Total Teamwork

Charles Fishman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:21:42 -0500

Total Teamwork: Imagination Ltd.

Home Base: London, England
Year Founded: 1978

The line would be 700 people long. And although they would be waiting to get into one of Britain's greatest attractions, most of the people in the line would be restless or tired, irritable or impatient. Everyone would know that the wait wouldn't last for more than 15 minutes. But knowing how long the wait will be often makes it that much more unbearable.

Raise the Roof

Charles Fishman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:43:54 -0500

Following the destruction of the World Trade Center, SpectraSite Communications Inc., a Cary, North Carolina-based company, offered what it could to help businesses recover. The firm had an important, if unusual, asset: rooftops. "You see those tapes of the buildings falling down," says Katie Olszewski, who is SpectraSite's asset manager in Manhattan, "and you see that huge broadcasting tower fall. We knew what that meant, but I don't know if it was clear to other people.

Raise the Roof

Charles Fishman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:40:10 -0500

"You see those tapes of the buildings falling down," says Katie Olszewski, who is SpectraSite's asset manager in Manhattan, "and you see that huge broadcasting tower fall. We knew what that meant, but I don't know if it was clear to other people.

To The Moon! (In a Minivan)

Charles Fishman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:25:26 -0500

The essential technology America's space-shuttle astronauts depend on, which almost no one outside NASA knows about, is paper. Not just a file folder of vital checklists but actual piles of paper--stacks and stacks of it. Every minute of flight, every experiment, every space walk, is scripted. The routines are rehearsed in advance, manuals in laps, over and over. The loose-leaf sheets--called FDFs, or flight data files--are organized into functional sets, held together with three metal rings.

Hire This Guy

Charles Fishman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:25:12 -0500

People in the corporate world kid Mike Brown about the surfing--at 55 years old, he surfs two or three days a week--but it was his surfing that landed him the job that would shape the rest of his career and reshape how the rest of us do business. Brown was among the first people in the country to hold the title vice president of sustainability in a big company--14 years ago, at Patagonia.

How Green is Wal-Mart?

Charles Fishman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:23:22 -0500

Energy-saving Stores

Goal: New stores to use 30% less energy; existing stores to reduce greenhouse-gas footprint by 20%.

Message in a Bottle

Charles Fishman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:22:10 -0500

The largest bottled-water factory in North America is located on the outskirts of Hollis, Maine. In the back of the plant stretches the staging area for finished product: 24 million bottles of Poland Spring water. As far as the eye can see, there are double-stacked pallets packed with half-pint bottles, half-liters, liters, "Aquapods" for school lunches, and 2.5-gallon jugs for the refrigerator.

Degree Of Difficulty

Charles Fishman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:16:23 -0500

One degree: In the effort to confront global climate change, a single degree of warmth may seem insignificant. But at Aspen Skiing Co., which runs one of the world's top ski resorts, a single degree is the margin between viability and disaster.

No Satisfaction at Toyota

Charles Fishman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:15:40 -0500

Deep inside Toyota's car factory in Georgetown, Kentucky, is the paint shop, where naked steel car bodies arrive to receive layers of coatings and colors before returning to the assembly line to have their interiors and engines installed. Every day, 2,000 Camrys, Avalons, and Solaras glide in to be painted one of a dozen colors by carefully programmed robots.

Space Shot: Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, GA

Charles Fishman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:14:58 -0500

The fish, of course, eat fish. They also eat green Jell-O. Every morning starting around 6, the staff of the Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest, works for hours in a stainless-steel commissary that would be the envy of any five-star restaurant. They sort, inspect, and chop--and quality standards meet human tolerances: "When in doubt, throw it out." The beluga whales each eat 54 pounds of herring a day. The green Jell-O delivers algae and other nutrients captive critters might not otherwise get.