Brendan's Recommendations?

In the average Major League clubhouse, where thick-armed, barrel-chested men curse and fart with equal aplomb, there is little room for conventional dorkiness. The majority...

1. Ideo Eyes Open The innovation-and-design firm brings its fresh eye to a travel book ($22.95) with 50 photo-saturated, offbeat experiences in a...

Rusty weapons. Frayed carpet dotted with greasy chewing-gum spots. Ceiling tiles yellowed by water stains. For years, the visitor center at Pennsylvania's...

Every headline I’ve seen about the sport in the last two years has made some mention of the vast doping problem that’s driving the sport into the ground. Case in point: last Thursday’s front...

Every summer at the E3 videogame event the big 3 platform holders have press conferences to try to capture the attention of gaming journalism, mainstream media, and the public. How did they fare...

Last night, Warner Bros. released online the trailer for the film adaptation of graphic novel Watchmen. After a two second conflict with myself over whether I should wait to see the ...

Last week at E3, both Microsoft and Sony made announcements related to video. Microsoft announced a partnership with Netflix to make streaming video available on the Xbox 360. ...

Today the San Diego Comic Con began. While it was created for comic book companies to announce upcoming products, and for fans to meet the creators behind their favorite series, it has become an...

Try a simple test: cover the logo of a range of car print ads, or try to remember the car commercial that came on screen 15 minutes ago, and see if you can tell who the advertiser is....

A few weeks ago I posted an interview with Matt Greeley, the CEO of a company called BrightIdea.com. Matt explained that his company had a turnkey innovation feedback portal that let users submit...

Recently, I worked with a client who was having a tough time managing a complex set of projects. He was sharp at the technical aspects of his job, but in over his head as a leader. He knew it,...

Remember when the only thing chaining you to your computer was e-mail? Oh, how I long for those days, the way a caveman must have gazed wistfully at the new invention called...

Corporate forecasting is, at best a labor of love and at worst, boring...or usually incorrect. The folks over at Inking, Inc. have developed prediction market software, called Inkling...

About eight years ago I moved to North Carolina for a job. At the time, I knew a little bit about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (what would be my new employer) but I...

As an anthropologist, Michael Wesch is providing a fascinating analysis of the shifts in society and culture that are already underway. In this video he shows how user generated content + user...

I was in Beijing last week and noticed the smog, of course, but as China grapples with Olympics and air quality I also saw something much more important. China is serious about energy efficiency...

In the real world, most of us wear different faces for the different circles in which we interact. We have our “work” face, our “friend” face, our “relationship” face, and our...

This weekend, I turned on my cable box to find that I was now receiving about 20 more high definition channels than in the past. I could now watch wonderful shows like Rescue Me or ...

It's been an accepted practice for many years, but the time has come for broadcast companies and their advertisers to change the "tricks" they play on us TV viewers. Because...

The reality of travel as we know it is changing faster than that guy in the red cape could leap tall buildings in a single bound. In other words, fast. As Mike Elgan...

The term “disruptive innovation” is quickly joining the list of meaningless buzzwords that companies use to hype their latest products. Marketing managers seem to use it to describe anything...

Is it better to have your hours reduced, or lose your job?  According to a recent article in ...

In the last two years I have seen a consistent and ever growing decadence at big box retailers in the US. Recently I found myself choosing NOT to shop at Home Depot, but instead to visit a...

Last week I wrote about several different companies using Twitter as a Business Intelligence tool. After I posted the article, I received a Twitter from Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh thanking me...

I’d say that if it were, the question could almost be anything these days. We want, no we demand to exact it from others - colleagues, sometimes spouses, and most definitely companies as...

It’s amazing how many get to positions of organizational leadership while lacking emotional intelligence.  Lack of or poor EI costs organizations more money than you can imagine.  I’ve been...

Spore, which lets a player create and evolve a species, has taken online community to a different level than any of your previous games, even during the...

I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of a clever way to write about this technology, but the bottom line is this service is far more buzzworthy than whatever story I can wrap around it....

Since the creation of video games, every year game developers have pushed the boundaries of graphics, ever-seeking greater realism. New images were recently released of Heavy Rain, from...

Last week, Senator Obama called on American drivers to properly inflate their tires as one of many ways we can cut our energy bills and our carbon footprints simultaneously. Although this simple...

Last week, a pedestrian walking through Times Square in New York stumbled upon the monthly Critical Mass demonstration, where legions of cyclists take to the streets en masse to raise awareness about...

For all intents and purposes, retail strategy is an oxymoron. Most marketers view retail as a tactic, not a strategy. They see it as a function of sales, not marketing. But those who understand the...

I have been waiting for the Olympics to begin for a long time. I am drawn to the sports - the diversity of the skills on display, the high level of competition, and the...

I'm continuing to live blog -- well as I confessed in Part One -- edit my rambling live blogging at last week's BullDog Reporter bootcamp...

In my mind, already, China has botched these Olympics. Word has come out that two different aspects of the elaborate opening ceremony were faked. Some of the fireworks seen on the televised...

The easy stuff is hard. Today marks my first week back at work after two weeks paternity leave.  Day one, not so bad.  My boss reminded me that a great way to balance work and home is...

The controversial issues surrounding the Beijing Olympics have received more coverage than Jerry Rice in the backfield. The damage is done – the falsified passports, the oppressive smog, and enough...

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In the old days, tech companies faced the substantial capital expense of buying lots of expensive hardware, not to mention hiring IT people to maintain them. Animoto represents...

Yes, Microsoft has lowered the price of the Xbox 360 console. You can get the standard system for $299 and the arcade version (no hard drive or backwards compatibility) for $199. Ignoring the...

Inc.com named...

Full disclosure. I probably have undiagnosed ADD. I bet many more of us than we realize will develop ADD if we haven't already, with the relentless stimuli and pounding pressures of our...

Now with the release of Google's Chrome browser and Microsoft's IE8 Beta, a new era of browser wars has begun. Firefox, Safari and Opera have made a bit of a dent taking about 20% of the market...

A majority of 100 CFOs interviewed in a recent study by Work+Life Fit, Inc and BDO Seidman, LLP, a national professional services firm, believe the business impacts of work life flexibility go...

I caught up with Ashton Kutcher at the TechCrunch 50 and got the scoop on his new www.BlahGirls.com web property. Check out the...

What hasn’t been remarked all that much about in the Sarah Palin phenomenon, is that in some respects her candidacy, ironically, is very much of a piece with the Web 2.0 culture of personality....

Earlier this week, I asked members of the Relevance Group on Facebook (see link at the bottom of the page) as well as subscribers of my newsletter to pick a brand that they feel is most relevant to...

When Hurricane Gustav threatened to crash into New Orleans and bring more destruction to the city that never recovered from Hurricane Katrina, ...

September 13 - Thank goodness, the news week is ending better than it started. The presidential campaigns have moved from squabbling about “lipstick on a pig” to the importance of ...

June through August, when I was young, entailed family trips around the state. In September, when asked about my vacation, I would say brightly, "I visited ...

My name is Randa Clay, and I am a designer and marketing consultant with my main focus being design and development for WordPress. Beyond graphic...

When Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed me to serve as the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2003, my first challenge came not from the smoggy skies of Los...

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the NVISION 08 visual computing conference and sat down...

In terms of marketing and sales techniques, the vast majority of US-based industrial manufacturers continue to live in the past. And so do their agencies or in-house departments. Sell...

Having worked in the financial sector before moving out west to start-up land, I have been asked several times over the past few days about the impact the financial meltdown will have on high...

There was a period not so long ago when it seemed Steven Holl couldn't get a break. Perhaps it started when that high-profile art museum he designed in...

Close your eyes and visualize the sun setting over a beach. How detailed was your image? Did you envision a bland orb sinking below calm waters, or...

Lia Vollack is running late. Jonathan Palmer, a licensing executive for Columbia Records, sits in the waiting area outside her corner office on the top floor...

I am never buying another physical newspaper again. Neither will my sons. I say that not as someone who's willfully ignorant but as a news junkie...

Steve Denning is the world leader in organizational storytelling. He has written five books on the subject. The Financial Times chose his book, ...

There is a change in the wind. I am just back from a recent design conference, the IDSA National Conference, and one has the sense that two dramatic changes are in play. First, the idea that...

It seems fitting in light of the previous few weeks of turmoil in our financial world, that we, as co-authors of this blog, share our perspective on how we all can still Innovate with...

A tour of the FAO Schwarz flagship store in NYC should be mandatory for everyone who wants to understand the relevance of really good retail. When last we left FAO, we left it for...

Are you responsible for developing new products or services for your company? If so, there’s a good chance you’ve read some books or articles on the subject. Maybe attended a conference on...

The less clear, the less transcendent, the less transformational a vision of the future, the more people argue in the present about what happened in the past. This is especially true when people come...

Since my topic is leadership, it is timely to comment on the goings on in the world of high finance. In addition, my base of operations is none other than Greenwich, CT, an epicenter of the...

Beyond the financial crisis of the moment, long term challenges and business opportunities remain, including energy efficiency. Wasted energy is a major drag on the US economy, and improving...

I understand we're heading for a recession. Down the street I see triple gelatos being passed over countertops. Cupcakes, judging from the crush at ...

The first thought-provoking finding that I’m going to focus on from the ...

As big as the Airbus A380 is, its impact in the U.S. market will be muted for the first few years simply because there won't be a lot of them flying here. In fact, to date no American carriers...

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Every four years, the country is over-run with political ads from presidential hopefuls, and for the most part, they are aggressive, in-your-face and...

Innovative breakthroughs come from people who are not afraid to challenge “the facts” and “the way it’s done in this industry.” What if Columbus had never challenged "the...

Whether one is Republican, Democrat or Independent, most people agree that Barack Obama is a master of highly effective communication. In Say It Like Obama: the Power of Speaking with Purpose and...

World at Work has a nice definition of work-life that I really like. They define it broadly and...

Hoisted by one’s own petard: to be hurt, or destroyed by one’s own plot or device, of one’s own doing which one intended for another; to be “blown up by one’s own bomb.” ...

“You can’t handle the truth!” Col. Jessep (Jack Nicholson) in “A Few Good Men” Can your company handle the truth? This week I had plenty of time to contemplate...

Welcome back to the Innovating with Meaning Blog! Life is about choices.  Just like the contestants on the popular television show, "Deal or No Deal?", who have to choose...

If many manufacturers and their sales teams sell products and not solutions, does that mean that their customers buy products too, and not solutions? They buy both of course, but it...

Technorati has released its 2008 State of the Blogosphere report and it's an interesting read, particularly if you're not yet convinced of the place that blogging has in the corporate world (...

With the financial meltdown yet to be resolved, a slowing economy and VCs backing away from Web 2.0 start-ups, many people assume that now is the worst time to launch a start-up. Yet, now is...

Levi's has a significant problem: like many other iconic brands -- it's pretty much generically synonymous with the idea of "jeans" -- there's nowhere near the consumer behavior (i.e....

Welcome to my first blog post. Thanks for your interest in the future of the corporate social responsibility movement. As this is Fast Company’s site, I hope to encourage you all to both Move...

For everything you do, think bigger, think multi-dimensional, think ramifications and think ripple effect. Broaden your horizons. Last week I spoke at the HOW Mind Your Own Business...

In reading Max Kalehoff's OnlineSpin about how online transparency might affect brand building, I got on...

The financial crisis seems overwhelming, with dire warnings that things may still get worse, bailout or not. People are worried about what lies ahead for business, but believe it or not the news...

When it comes to privacy and security issues on social networks, "The sites most likely to suffer from issues are the most popular ones," Graham Cluley, Chief...

In my last blog, I mentioned all the ways that a B2B customer (another business) is different than a B2C customer (an end consumer): they tend to be more insightful, more rational in their...

Many of the tried and true metrics adopted by call centers for customer support center around customer avoidance. They reward those reps who can get off the phone quickly, for example, but there is...

I was in the drive-thru of a national fast food chain the other day. As I placed my order, something seemed out of sorts. Was it their menu choices? No…that...

On the eve of the next US presidential debate, and a few days after the proverbial dust has settled from the vice presidential debate, let’s look at the two candidates relative to what makes a...

How do you adapt a book that has been compared to Citizen Kane into a film? How do you honor a dense literary work while making it digestible to the mainstream public? The answer, I...

I just have to rant a little about politics. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that if what you are doing isn't working anymore, you need to make a change.  ...

Are you the Inspector Clouseau in your life? With every person I meet in my work/life I ask myself, "Why is this person put in front of me?" Life is...

Welcome back to the Innovating with Meaning Blog! Many of our clients have expressed frustration at the lack of commitment to innovative ideas within their organizations. ...

Here’s a notion you might find difficult to stuff in your overhead bin: Airlines haven’t gone near far enough when it comes to "à la carte" pricing. In the airline world today,...

As reported by Workforce Management – October 8, 2008: Communication Gap: Nine out of 10 employers think it is important for their employees to understand and...

Join renown tech blogger Robert Scoble for a ...

So the economic crisis is in full force and juxtaposed against what also currently appears to be a full commitment to Design and Innovation by business.  In front of us, there is a moment of...

While meandering around the Murray Hill district of Manhattan,  I was stopped dead by an intriguing sign: "...

With the news full of failing banks, dried-up credit and falling stock markets, it’s no shock that people are afraid about what’s ahead, entrepreneurs included. And yet even in the midst of...

Why are so many large companies branding imposters? On the hand, they spend zillions trying to brand themselves through advertising? On the other hand, they provide far too little...

Going to a funeral is never fun; however, this past weekend, as I celebrated the life of a man who lived 95 good years, I received a welcome, but unexpected surprise.  With the ever-worsening...

Hello and welcome to Washington Watch. I'm Rob Atkinson, President of the ...

In this tough job market, business executives with nonprofit board experience can be at an advantage in getting jobs in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. There are three values to having...

"Economics is as close to psychohistory as you can get."     -- Paul Krugman "Incidents from My Career" This year's winner of the Nobel...

From Smart Design: Good Grips thinking moves from the kitchen to the home workshop with features such as a level with a magnetic bottom and a hammer with a...

Will Microsoft Swallow Yahoo? We've had false alarms before, but it seems Yahoo might be facing...

Jason Biggs, you jerk! I was hot on the trail of a lead -- chasing a truer star than you -- when I had the misfortune of running into your tired, drunken ass. Outside. The Skylight, West Side...

Roughly a year ago -- months and months before Michael Phelps set world records in overdrive in Beijing -- Human Performance Labs took a bet on the swimmer. The tiny...

This from Workforce Management’s e-newslettter came through our inbox this week and the first reaction we...

Media Molecule, the start-up designers of the do-it-yourself Sony PlayStation 3 videogame LittleBigPlanet, have had an unexpectedly big problem on their hands. When we hung out...

Let’s face it: the U.S. presidential election is dominating our lives and won’t stop until November 4. Might as well have some fun with it, right? Luckily, Halloween falls before Election...

ClearContext is a software company that makes email more useful. Here founder and CEO, Deva Hazarika, talks to Robert Scoble about why email is so hated inside corporations and how people can...

It's no surprise that Americans are traveling less during the credit crunch era. One of the pillars that had been supporting domestic carriers in the downturn, however -- international travel --...

It's been one week since the country elected its first black president. All eyes are on America. Words like hope, change and forward thinking are being bandied about like never before. The US is a...

Sports, given their unrelenting choke-hold on American culture, naturally dominate a good chunk of online news coverage. Sports companies like ESPN are as much an online...

Go ahead - run to a Verizon store on Thursday, November 20th...

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Music hath charms, so English poet William Congreve said it in 1697, to soothe the savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a...

We're all a little shorter on that liquid capital than last holiday season, and our calls to the bank for a credit limit increase aren't being returned. Here at FastCompany.com...

A bottled water company threatens to sue a public utility for infringing on its marketing claims. Seriously, guys?This should go down in the annals of bad sustainability marketing ....

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Which green companies are best positioned to weather the downturn? "Well established, international companies like Vestas [one of the...

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