make sure to include an action step as an annotation (here's how to do that on YouTube). Do you want people to email you? Visit your website? Provide that information right inside your video. Then connect the dots: Once you publish a clip on YouTube that demonstrates you who are, embed it on your website and add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Keep Demonstrating Your Expertise

Here's the thing about optimizing your web presence for search: It isn't a "one and done" sort of thing. You need to keep putting yourself out there somewhat frequently. Whatever social channels you use, you need to write—or talk—about what you can do.

This doesn't mean producing loads of content, though. It can be as simple as adding thoughtful comments on what others have posted or written. You could also talk about leaders you admire or people whose blogs you may follow, or mention a book you're reading or an event you attended. But you'll want to do that wherever recruiters and hiring managers are already searching: LinkedIn, YouTube, public Facebook groups for people in your industry, your own website, etc.

You should also keep checking your social media feeds for what other people are saying and look for ways to periodically add value to those discussions. Just stay at it. There's a lot of noise out there, so you need repeated impressions to increase your brand strength. A stale social media profile won't help you stand out from the crowd.

Grow Your Network

These online efforts should dovetail with your offline activities and create a virtuous circle. Any time you go to a meeting or an event, connect online with the people you meet in person—just have a reason to connect. Mention something you discussed when you met, or highlight something else that makes you interesting as a connection. This isn't exactly an SEO tactic, but it can support the ones you've already implemented—for instance, by leading to a note from a recruiter who has a loose connection with you online.

A final thought: Brands evolve (for that matter, so does Google's search algorithm), so your digital branding efforts need to do so as well. Even after a recruiter contacts you for the job of your dreams, continue to take action to strengthen your brand for the future. Whatever your personal brand may be at any given time, the right people always need to be able to find it with a simple search. Never stop Googling yourself.


Tina Arnoldi is a marketing consultant who is certified both in Google Analytics and Google AdWords and is part of the Google Partners program, as well as a licensed mental health counselor with an interest in the impact of technology on mental health. Follow Tina on Twitter at @TinaArnoldi.

How These Top Companies Are Getting Inclusion Right

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Even if you don't have millions to spend on cultivating an inclusive culture, there are lessons here for every company.

Creating diverse and inclusive workplaces isn't just a "nice" thing to do. There is also a well-documented business case for how diversity positively impacts the bottom line.

But once you've put the time and effort into building your multitalented, multifaceted A-team, you're not going to keep them if they don't feel valued, understood, and comfortable. That's where inclusion—making employees feel valued, welcome and comfortable being who they are—comes in.

A 2016 report on Gallup.com summarized two of the company's studies published in the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies that illustrate the potential of engagement coupled with diversity. In the first, employees' intentions to leave their employers were higher when the employee and manager were of different races and the employee was not engaged. The other found that companies that had higher-than-average gender diversity and employee engagement also had 46% to 58% better financial performance than companies that were below the median on diversity and engagement.

When it comes to fostering an environment where employees feel encouraged to contribute, some companies consistently get it right, according to rankings like the DiversityInc Top 50, Great Place to Work's "Best Workplaces" lists, and others that highlight diversity and inclusion. And while many of these companies are behemoths with vast resources, their best practices hold lessons for every company. Here, top diversity and inclusion leaders share some of the programs, policies, and initiatives that make their workplaces inclusive.

Emphasize From The Start

At Johnson & Johnson, communicating the importance of inclusion is critical. At every level of training, diversity and inclusion are emphasized. "As we are going through our talent process throughout the year, whether goal setting or coaching conversations or a mid-year review, we're always giving out training materials, and we've embedded diversity and inclusion into those materials so that people are always thinking about how they can be more inclusive and making sure that there aren't any hidden biases that may be impacting our thinking," says Wanda Hope, chief diversity officer.

Johnson & Johnson regularly communicates the organizational commitment to diversity, both internally and externally. In addition, such communication can help attract a more diverse talent pool.

Create Community

At AT&T, having "a true culture of inclusion where every voice matters" is one of the reasons the company has been so successful in its diversity and inclusion initiatives, says Cynthia Marshall, senior vice president, human resources and chief diversity officer. Over the past decade, the company has created a dozen employee resource groups (ERGs) and employee networks (ENs). ERGs are nonprofit groups that provide support, advocacy, education, mentoring, and more to groups such as women, generations, military veterans, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBT community. ENs are more informal, typically focus on business or professional development issues, and are developed with cross-functional diversity as a priority.

These employee groups provide forums for people with common interests to connect, but that's not all. "We have people that come in and want to know more about different cultures, so they'll join that particular ERG and expand their knowledge," Marshall says.

They help people feel comfortable and heard, and also give other employees the opportunity to learn more about people who are different than they are. In addition, leadership involvement in these groups helps employees find role models and mentors. Marshall says that leadership involvement and behavior modeling is an essential component of an inclusive culture.

Find The Right Voices

Concerned about data that showed a disparity in health care outcomes for certain segments within diverse populations, Kaiser Permanente's leadership team wanted to close those gaps. The organization's own data showed disparities in hypertension control for African-American patients and colorectal cancer screening for the Latino population, says Dr. Ronald Copeland, senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer.

The health care provider created a framework of doctors, nurses, care teams, and hospitals. Then, they interviewed African-American and Latino patients about how to remove barriers to care. The feedback helped Kaiser Permanente reach its target populations, adapt service delivery, and close the gaps.

"If we just designed the solutions ourselves in isolation, we may miss the boat on critical levers that need to be pulled to get results," Copeland says.

In 2015, AT&T's Asian-Indian ERG was concerned about the lack of customers in its community, Marshall says. The group "cracked the code," she says, and made recommendations related to providing service as well as marketing messages that have grown market share in that segment.

By tapping the expertise and insights of employees and other stakeholders from different experiences and backgrounds, companies can better find, communicate with, and serve more customers, she says.

Make It A Performance Marker

Inclusion leaders also have other mechanisms in common: feedback mechanisms and accountability. At EY, Johnson & Johnson, and others, managers have clear diversity and inclusion goals, and fulfilling them is part of their performance review.

But it's not just a stick without a carrot. EY's team recognizes managers who are good at fulfilling those goals. "In our organization, those executives that do really well and continue to advance further and faster are those that include acumen around inclusive leadership on their client serving team. It's also critical for advancement and success in addition to day-to-day performance," says Karyn Twaronite, EY partner and global diversity and inclusiveness officer.

Weaving inclusive messages and emphasis throughout the fabric of the business, tapping employees for their knowledge and expertise, and highlighting leadership support and involvement are essential for inclusion—and possible for businesses of any size. By showing employees that you're serious about creating an environment that holds possibility for everyone, your organization may reap rewards you never imagined.

Six Tips For Improving Your Digital Job Search While You're Unemployed

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If you're an unemployed web developer, your personal brand is still "web developer."

When you're unemployed, the sinking feeling that it'll be impossible to find another job isn't just in the pit of your stomach—or your head. In many cases, you really are dealing with discrimination from employers. Northeastern University researchers found that someone who's been unemployed for six months or longer is much less likely to land an interview than someone who's been between jobs for only a short time, even if they lack the right skills.

But while theres no magic fix, your prospects don't have to be as hopeless as they may feel, and one of the best ways to give them a major boost is to revamp your personal brand. That starts with getting one thing straight right away: When you're between jobs, "unemployed" is not your personal brand. So if you were a sales manager before you lost your job, then, assuming that's the work you still want to you, you're still a sales manager now.

Showing employers this brand during your job search—no matter how long it goes on—can make a huge difference. And that also means making sure they can find it, including with some smart search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Here's where to start.

Find Your Keywords

The foundation of personal SEO is the set of search terms that describes your skills, experience, and accomplishments—your keywords. That means you need to find and leverage the right keywords that your target employers are using to look for their ideal candidate, then work them back into your social media accounts.

So do some research to first check that the most current terms describing your line of work—your role in your industry—are up to date and as universally used as they can be. For example, your official job title might have been "webmaster" once upon a time, but there are only a few job postings for "webmasters" in 2017. The work hasn't gone away, but it likely has a new name, like "web developer," "web content developer," or a more specific one like "front-" or "back-end developer."

Once you identify that current job title, update your LinkedIn profile, Twitter bio, resume, and other professional materials accordingly.

Google Yourself

Employers are famous for the intensity of their online research practices. You know your social media profiles are all clean, so there's no need to Google yourself, right?

Not exactly. Someone else could be giving you a bad name online—someone with the same name as you. And if you think it can't happen to you, think again. A friend of mine, Robert, spent four months sending his resume out with no luck. He assumed he was being ignored because of his unemployment, but something else was going on.

Robert didn't know there was another man with the same name as him, living in the same state, who was actually a disbarred attorney named in a visible Supreme Court case. Yikes.

After Googling his name and learning it was associated with the disgraced lawyer, Robert added his middle initial to his online profiles and resume in order to differentiate himself. Two weeks later, he was finally called in for an interview.

Your name is actually an extremely important set of keywords that you need to monitor and manage. Start by searching your name inside quotation marks ("Your Name") to see what other results that complete phrase surfaces. Is there someone out there with the same name that's so famous (or infamous) that nothing about you shows up within the first few pages of results? Think of this as "defensive Googling," and do it at least monthly, especially while you're unemployed.

If you have a common name and there are a lot of people associated with it, consider adding (or removing) a middle initial to your job search materials. You can also use a shortened version of your name, like using Rob instead of Robert. Whatever version of your name you determine is best, just be consistent. Consistency is key to successful personal branding and SEO.

Get The Most From LinkedIn

When you've been unemployed for some time, you may feel like LinkedIn only underscores your employment status. But it's actually much worse to neglect your profile (or not create one at all) during the time you're out of work.

Even though you don't have a current position, your search ranking will drop if your LinkedIn profile doesn't have a current title listed, making it much harder for recruiters to find you. So add a headline that reflects your goal. Use keywords related to the position you want, the skills you have, your accomplishments, and your industry.

Keep Showing That You Know Your Stuff

When employers search your name, you want them to find content that shows what a promising candidate you are, despite being unemployed. Write some blog posts on LinkedIn or just contribute some comments to LinkedIn groups where people in your field find and share information, or even start your own group.

SlideShare is also a great option to show your expertise in a more visual format. Connect your SlideShare files to your LinkedIn profile to increase exposure—just be aware of any content you're creating and sharing that's tied to previous work positions.

While it may take some work to get off the ground, a podcast can also show employers your skills. To make the show easier to manage, even after you land your full-time job, find a colleague or friend to co-produce the podcast with you. And keep in mind that you may have a leg up on your fully employed competitors in the job market when it comes to content efforts like these—you have the time to pour into them, they don't.

Volunteer

If you're having a hard time finding a job, I'm sure someone at some point has suggested volunteer work. That may sound like a waste of time, but it's not. Deloitte researchers recently found that volunteer work is one of the most underrated job skills you can put on your resume. Just remember that the work should be relevant to your goals.

For example, reconsider volunteering to clean cages at the animal shelter if you're an accountant; instead, see if that shelter has books you can balance, donation funds that need managing, or other help that's specifically related to your skills and career goals. That way, the volunteer work bolsters your resume, boosts your networking, and builds your personal brand.

Find Support

Any long-term job search can stressful, even when you've already got a job, and even with the best personal brand and personal SEO. It's easy to blame yourself and get caught up in self-doubt. Just try to understand that other smart, capable people are unemployed, too—especially younger professionals, where the rates of unemployment and underemployment are disproportionately high.

Changing your mind-set can be extra challenging if you're trying to do it alone, but joining a job search group or network for unemployed professionals can give you the support you need. Stay positive, keep putting in the time to sharpen your SEO and personal brand, and you'll be back at work before you know it.


Susan P. Joyce is an online job search expert and owner and operator of Job-Hunt.org, a guide for a smarter, safer job search. Follow her on Twitter at @JobHuntOrg.

The Galaxy Note 7 Explosion Findings Could Change How Samsung Makes Smartphones

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Samsung pushed the limits of lithium-ion batteries too far. This could change the timing and design of its future phones.

After months of confusion about the real cause of the Galaxy Note 7 explosions, Samsung finally provided some answers on Sunday, releasing a detailed report on its findings into the problem. In a micro sense, the explosions were caused by both design flaws and manufacturing errors. In a macro sense, they stemmed from Samsung trying to do too much too fast with lithium-ion batteries. This approach may soon change, and could likely impact the company's phone designs and the regularity with which Samsung releases new phones.

The Note 7 batteries were made in two different facilities. Those made in Samsung's own SDI affiliate contained a design flaw that put in contact a positively charged material layer with a negatively charged layer, causing a short circuit. The batteries for the replacement phones that were to be sent out as part of the recall process were produced by another manufacturer called ATL; those batteries began blowing up because of manufacturing issues stemming from a hurried production schedule. Specifically, faulty welding caused the explosive contact between negative and positive layers.

Samsung originally took the Note 7 completely off the market when its internal investigation team could not find a reason for the explosions. Today's results come from a battery investigation by the U.S.-based UL LLC and Exponent Inc. A German firm studied the manufacturing process used to produce the batteries, but found no significant problems in Samsung's overall phone manufacturing process.

Pushing Too Hard

The lithium-ion batteries commonly used to power all manner of consumer gadgets have advanced in power efficiency over the years, but perhaps not fast enough to keep up with the demands of an extremely competitive smartphone market.

Samsung asked a lot of the Note 7 battery. When company officials first briefed me on the device back in July 2016, the first bullet points about the new device concerned the increased size (3,500 milliamps) of the battery (larger than the then forthcoming iPhone 7), and how quickly it recharged.

Samsung was also under pressure to make its new phone very thin and sexily designed. The phone was very thin, and the edges of the phone were rounded, creating a softer-looking design. The shape of the battery, then, had to be redesigned to fit within those dimensions. And because of the chemical reactions that happen within the battery, the tiniest design changes matter a lot.

When a lithium-ion battery emits charge, ions flow from a (negative) anode pole to a (positive) cathode pole. The anode pole comprises numerous tightly packed graphite and copper plates, while the cathode pole comprises numerous lithium plates in between. The layers are kept apart by a foil separator. If the anode and cathode poles come into physical contact, the battery can heat up and explode. The thinner the battery, the tighter these elements are packed together. The design constraints on the battery left little room for error in the manufacturing process.

And to make matters worse, Samsung was hurrying to get its new Note 7 out before the arrival of the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in September. Samsung was promising a big, bad battery jammed into a thin device, and delivered on a tight schedule. Nobody knew it then, but the stage was set for a PR and consumer safety nightmare for Samsung.

Koh Dong-jin[Photo: courtesy of Samsung]

Changes Ahead

Samsung has already promised U.S. regulators that it will implement a new eight-step quality assurance program at its battery manufacturing facilities. The point is to catch any potentially explosive batteries as they come off the line. An irregularly sized battery, one that doesn't perfectly fit in the area reserved for it within the phone, would in theory be exposed by the new testing.

But that kind of testing takes time and money. Those eight steps are probably just one example of the many ways that the Note 7 debacle will cause Samsung to slow down its development and production schedules to keep an eye on safety. Samsung also assembled an external panel of battery experts to oversee the creation of future Samsung batteries. The cost of the measures might also slice off a little bit of margin on each premium smartphone sold.

Samsung is known for releasing new phones quickly and often. That's the spirit that likely motivated the company's plan to get the Note 7 out before the iPhone 7 showed up. The company might be a bit more thoughtful about its strategy for competing against rivals like Apple. Release timing could slow somewhat. It could cease to be the company's go-to weapon for competing against rivals like Apple.

The Note 7 debacle might also have an impact on the way Samsung designs its phones. The Note 7 investigation findings show that the phone's overall design affected the safety of the battery. The thinness of the phone and its rounded edges weren't the only problems. Samsung packed a lot of components into the phone. The Note 7 had a new iris scanner on board, and retained the analog headphone jack, for example.

Rumor has it that Samsung is already planning to ditch the analog headphone jack in this year's premium phones, which may create a little more space for the battery. But that may not be enough. Samsung may have to take a hard look at the feature sets and design traits of its phones and decide if any can be given up to create more space for the battery.

Six Items That Should Never Be On Your To-Do List

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Classic to-do lists don't provide context or give a timeline, and they're easy to ignore. Here's how to make a better list.

Writing a to-do list seems like a tidy little way to keep track of what you need to accomplish, but it can fall short or even derail your success. To-do lists don't provide context about the tasks, they don't give you a timeline, and they're easy to ignore. What's more, to-do list prioritizing systems can be complicated and hard to navigate.

So should you ditch your to-do list completely? Absolutely not, says Paula Rizzo, author of Listful Thinking: Using Lists to be More Productive, Highly Successful and Less Stressed.

"Lists can change your life if you use them correctly," says Rizzo, founder of ListProducer.com, a website that offers tips and courses for making lists. "It seems so simple to write a list but there's actually a right way and wrong way to do it if you want to be successful. Oftentimes our bad list-making habits are holding us back."

The content of your list is key to its usefulness. Here are six items that you should remove or never put on a to-do list:

1. A Task That Is Rote Or Habitual

The first set of items to cross off of your to-do list are the things you do every workday, such as checking your email or attending a daily morning meeting, says Ari Banayan, cofounder of the personal development blog Habit Nest.

"The point is to remove anything from your list that you'll get done regardless of whether it's there or not," he says.

2. A Task You Keep Rewriting (But Never Complete)

If a task keeps reappearing because you keep putting it off, chances are you're never going to do it, and that's OK, says Rizzo.

"Give yourself permission to cross those off forever and move on," she. "It's OK if you don't learn to speak Italian."

3. A Task Someone Else Can Do

Just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should, says Rizzo.

"Look at your list and figure out which items could be given to someone else to take care of for you," she says. "Being able to delegate items will free you up to do the tasks that make you money or bring you joy."

4. A Task That Takes Five Minutes

If you can accomplish the task in a few minutes, then do it, don't write it down, says Grainne Logue, marketing manager for the checklist app Buckets.

"Any item on your to-do list that would take less than 5 minutes to do, shouldn't be on your to-do list; it should be done," she says. Instead, use a to-do list for tasks that take more time and brain power.

5. A Long-Term Project

Long-term projects usually end up on the bottom of the list until the deadline gets so close they become last-minute emergencies, says Jamie Novak, author of Keep This Toss That: Unclutter Your Life to Save Time, Money, Space, and Sanity.

"Flipping your to-do list upside down once a week can help you get things done," she says. Instead of listing a big project, which may feel overwhelming, break it down into manageable steps. This will help you make progress on part of your goals.

6. The Kitchen Sink

Writing a to-do list can and should feel like a brain dump, but that can turn into a never-ending amount of work. Long lists can be paralyzing, and the key is to make a short daily to-do list from items on your master list.

"If you're honest about your capabilities, you'll have to admit that you'll likely only have the opportunity to accomplish three to five tasks in a day," says Maura Thomas, author of Personal Productivity Secrets: Do What You Never Thought Possible With Your Time and Attention … and Regain Control of Your Life.

Having a smaller list will set you up for small wins that will boost your confidence and keep you moving from task to task, says Rizzo.

"Determine which tasks need to be dealt with first and put those on a separate list that you'll use to get through the day," she says. "Make sure you only put things on your list that you have the time and resources to accomplish on that day."

What Will It Take For The Women's March To Become A Movement?

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The Women's March on Washington had historic participation, but the momentum might be hard to sustain with such a varied set of issues.

In an apartment in Brooklyn on Friday, Jamie McCarty and Alinne Fernandes, in their late twenties and early thirties respectively, readied themselves for a trip to Washington, D.C. They had decided they had to join the hundreds of thousands of people who had committed to gather and march in Washington against recently sworn in president Trump, whose misogynist commentary and alignment with white supremacists has angered many.

This protest marks an important moment for both women, who had only participated in a few Black Lives Matter events previously. The Women's March and president Trump's election have forced them to consider how they'll stay active after the march, perhaps by joining an organized cause.

"I feel like you have to," explained Fernandes before she headed out to D.C. She says prior to this moment she hadn't educated herself on how to get involved, but now she's ready to make a concerted effort.

Unlike many recent movements including Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives, many of the women (and men) who attended Saturday's march in Washington (and the over 600 sister marches in cities across the world) were not associated with one single group. Not only that, but the Women's March marked the first protest event many had ever attended.

This march was not borneof activists. The idea started when on the night of the election a fashion designer living in Florida named Bob Bland invited 40 of her friends on Facebook to protest in Washington. The original goal was an act of dissent against President Trump. As it gained mass interest entirely organically on Facebook professional activists got involved to organize the march. In the weeks leading up the march, its leadership became more diverse, including professional activists Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Tamika Mallory, and the march came to encompass a diverse set of issues.

Yet, despite the lack of affiliation with one central group (or perhaps because of it), the Women's March on Washington drew millions of women into the streets in cities across the U.S. and around the world. Starting as early as 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, women showed up in droves, blanketing the area between the Capitol Building and the Monument, many wearing pink knit cat-eared "Pussy hats," the beanies that have come to represent the movement against Donald Trump's brazen comments about women. But the reason women were willing to travel from all corners of the United States for a day of marching is because there are so many issues to protest.

Related: The Creators Of The Pussyhat Project Explain How Craft Projects Are Protest

"I think there are a lot of rights that have been threatened over the past year, not just one particular issue and that culmination is what drew me here today," said Beth Yosler, one of the protesters at the march who traveled from Pennsylvania.

The question is, can a sustained movement form around such a broad set of issues?

Refining The Message

After new leaders were added to the helm, the Women's March committee revealed a set of prerogatives. The issues outlined by the march's organizers were sweeping including equal pay for all women, access to reproductive health services, an end to police violence and racial profiling, and access to clean water and air. They also called for the support of civil rights, disability rights, and the rights of immigrants.

This wide-reaching collection of issues is perhaps part of the reason why the crowds who gathered on Saturday were so diverse: from union workers in Ohio to Unitarians from Pennsylvania and groups of women from Alaska.

But since there were so many causes represented at the march, protesters had a hard time coming up with a unifying chant during their procession. Aside from a few short calls of "This is what democracy looks like" marchers didn't latch on to a particular phrase.

Related: America Finally Has A New "Hope" Poster

"There's no reason to think that the Women's March can't be the start or the part of something larger," says David Meyer at the University of California Berkeley. But he adds a caveat, "(They) need to prioritize issues, it doesn't have to be hyper-specific demands, but it can't be 200 things."

Some of the most prominent and successful social movements have hinged on a single issue. The support for gay marriage changed attitudes and laws about gay marriage. The 1963 March on Washington yielded the Civil Rights Act. Black Lives Matter has made progress pressuring some states to pass measures requiring police to have diversity training, wear body cameras, and has pushed the conversation about police brutality into the forefront of American minds. The right too, has had success with similarly one-issue campaigns. The the pro-life movement, which seeks the repeal of the Roe v. Wade decision, has embedded itself into Republican politics.

By contrast the Women's March has more in common with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Occupy was similarly inclusive, which made it able to garner lots of support, but can be argued that it failed to effect concrete change. Part of that was because there wasn't a clear set of achievable agendas that could pave the way to the humane society and income equality the movement sought. Some do credit Occupy with starting a national conversation about income inequality that has sparked more focused movements like the Fight for $15 to raise the national minimum wage.

"The simpler your message is, the easier it is to be a force," says Meyer.

Of course, having an array of issues doesn't in and of itself fate a movement to failure. Just as the Tea Party came together in the wake of President Obama's election around a set of shared values, so too could the Women's March. Its support of human rights at large could be translated into tangible objectives that its large base can unite behind in order to achieve a greater vision.

[Photos: Ruth Reader]

Not A Single Issue

While movements based around one criteria can be effective in getting that pieces of the matter addressed, the approach may not do much for people who are facing a host of interlinked threats.

This has led activists to consider a more intersectional approach to their work. The concept of intersectionality was first introduced 25 years ago by law professor and civil rights advocate Kimberle Crenshaw, but has gained in popularity more recently. The idea is that people are burdened by a spate of issues that affect one another even if they don't immediately seem like they do.

While attracting a large mass of people around several different issues can be complicated and it can be hard to gain consensus, intersectionality offers an opportunity to organize a large base that will show up for a variety of different events. Now is a particularly interesting moment in American social politics, because people feel that many rights are being threatened and that means they may be willing to get behind multiple activist efforts.

"The vast majority of people are just individuals out there struggling and being affected," says Malkia Cyril, executive director of the Center for Media Justice. "Giving them an opportunity to fight back is a way to enter."

The Women's March could facilitate such a movement around opposition to the Trump administration who many fear might roll back the progress of the last several decades. But in order to enact meaningful change, the Women's March will have to act as more of a network to achieve movement status. Post-march, it could be a platform for galvanizing its constituents and directing them to other opportunities for activism whether a march for Black Lives Matter or a rally for immigrant rights. So rather than being a singular event for organizations to attract new devotees, it would become a connector.

Already the organization has pledged to launch 10 actions in 100 days. The first asks all of those who align with the Women's March to send postcards to their Congress member and ask for action on specific issue. "We will be staying connected via social media, via emails, to ask people if they want to stay engaged with us," Vanessa Wruble, head of campaign operations for the Women's March, told me ahead of the march. She said the week after the march she and the other organizers would meet to discuss what's next.

Conceiving of a post-march plan won't be easy. People are often happy to show up for an event like a march or rally. But the tedious business of writing letters, making phone calls, and facilitating other activist grunt work may be a harder sell.

Here To Stay

Around 1 p.m on Saturday, a little unrest began to develop in the crowd. Hundreds of thousands of people had been standing in the cold for hours. As speaker after speaker took the stage, a chant of "march, march, march, march" emerged from the crowd. One of the event organizers took to the stage to tell the crowd that there were only a few speakers left and performances from artists Janelle Monae and Maxwell were still to come. The people around me groaned.

The performers took to the stage and tried to re-energize the crowd. Many couldn't see the stage or even one of the jumbo screens that had been placed around the area. Eventually another organizer took to the stage and told everyone that in fact there were too many people amassed to march to the monument—the crowd already stretched that far. Some of the people in the middle of the crowd started to move. Some went up Independence Avenue toward the monument, some went over to Pennsylvania Avenue headed for the White House. Others veered off down other streets, signs still waving. And yet others were drawn back to the stage when Madonna appeared to sing "Express Yourself." But as a member of the national guard, standing watch that day said to me, everyone seemed to find their way.

As people scattered to their various destinations, the diminishing crowds offered up one last chant: "We will not go away, welcome to your first day."

This Fintech Giant Wants To Recreate The Bell Labs Experience In NYC

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Two Sigma, the first confirmed resident at Cornell's Roosevelt Island campus, will strive to leverage the power of collective innovation.

In its quest to build a competitive tech sector, New York City is looking for ways that it can leverage the rich fabric of industries that live within its economy. The forthcoming Cornell Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island is one of the biggest attempts to corral the city's top talent into a single playpen with the hope of spurring innovative technologies.

Now that playpen has its first confirmed corporate resident, the tech-savvy investment firm Two Sigma. The company will take over a 9,200-square-foot space inside the campus's Bridge building, a place intended to bring together students, startups, and established tech companies. The allure of the new campus, and this multipurpose building, is that it could encourage the collective innovation of New York's diverse economic sectors by putting a bunch of talented people in one place.

It's an idea reminiscent of Bell Labs, the famed facilities known for sparking innovation in various fields of research. Inside the Bridge building, Two Sigma will have easy access to Cornell's researchers, as well as other yet-to-be determined tenants. It plans on using the space to host brainstorming sessions and foster new initiatives.

"We're calling our space there the 'Collision Lab'," says Alfred Spector, chief technology officer at Two Sigma. "What we want to do is essentially see what new elementary particles are created when we take our experts, our PhDs, and computer scientists and experts in data and in particular financial systems, and have them collide with all of the creativity that's going to be on this Cornell campus." He also says the Collision Lab will serve as a nest for incubating some of its early-stage investments.

In a vast expanse of venture funds looking to appeal to enterprising startups, setting up shop at Cornell's tech campus could offer a prime advantage. Not only would a company have access to Two Sigma's network, they'd have the benefit of being able to collaborate with other Bridge tenants and harvest Cornell's budding tech talent.

Spector also sees Cornell's talent pipeline as an asset, not only for its startups, but for Two Sigma itself. Being adjacent to Cornell, says Spector, will give it direct access to both potential new hires and new investment opportunities.

This is not Two Sigma's first collaboration with Cornell. In November, the company launched a competitive coding game called Halite with the university. Players create artificially intelligent bots that challenge each other for control of a virtual grid, according to a release. The game will launch as a three-month-long competition, no doubt another way of seeking out machine learning candidates.

Cornell's tech campus is slated to open this fall.


Be Inspired By These Creative Leaders Who Are Changing The World

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The new members of our Most Creative People in Business community are impacting industries ranging from fashion to finance.

Fast Company is excited to announce the addition of 170 new members to the Most Creative People in Business, an exclusive group of influencers in business from across the economy and around the globe.

These men and women have worked on fascinating projects at organizations as diverse as Google, Sweetgreen, Slack, Under Armour, BuzzFeed, the U.S. Digital Service, and Sesame Workshop. As scientists, managers, programmers, comedians, designers, musicians, writers, and activists, they are each working to solve global and societal problems in creative ways.

Here are the 170 pioneers that we are proud to induct into the Most Creative People in Business community. Click on their names to learn why they inspired us over the past year.

Design

Tim Allen, president of Wolff Olins North America
Carly Ayres, partner at HAWRAF
Ayse Birsel, cofounder and creative director of Birsel + Seck
Amber Cartwright, design manager at Airbnb
Jeremy Goldberg, product designer at Facebook
Kat Holmes, principal design director at Microsoft
David Lee, chief creative officer at Squarespace
Jonathan Lee, creative director at Google
Dennis Maloney, chief digital officer at Domino's
Bobby C. Martin Jr., cofounder of OCD | The Original Champions of Design
Brian Niccol, CEO of Taco Bell
Ryue Nishizawa, partner at SANAA Architects
Gretchen Rubin, author
Thomas Woltz, principal at Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architecture

Diversity And Education

Neil Barnett, director of inclusive hiring and accessibility at Microsoft
Kimberly Bryant, founder and CEO of Black Girls Code
Lesley Grossblatt, chief operating officer and VP of product at The Boardlist
Karlie Kloss, supermodel and founder of Kode With Klossy
Jenny Lay-Flurrie, chief accessibility officer at Microsoft
Crystal Martin, CoderGirl program manager at LaunchCode
Jim McKelvey, founder of LaunchCode
Candice Morgan, head of diversity at Pinterest
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, founder of The Boardlist
Jess Weiner, founder of Talk to Jess

Entertainment

Jay Alvarrez, photographer and social media influencer
Reza Aslan, religion scholar and television host
Brandon Beck, cofounder of Riot Games
Samantha Bee, comic and host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Laverne Cox, actress and activist
Susanne Daniels, global head of original content at YouTube
Stephen Davis, chief content officer at Hasbro
Mike Doernberg, cofounder and CEO of ReverbNation
Kid Fury, podcaster and creator of The Read
Alex Gibney, documentarian
Ilana Glazer, comic and actress
Eva Gutowski, social media influencer
Chelsea Handler, comic and television host
Kevin Hart, actor and comic
Abbi Jacobson, comic and actress
Brown Johnson, creative director of Sesame Workshop
Dwayne Johnson, actor
Matt Klinman, head video writer at The Onion
Ariel Martin, social media influencer
Meagan O'Brien, improv actor at Second City Works
Mike Platco, artist and social media influencer
Issa Rae, writer and actress
Shonda Rhimes, CEO of ShondaLand
Robyn Scott, improv actor at Second City Works
Andrew Ross Sorkin, producer and coanchor of Squawk Box
Zhang Wei, president of Alibaba Pictures
Crissle West, podcaster and creator of The Read

Fashion And Beauty

Marco Bizzarri, president and CEO of Gucci
Marcelo Camberos, CEO of Ipsy
Eva Chen, head of fashion partnerships at Instagram
Richelieu Dennis, CEO of Sundial Brands
Jennifer Goldfarb, president of Ipsy
Lazaro Hernandez cofounder of Proenza Schouler
Jack McCollough, cofounder of Proenza Schouler
Sarah Jessica Parker, actress and entrepreneur
Michelle Phan, founder of Ipsy
Zac Posen, fashion designer and creative director of Brooks Brothers
Michael Preysman, CEO of Everlane
Gregg Renfrew, founder of Beautycounter
Kate Valentine, cofounder of Frances Valentine
Nicole Vollebregt, head of women's business at Adidas
J.J. Wilson, cofounder of Kit and Ace
Shannon Wilson, cofounder of Kit and Ace

Finance And Commerce

Baiju Bhatt, cofounder of Robinhood
Mike Cagney, cofounder and CEO and SoFi
Cathy Engelbert, CEO of Deloitte
Alexander Gilkes, cofounder of Paddle8
Nick Green, co-CEO of Thrive Market
Aditya Julka, cofounder and chairman of Paddle8
Osman Khan, cofounder and CEO of Paddle8
Gunnar Lovelace, co-CEO of Thrive Market
Miguel McKelvey, chief creative officer at WeWork
Adam Neumann, CEO of WeWork
Rebekah Neumann, cofounder and chief branding officer at WeWork
José Neves, founder and CEO of Farfetch
Neil Parikh, cofounder and chief operating officer of Casper
Marcela Sapone, CEO of Hello Alfred
Amanda Steinberg, CEO of DailyWorth
Vladimir Tenev, cofounder of Robinhood
Anand Iyer, CEO of Trusted

Food

Gagan Biyani, CEO of Sprig
Cory Carman, rancher and Carman Ranch
Roy Choi, chef at Locol
Gilonne d'Origny, Allium Advisors
Jennifer Glanville, brewery manager at Samuel Adams
Kara Goldin, founder of Hint Water
Danielle Gould, founder of Food + Tech Connect
Nicolas Jammet, co-CEO of Sweetgreen
Daniel Lubetzky, founder and CEO of Kind Snacks
Megan Miller, cofounder of Bitty Foods
Kimbal Musk, chef and cofounder of The Kitchen
Jonathan Neman, co-CEO of Sweetgreen
Elizabeth O'Neill, master taster at Woodford Reserve
Amanda Oborne, vice president of food and farms at Ecotrust
Daniel Patterson, chef at Locol
Nathaniel Ru, co-CEO of Sweetgreen
Bryant Terry, chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora
Josh Tetrick, CEO of Hampton Creek Foods
Christina Tosi, founder of Momofuku Milk Bar
Leslie Ziegler, cofounder of Bitty Foods
Andrew Zimmern, CEO and chef of Andrew Zimmern's Canteen

Music

Cher, singer and actress
Jack Gilinsky, musician and social media influencer
Jack Johnson, musician and social media influencer
Joe Jonas, musician
Kevin Jonas, musician
Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton, audio engineer
Phil McIntyre, founder and CEO of Philymack
Jerry Purpdrank, musician and social media influencer

Science And Health

Meika Hollender, cofounder of Sustain Natural
Ellen Jorgensen, cofounder and executive director of Genspace
Bill Nye, author and science educator
Richard Pierson, cofounder of Headspace
Katherine Ryder, CEO of Maven
Bernard Tyson, CEO of Kaiser Permanente

Social Good

Komal Ahmad, CEO of Copia
Philippe Cousteau Jr., philanthropist
Adam Foss, former assistant district attorney in Boston
Alicia Garza, cofounder of Black Lives Matter
John Legend, musician and activist
DeRay Mckesson, activist
David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee
Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of Social Capital
Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance
Malika Saada Saar, senior counsel on civil and human rights at Google
Darren Walker, president of Ford Foundation
Clarence Wardell III, researcher and former member of the U.S. Digital Service

Sports

Nigel Eccles, CEO of FanDuel
David Graff, CEO of Hudl
Brian Kaiser, cofounder of Hudl
Rob Katz, chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts
Marc Merrill, co-CEO of Riot Games
Kevin Plank, CEO of Under Armour
Jordan Spieth, golfer
Abby Wambach, retired U.S. soccer player
Melanie Whelan, CEO of SoulCycle
Serena Williams, tennis player and entrepreneur
John Wirtz, cofounder of Hudl

Tech

Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL
Lili Cheng, general manager at Microsoft Research
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
Nicole Eagan, CEO of Dark Trace
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple
Yasmin Green, head of R&D at Google's Jigsaw
Scott Heiferman, CEO of Meetup
Adam Kelleher, principal data scientist at Buzzfeed
Andrew Kelleher, staff software engineer at Buzzfeed
Jane Kelly, director of data products at Buzzfeed
Noah Kraft, cofounder and CEO of Doppler Labs
Fritz Lanman, cofounder and executive chairman of Doppler Labs
Yann LeCun, director of artificial intelligence research at Facebook
Brendan Lind, president and CEO of Magnolia Tower
Ted Livingston, founder of Kik
James Park, CEO of Fitbit
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google
Joaquin Quiñonero Candela, director of the applied machine learning lab at Facebook
Mike Schroepfer, chief technology officer of Facebook
Noah Weiss, head of search, learning, and intelligence at Slack
Whitney Wolfe, founder and CEO of Bumble
Nicholas Woodman, CEO of GoPro

Transportation

Dan Ammann, president of General Motors
Kevin Gibbon, cofounder and CEO of Shyp
Logan Green, CEO of Lyft
Rachel Holt, regional general manager, U.S. and Canada, at Uber
Mark Reuss, global product chief at General Motors
Keller Rinaudo, cofounder of Zipline

Qualcomm's Wearable Boss On Why There's No Moore's Law For Smartwatches

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With gadgets you strap to your wrist, thin and light compete with a lot of other priorities.

To understand how excited Pankaj Kedia gets about wearable tech, you only need to look at his wrists.

Sitting in a small meeting room at the CES trade show in early January, Qualcomm's senior director and business lead for smart wearables has two fitness trackers on his right arm, and an Android Wear smartwatch on his left. And that's not all. A GPS tracker is hooked to his briefcase, from which he pulls out another five smartwatches over the course of our chat.

"I could spend four hours just brainstorming with you on the possibilities around use cases [for wearables]," Kedia says. "We are barely scratching the surface."

As a provider of chips for more than 100 types of wearables—and as the world's largest provider of mobile processors—Qualcomm probably has a good sense of where things are headed. But the current wearable business, which revolves around smartwatches and fitness bands, is in an awkward phase. New smartwatches were absent from the booths of major vendors such as LG and Samsung—the former is reportedly waiting for Google's Android Wear 2.0 operating system to arrive—and Lenovo said in December that it wouldn't be making another smartwatch anytime soon. IDC saw a sharp decline in smartwatch shipments during third-quarter 2016, the last time it released estimates, and some analysts say that last year's wearable sales didn't live up to expectations.

Kedia, however, only sees the upsides, even if he can't talk about everything that's on the horizon. "We are excited about this space," he says. "We are growing well, our customers are growing well, we have beautiful products coming out."

Shrinking The Smartwatch

Ever since companies like Pebble (R.I.P.) and Samsung started making smartwatches, they've struggled to make the size of these timepieces more manageable. Even the Apple Watch, whose 38-mm model is smaller than most smartwatches, doesn't come close to the analog watch styles you often find on more slender wrists. Rumors suggest that the third-generation Apple Watch will have the same design as the first two.

Pankaj Kedia and a bunch of wearables.

Why haven't smartwatches shrunk the way smartphones and laptops routinely do? Kedia notes that Moore's Law—the famous observation that transistor density doubles every couple of years, allowing major gains in performance or power efficiency—doesn't translate so well to smartwatches.

People will pay a premium for thin and light, he says, but they'll also pay a premium for more sensors (such as GPS, heart rate, and microphones), greater connectivity (such as Wi-Fi and cellular), and better security. Each of these additions creates a trade-off in power efficiency—another thing that commands a premium—which necessitates a larger device that can accommodate a bigger battery.

"Taking all those things and putting it in a package, that is not easy to do," Kedia says. "It is not a one-trick pony."

Design improvements may not be too far off, though. Kedia referenced the upcoming Android Wear 2.0, and said Qualcomm is working with many watch companies that he's "dying to talk about," though he added that Qualcomm PR wouldn't let him. He also pointed to crystal jewelry maker Swarovski, which announced a smartwatch at CES but did not show it or give any details.

"Swarovski will kill me if I gave you more information," he says, "but think about what Swarovski stands for, and think about what a Swarovski smartwatch might look like."

He also believes a "Moore's Law-like soundbite" will eventually exist for wearables, providing a simple metric for analyzing the category's technological progress.

"I think it will be some combination of size, power, sensors, connectivity, and security," he says. "It cannot be one thing. In the PC space, in the server space, it was performance and power. Every 18 months, power goes down, performance goes up, you can use one of those. Here it's multi-headed."

Smartwatches And Beyond

Even now, Kedia challenges the narrative that smartwatches are in a rut, arguing that they've gotten off to a faster start than MP3 players, point-and-shoot-cameras, electric cars, and even the smartphone.

Android Wear watches from Fossil

"Do you know how many quarters it took for the iPod to hit a million units? Seven. Do you know how many quarters it took for the iPhone to hit a million units? Three. Do you know how many quarters it took for the smartwatch to hit a million units? One," Kedia says.

And even if enthusiasm has temporarily cooled, he believes it's only a matter of time before smartwatches hit their stride. As platforms like Android Wear and Apple's WatchOS evolve, he believes they'll start breeding transformative apps, akin to Uber and Snapchat on smartphones.

"Looking back, we have short memories," Kedia says. "We forget. It takes time to build a new category, and when I talk to you, and I talk to analysts, when I talk internally at Qualcomm, some people assume that the perfect product needs to be today, and it doesn't work that way. Uber was not born in a day."

That said, Qualcomm isn't only making chips for smartwatches. Alongside the Snagdragon Wear 2100 smartwatch chip that launched last year, Qualcomm also offers the Snapdragon Wear 1100, which targets fitness trackers and simple wearables that don't need a full-color touch display. The company is effectively placing bets across the entire wearable market, from smartwatches and fitness bands to smart earbuds and GPS trackers.

The hope is that as wearables get their Moore's Law equivalent, Qualcomm will be able to power all kinds of everyday objects, from clothing to footwear to other forms of jewelry beyond the wrist.

"There is no such thing as a killer product, or a killer form factor, or a killer shape and size, or a killer use case," Kedia says. "This will evolve over time."

The Girl Behind The Sparkle-Shooting Prosthetic Arm Is Just Getting Started

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After her 3D-printed glitter cannon gained nationwide attention, 11-year-old Jordan Reeves helps make an entirely new kind of prosthetic.

While showing off the sparkle-shooting prosthetic arm that made her an internet sensation, 11-year-old Jordan Reeves has a glitter emergency.

Over video chat from her home in Columbia, Mo., Jordan accidentally spills glitter all over her keyboard while loading the attachment. Her mom, Jen, in a restrained panic, comes in but Jordan plays it cool.

"I'm sorry," she says, but quickly returns to showing off her next big thing.

The last 10 months have been a whirlwind for Jordan, who was born with a left arm that stops just above the elbow. After Fast Company first wrote about Jordan's sparkle-shooting arm last March, she's presented it at events all around the country, including a trip to Disney World, where she won the Dream Big, Princess award. Autodesk and Dremel gave her a 3D printer to use at home, and Awesome Without Borders chipped in $1,000 for filament.

"It's just crazy," Jordan says of everything that's happened over the last year. "Good crazy. There's no such thing as a bad crazy."

Jordan's latest project is less sparkly, but could have an even greater impact. Working with her prosthetist and a designer from Autodesk, Jordan has combined a medical-grade prosthetic arm with 3D-printed attachments at the wrist. That means she can interchange her usual prosthetic hook for a printed hand, a pirate's hook, or whatever else she feels like building on her home 3D printer. This may be the first hybrid prosthetic arm made of medical and printed parts, so in a sense Jordan has made her way to the cutting edge as the worlds of medical and 3D-printed prosthetics start coming together.

Bringing A Hand To Life

3D-printed arms have been around for a few years now, and there are plenty of online instructions for people who want to make their own at home. Although these printouts aren't as robust as medical-grade prosthetics, they cost tens of dollars instead of thousands, making them more practical for children whose bodies are still growing.

Still, the hand designs on community sites like E-nable require a functional wrist or elbow. Jordan, along with her Autodesk mentor Sam Hobish, were unsuccessful in trying to adapt one of these designs to her arm, so last September, Jordan started brainstorming with her prosthetist on possible workarounds.

"She came with the challenge because she and Sam were trying to figure out a way to use those standard 3D-printed hands, and it got pretty aggravating," Jen Reeves says. "She realized that it was not possible with any of the current 3D-printed design concepts, since she doesn't have an elbow."

David Rotter, the clinical director of prosthetics for Chicago-based Scheck & Siress, has been working with Jordan Reeves since she was about three years old. Together, they had an idea: Create a traditional prosthetic arm with a connection at the wrist for screwing in a 3D-printed hand. The printed hand then connects with string to a shoulder harness, the kind that Jordan already uses to control her standard prosthetic hook. By moving her shoulder, Jordan can control the hand's grasp.

"It's a really ingenious concept that they figured out," Jen Reeves says. "It's not simple in reality, but it looks simple, and you just string it together."

Beyond just accommodating the printed hand, the prosthetic can be a base for other attachments. In the package that Rotter shipped to Jordan, he also included a standard prosthetic hook and—by Jordan's request—a rather sturdy pirate hook. Connecting future creations would only require gluing on a compatible screw, which Jordan says she's found at Home Depot.

"Where it gets fun is the pieces that can be made to put on the end of her prosthesis," Rotter says. "That's really where I think we're going to have a good interaction between what I've made, what Jordan can conceptualize, and what perhaps Sam can help her produce, to see if this is something that's usable for her and provides her with sufficient utility."

Jordan, who got the package just in time to show it off at a Kid Inventors' Day event in New York City last Tuesday, seems thrilled, despite some initial hiccups with figuring out how to use it.

"First I was frustrated, because I didn't know exactly how to work it and stuff," Jordan says, "but now I think it's really, really, really, really cool."

Old Meets New

Despite this success story, Rotter is still approaching 3D-printed prosthetics with caution. He has a printer in his lab, but so far he's only used it for one-off projects, such as tooling that could help create new medical-grade prosthetics. To date, he hasn't sent a single patient off with a prosthetic that's entirely 3D-printed, noting that there are too many variables that might lead to weak constructions.

"Specifically for upper extremity prosthetics, I just don't think we're there as far as dispensing something that I would feel comfortable billing insurance for," Rotter says.

Still, the medical and 3D-printed worlds are starting to coalesce. Hobish recently started working with the E-nable Community Foundation, a nonprofit spin-off of the online community that helps people create their own printed hands. He's helping to develop a software program, called LimbForge, that can adjust the size of an entire 3D model based on changes to a specific measurement. E-nable has been working with prosthetics experts along the way, Hobish says, and using workflows that the medical community has established.

"It does incorporate a lot of traditional prosthetics techniques when it comes to how we take the measurements and how we're working with the patients," Hobish says.

The ultimate goal is to help volunteer organizations in disaster-stricken countries print out lots of prosthetics in short order. In a country like Haiti, for instance, medical prosthetics are harder to come by, and limb differences carry a greater stigma. Printed hands, Hobish says, can help give people a semblance of passing.

"It improves their lives by allowing them to avoid being singled out," he says.

Both Rotter and Hobish are excited at the prospect of more collaboration between the medical and 3D-printed worlds, and Rotter says Jordan's story is a great example of how these efforts are coming about.

"Someone needed to say, 'Cool, I'm going to design a glitter shooter,'" Rotter says. "Someone from Autodesk needed to say, 'Cool, let's take this girl who's got this desire to do things and let's partner with her and see if we can come up with some cool solutions.' And myself, I'm also looking to bridge these gaps between end users and the traditional approach."

Sparkle 2.0

As for what Jordan will do next, she mentions a desire to 3D-print an Eiffel Tower, but after Kid Inventors' Day she had more practical endeavors on her mind. For example, she'd like to design a portable contraption to help dispense paper towels in public bathrooms—a mundane task for most, but one that sometimes demands two hands.

Jordan's also becoming a bigger advocate for other kids with physical differences, "so more kids can be able to do what I'm doing, and get the opportunity to do what I want to do," she says.

To that end, Jen Reeves has created a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Born Just Right, whose goal is to help kids and their parents get educated on design, and connect them with organizations that also want to get involved. Jordan's been helping write blog posts and shoot videos, and generally serving as a role model. She's also been petitioning doll maker American Girl to create dolls with limb differences, and she's hoping to return to Superhero Cyborgs, the program put on by educational group KIDmob where she first achieved viral fame.

And yes, there will likely be a new version of Project Unicorn—or at the very least, a replacement for the current model, which is in disrepair after yet another round of demonstrations—ensuring a further trail of glitter emergencies.

"I still find it in my clothes," Hobish says.


[Photo: Celine Grouard for Fast Company]

What Jay Z's Tidal Gains By Selling A Stake To Sprint

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A new deal between Sprint and Tidal offers the music-streaming service new subscribers and a path toward new ownership.

It's not the silver bullet Jay Z was hoping for, but it's a start.

Tidal, the music-streaming service he bought in late 2014, just signed a deal with Sprint that gives the mobile carrier 33% ownership of Tidal and puts Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure on Tidal's board. The deal, in which Sprint reportedly paid $200 million for the music-streaming service, leaves Jay Z and his cadre of big name artist co-owners in charge of Tidal.

With the deal, Tidal doubles down on the controversial strategy of offering music exclusively to paying subscribers—in this case, people who subscribe to both Sprint and Tidal will get exclusive access to content that not even standard Tidal subscribers can stream. For Sprint, this is a unique perk that it hopes can help lure subscribers to its mobile phone service, which lags behind Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile in the United States. The deal includes a $75-million fund for artist marketing and exclusive content.

Contrary to some press reports, it's not clear whether all 45 million Sprint customers will ultimately be signed up for Tidal at no additional cost or if a bundled, discounted subscription will be offered as an option to Sprint customers. "What this exactly means for current and new Sprint customers and upcoming promotions from Sprint and Tidal will be unveiled soon," a Sprint spokesperson told Fast Company.

The mobile service provider music bundle concept isn't a foreign one to Tidal CEO Jeff Toig, who previously oversaw mobile content at Virgin Mobile and later helped launch Muve Music, a now-defunct digital music service that was offered as a bundled offering to customers of AT&T-owned Cricket Wireless. Muve's assets were sold to Deezer in early 2015 for less than $100 million. After leaving Cricket and Muve, Toig embarked on a short-lived stint as SoundCloud's chief business officer, but left about a year before the streaming music platform's subscription service finally got off the ground. In late 2015, Toig joined Tidal as its third CEO in one year, and it wouldn't be surprising if he brought his affinity for mobile-bundled music services with him.

Either way, the Sprint deal is a big potential subscriber boon for Tidal that comes at a somewhat desperate moment. Almost since its launch two years ago, speculation has swirled over the long-term viability over Tidal's business, especially as Spotify and Apple Music have both exploded and other players such as Pandora and Amazon have moved toward the on-demand music subscription business. Rumors of potential acquisitions of Tidal, including reported interest by Samsung, Apple, Google, and Spotify, have swirled almost as long.

Tidal seems to have the most to gain in this deal, which is nothing short of a lifeline for the service. In 2015, Tidal lost $28 million as it struggled to carve out its spot in the notoriously challenging music-streaming business. Since then, Apple, Amazon, SoundCloud, and Google have all entered the space, and Pandora—which has 78 million active radio listeners—is launching its own on-demand subscription service this quarter. Apple Music in particular has exploded, growing to a reported 20 million subscribers in just over a year's time. That's half the number of people who pay for Spotify (which has a total of 100 million listeners). Meanwhile, Tidal has reported 3 million subscribers, a number that was recently challenged by Norwegian journalists whose reporting suggests that number may actually be lower than 1 million.

Whatever the reality may be, Tidal is now better positioned than ever to grow its subscriber base while the competition heats up. But even massive listener growth isn't necessarily a recipe for success. It's worth noting that not even well-established, independent players like Spotify and Pandora have ever turned an enduring profit and that most of the rest of the competition is made up of services incubated by giant tech companies with little concern for the profitability of the streaming music model. A challenging business, indeed.

The stark reality of the economics of streaming music leaves few options for players like Tidal and SoundCloud, beyond being acquired by a bigger company. The Sprint deal suggests one likely path forward for Tidal: Assuming this partnership pays off for Sprint in a meaningful way, the mobile carrier may wind up buying Tidal outright. If nothing else, Tidal's new $600 million valuation (quite a boost from the $56 million Jay Z paid) may entice other prospective buyers. With Spotify expected to go public later this year and big players Amazon and Apple well-positioned to lure new subscribers, the clock is ticking ever more loudly for Tidal.

Why Google, Twitter, And LinkedIn Employees Are Kicking These Seven Work Habits

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We asked insiders at some of the top tech companies which bad habits they're trying to cut out of their workdays. Here's what they said.

By this time in January, some of that initial excitement around New Year's resolutions may be starting to fade. Here we are, just a week away from the whateverness of February. Work has officially kicked back into high gear. That yoga class you took on January 6th ("2017! The year of yoga!") was great, and maybe the one you dragged yourself to a week later was fine, but last week you just kind of skipped it (you had good reasons, you swear).

Listen, it's okay. Even the most productive people have a hard time sticking with their resolutions. Making big, lasting habit changes is hard. So for inspiration (and solidarity), we asked insiders at some of the top tech companies to share which bad habits they're trying to cut out of their workdays. After all, sometimes getting yourself to stop doing something is a little easier than learning to do something totally new. And knocking out those small, achievable goals first can help you achieve the tougher ones later.

1. Taking Phones Into Meetings

"I'm used to constantly checking my phone during the day," says Sara Haider, a senior manager in Periscope's engineering division, "so I'm aiming to switch it to 'do not disturb' mode during meetings so I can stay focused and keep my mind and thoughts on the subject at hand."

Sarah Haider, Staff Software Engineer, Periscope.tv[Photo: via Twitter]

That's a challenge when the subject at hand is one of the world's most recognized mobile apps. "When you work on platforms like Twitter and Periscope," Haider concedes, "there can be a lot of notifications because something is always happening in the world."

Erica Lockheimer, senior director of engineering growth at LinkedIn, is committing to the same thing. "I am no longer going to be distracted by my laptop or phone in meetings," she vows. "I am going to be present and fully engaged, and will enjoy every moment working with talented teams to solve problems and come up with new strategies. The rest can wait—the moment is more important!"

2. Eating Lunch Alone

It's easy to settle for a sad desk lunch when you've got a packed day. But schlepping to the lunch room for a quick bite by yourself isn't much better, says LinkedIn's Ish Verduzco, a social media and event coordinator. "Eating alone is not a break, it's isolation."

So in addition to kicking this bad habit, Verduzco is taking on a new one. "In 2017, I am going to have lunch with two new people each week. Not only will this build relationships," he says, "it'll also expand my knowledge across the business."

3. Opting For Email Over Face Time

"I'm dropping the need to chime in to every email," Google product strategist Luke Leonhard declares. "When people do great work, I'll make the effort to tell them in person, instead of joining in on the congratulations thread."

Luke Leonhard, Enterprise Senior Program Manager, Google[Photo: via LinkedIn]

Email is convenient, but sometimes it's too convenient, and it winds up incentivizing weak and ineffective communication. So Leonhard is making physical conversations his default. "When I have feedback on a product spec, I'm scheduling a 10–15 minute meeting, in person or via Hangouts, to quickly and more effectively give feedback. If it isn't worth an in-person meeting, I doubt it's worth me writing an email, and the recipient having to read and interpret it."

Leonhard says he's already begun to implement this, and has already "noticed I spend less time frantically typing on my keyboard at my desk, and more time interacting with real people—making the workday feel a bit more fun."

4. Staying Subscribed To Pointless Newsletters

Leonhard isn't the only one who wants to spend less time rifling through his inbox. Fadia Kader, senior manager of music partnerships at Twitter, says, "This year I'm focusing on unsubscribing from newsletters and email subscriptions that I don't read regularly, and being more mindful of the things I sign up for." 2017 will be the year she can finally "keep my work inbox organized and clutter free."

5. Relying On Paper, Post-Its, And Short-Term Memory

Wade Morgan, Mid-Market and Enterprise Sales Development Representative, LinkedIn[Photo: via LinkedIn]

Even tech workers still cling to analog work habits that digital tools can make more efficient. No longer, says Wade Morgan, an enterprise sales development representative at LinkedIn. "I'm going to start using the calendar app to plan out my duties for the week and let go of making constant in-the-moment decisions." Getting calendar alerts, he hopes, will help 'increase efficiency and make me more accountable" day-to-day.

Alex Josephson, head of global brand strategy at Twitter, is also kicking his reliance on old-school organizational habits that don't work as well. "I've decided to give up entirely on physical notebooks and pens. Using apps like Google Keep is the best way to travel light to meetings, jot down notes, ideas, and to-dos," he says. "Plus, it reduces my carbon footprint."

6. Sleeping Too Little

"I have stopped pretending that sleep isn't important, so I have made it a point to get some this year," jokes David Roter, head of agency development at Twitter. But kicking his sleepless-nights habit doesn't mean overhauling everything. Roter is making smaller adjustments to help him score more shut-eye. "While I'm not giving up Netflix, I keep the mobile phone in the kitchen and meditate at least once per day. I actually feel sharper and more focused at work."

7. Perfectionism

Googler Luke Leonhard is actually kicking two work habits. "I'm no longer spending time making internal presentations pixel-perfect," he says. "I'm sticking with using templates and Slides Explore to make presentations look great, without spending 20 extra minutes adjusting alignments and picking colors." It's just not worth it, he says.

By ditching the perfectionism, Leonhard plans to free up time to try something new. "Add up that saved time, and I can learn a little Spanish, go outside for a run, or give yoga a try." Namaste.

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