Ill admit it: I still secretly prefer cooking on a gas stove despite knowing that Im breathing in benzene and adding to methane emissions. What can I say, I like the tactile control of an open flame.
But recently I tested an induction range that made my gas stove seem antiquated. Charlie, from the Bay Area-based startup Copper, offers a high-end range that can do everything I expect from my current stoveand more. The appliance, which started to roll out nationally last year, has been called “the Tesla of induction stoves” by The New York Times and lauded by chefs including Christopher Kimball. I wanted to try it out as a home cook with only basic skills.
[Photo: Copper Home]
An oven thats 30x more accurate
Like most electric ovens, Charlie’s performs better than its gas counterparts. But it also surpasses the typical electric version. It preheats to 350 degrees in about four minutes, thanks in part to a large battery hidden at the base of the stove. (More on the battery later.)
I tried baking some cookies, which browned up perfectly, and then turned the heat down to 80 degrees to test another unique feature: The oven can hold a steady low temperature, making it possible to proof bread or pastry quickly when needed.
Gas ovens tend to cycle heat more aggressively, and even the pilot light alone can push temperatures too high. Standard electric ovens are better, but also cant reliably keep the temperature low enough. Id brought along some chocolate croissants and tried proofing them; the oven worked like a professional proofing drawer, which meant not having to wonder how the temperature and humidity in the kitchen would affect the rise of the dough.
[Photo: Copper Home]
The oven is incredibly precise. Most ovens fluctuate as much as 30 degrees above or below the set temperature. But incorporating a battery enables Coppers Charlie to use more sophisticated controls, including modern temperature sensors and actuators. Thanks to a recent firmware update, Charlies temperature varies no more than a single degree. Put another way, its 30 times more accurate than a typical oven.
The seesawing temperatures in other ovens lead to baked goods with burnt edges, soggy bottoms, or mushy middles. The software updatedubbed Soufflé after the notoriously finicky dish it was designed to mastermakes Charlies baking capability even more consistent. Sure, it might take away some entertainment: Would you watch the Great British Baking Show without the suspense of unpredictable results? But in real life, its the kind of tool that actually makes me want to bake more often.
[Photo: Copper Home]
The cooktop is intuitive and more precise than gas
Unlike some other induction stoves, the cooktop is easy enough to use without turning to the instruction manual. It has knobs, like a traditional range, rather than a touchscreen. When you turn one of the knobs, a display shows how hot the burner is. On the cooktop, to stand in for the visual cue of a gas flame, a bar of lights shows whether youve cranked up the heat a little or a lot.
Like other induction stoves, it can boil water incredibly quickly. (The battery gives an extra boost: A pot of 8 ounces of water boils in 4 minutes and 10 seconds.) It can also precisely control temperature. I tried melting chocolate in a pan, something that would normally be a more complicated process with a double boiler on a regular stove, and the steady low temperature helped it melt evenly.
Though I didnt try making dinner, the stove seems more than capable of handling anything I might normally prepare. It’s possible, for example, to crank up the heat and stir-fry something in a flat-bottomed wok, as Copper has demonstrated in previous tests; despite the lack of flames, the pan can get hot enough to char noodles for a dish like pad see ew.
[Photo: Copper Home]
Why theres a battery inside
Some induction stoves have an annoying buzz, caused by pulsing AC power from the outlet that creates vibrations that are especially noticeable in tri-ply pans with multiple different kinds of metl. The Charlie stove, by contrast, is remarkably quiet, thanks to its battery.
That battery, with 5 gigawatt-hours of energy storage, also means the stove can keep running for days even if the power goes out in a storm (notably, most modern gas stoves wont work if the electricity goes out, since they use electric ignition and electric safety valves). The battery also has other advantages that I didnt get to test. First, it means the stove doesnt require expensive electrical upgrades, something thats necessary with most other powerful induction stoves. The stove needs a large boost of power when it starts, but it can pull that from the battery.
Because the battery can charge when power is cheapestfor example, in the middle of the day in California, when the grid has extra solar powerit can help keep customers bills lower. As the network of appliances grows, they form a virtual power plant that can also help the grid itself. A distributed network of batteries in appliances is easier to deploy than larger utility-scale batteries. Copper is now beginning to work with some large manufacturers to design other types of appliances, like heat pumps, that can also add more energy storage to the grid.
[Photo: Copper Home]
The range is expensive, at around $6,000. But because of the energy and climate benefits, a number of states provide generous incentives. In California, for example, if a homeowner with a gas stove replaces it with Coppers stove, and if the stove was the last gas appliance in the home, they can get a rebate that will cover the entire cost.
Some of the first customers include large apartment buildings that want to make the switch away from gas. The New York City Housing Authority is an early adopter, recognizing that the stoves are a way to avoid expensive upgrades to its aging gas infrastructure, to comply with local emission laws, and to improve air quality for residents.
It’s a rare case of premium tech scaling up from multiple directions, adopted as much for infrastructure pragmatism as for performance. Whether it’s for public housing or a high-end kitchen, the pitch is the same: cleaner air, better performance, and a new way to support the strained electric grid.
In early February, the 22-year-old design brand Areaware announced it will close on May 1 citing tariffs and mounting pressures on the home goods industry in a letter posted to its Instagram account. Every product weve made has been an act of optimisma belief that good design can make our world a little better, the letter said. Lately though, our world has been making that difficult for us to do.
Its been a challenging few months for good design brands. In December, Food52, the parent company of Schoolhouse and Dansk, declared bankruptcy; earlier in February, it was stripped for parts and sold at auction. While Areaware and Food52 dont share the exact same business model, both brands were curators and manufacturers that assembled an eclectic mix of goods targeted toward an aspirational shopper who valued design, affordability, and storytelling in everyday objects.
Its a type of company that looks like its on its way out. To be both a curatorial voice and a manufacturing voice are two disparate and incompatible forces, says Noel Wiggins, Areawares cofounder and CEO. It is not a great business model. It’s a wonderful creative model.
A ‘record label’ for industrial design
Areaware has been a fixture in the home goods landscape since launching its first collection in 2005. It established itself as a publisher of stylish, playful, and accessibly priced products that cut across categories. If you wanted to buy something distinctive but tastefula minimalist silver baby rattle, brightly patterned napkins, pastel candles shaped like blobsyou could find it on Areawares website.
[Photo: courtesy Areaware]
From the start, Areaware primarily licensed pieces from independent designers, who received a 6% royalty fee, and manufactured them. Less than 10% of products were designed in-house. Through this model, it forged an entire ecosystem of design, from product development to manufacturing to wholesale and eventually direct-to-consumer retail, which it began strategically investing in four years ago. By 2024, direct sales accounted for 26% of overall revenue, domestic wholesale was responsible for 64%, and international accounts and global partners made up 10%.
[Photo: courtesy Areaware]
Artists and designers who wanted to mass produce their work knew they had a partner in the brand, which took care of manufacturer sourcing, marketing, and sales. This included legends like Susan Kare and Tobias Wong along with emerging studios that eventually became heavyweights like RBW, Jason Miller, and Chen Chen and Kai Williams.
[Photo: courtesy Areaware]
In many ways we function like a small record label, Wiggins says. Theres this kind of sound to that label and its the feeling of ideas coming before function in industrial design. Over the past 22 years, Areaware collaborated with over 50 artists, distributed its products internationally, and produced true icons of design (David Weekss Cubebot, and its many iterations, generated $18.7 million in sales).
A fragile ecosystem
While most manufacturers specialize in a specific material or one technique, Areaware was more focused on authorship and doing something interesting with an artist who wanted to experiment. This helped Areaware built a loyal following throughout the design community, but it also created issues on the business side.
[Photo: courtesy Areaware]
The ecosystem was fragile, Wiggins says. This is because the company made so many different types of materially different goodsfrom glass butter dishes to woodbottle openers and stainless-steel flasks. The variety that gave Areaware its creative identity was also a weak business point.
[Photo: courtesy Areaware]
This multidisciplinary approach created structural challenges, says Roberto Fantauzzi, Areawares chief design officer. Unlike companies focused on a single category, Areaware did not benefit from the same economies of scale or pricing efficiencies. Developing across multiple categories required higher upfront investment, increased tooling and mold costs, and a careful allocation of in-house resources across a range of product types.
[Photo: courtesy Areaware]
Depending on the type of new product, like a color update of an existing SKU or entirely new object, product development could cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, Fantauzzi says.
While the brand was able to pay its bills and not carry debt, margins were always tight. According to Wiggins, Areaware generated $4 million in sales annually on average, but profits vacillated$40,000 one year, zero the next, then minus $20,000.
Still, the company was able to manage. That is, until Trumps tariffs entered the picture. Maintaining that balance between design integrity and affordability at times meant operating with slimmer margins, Fantauzzi says. When tariffs took effect in 2025, those margins were significantly compressed, making it increasingly difficult to sustain certain collections and SKUs at the standards and prices the company strives to uphold.
It takes around 18 months for Areaware to bring a product into production and the constantly changing landscape made it extremely challenging to plan ahead and manage the risks involved. It wasn’t only the tariffs, which were horrible as they were, but it was the unknown, Wiggins says. You don’t know whether to wait out if the tariffs are going to change. It creates this enormous stall in the system.
[Photo: courtesy Areaware]
Around 80% of Areawares products are made in China. The rest are mostly produced in Indonesia (mostly furniture), India (cast-iron pieces), Vietnam (candles), and Mexico (silver baby rattles). Wiggins explored manufacturing the Cubebot with a wood toy maker in Vermont, but the extra cost wasnt justifiable. Production would have cost four times more for the toy itself, turning a $10 product into a $30 product for shoppers.
These pressures are also particularly challenging since Areawares business model revolves around small product runs. Aside from the Cubebot blockbuster and few products that have sold tens of thousands of units, most pieces sell in the thousands and hundreds. It wasn’t even only price; it was just the ability to make small batch, Wiggins says. We can’t set up a local factory to do small numbers.
Another casualty of the attention economy
Wigginswho was inspired by the SoHo design emporium Moss, the conceptual Dutch collective Droog, and the Milanese brand Danesecompares the trajectory of design businesses to art movements. They kind of have their generational moment and then it ends, he says.
Lisa Cheng Smith, who once served as the chief design officer of Areaware and has developed products for Hay and Design Within Reach, says the brands closure signals a shift in what type of design is most valued today. When the brand started, the job of a product designer meant you made physical objects, but now it means digital experiences.
That speaks to me about the status a product or object has in our material consciousness, Smith says. The voices of creatives are more often seen on digital platforms now. It’s like cooking videos, YouTubethat’s how people are accessing culture. It’s less about buying a meticulously thought-through object.
[Photo: courtesy Areaware]
Wiggins echoes the impact of digitization on his business, particularly how information travels today. Its a lot easier for everyone to directly find what they need. Shoppers can go on any number of social media platforms to find new brands, and designers can go directly to manufacturers without an intermediary like Areaware.
You don’t need the gatekeepers as much, he says. Pre-internet, the role of a curator was, in some ways, more important because if you were a store and you had to find neat thing, you couldnt really search for [them] easily.
At the same time, the landscape has become noisier than ever and the constant firehose of content drowns out anything that isnt viral, which poses another challenge to Areawares model. Wiggins describes Areaware as a media company that sells three-dimensional stories, and getting customers to listen is tough.
Every time theres a piece of Trump news, the attention economy is going towards someone else’s story, Wiggins says. Youre constantly in competition for attention. There’s such a domination of fear in the attention system that it gets hard to get peoples attention in a way that’s sustainable.
The business of designers
So where do object makers fit into this new landscape? The wholesale model of affordable designer objects cant sustain itself. Meanwhile, few big brands today seem willing to take risks on emerging studios; instead theyre reissuing heritage pieces, which have baked-in fan bases and greater chances of becoming a break-out hit. That leaves out collectible design, which relies heavily on concept and authorship. Its a place where the voice of the designer can really be preserved, Smith says.
Beyond sales, licensing is still important to emerging studios. Sophie Collé, a furniture designer based in Brooklyn, licensed one of her earliest designs, a plant stand with an amoeba-like silhouette that she had been making by hand herself, to Areaware in 2022. The Splat table then went on to be sold at MoMA Design Store, the Guggenheim, and Coming Soonplaces that are retailer-curators first and dont typically manufacture their own goods. The deal became an important income stream for her small business, and through it her work reached a wider audience that led to custom commissions, and larger brand deals and collaborations.
[Photo: courtesy Areaware]
Not only has Areaware done so much for my career, but it really was a support system for emerging designers, Collé says. I honestly don’t really know another company that does what they did with such grace and respect for the designers themselves. Finding manufacturers and fabricators is such a beast, and not every creative has the time or even wants to be doing that side of the business. That is what really makes Areaware irreplaceable in that sense, at least in my eyes.
Ellen Van Dusen, founder of the textiles and home goods brand Dusen Dusen, has collaborated with Areaware for eight years on objects that her company isnt able to make in-house. This includes a plywood tissue box cover painted with faces and a night light. They took risks with products that were a little weird and unconventional that became huge successes, Van Dusen says.
[Photo: Areaware]
Van Dusen adds that the distribution channels brought her work to all corners of the world. People will text me pictures of the pepper grinders in New Zealand, umbrellas on the street in Japan, and the tissue box in Mexico, she says. “We don’t have those same distribution channels in house, so Areaware brought an awareness to Dusen Dusen that I don’t think we would have gotten on our own. They were an integral part of our growth. And I must mention, the tissue box was on Succession.
Beyond being a shopping destination Areaware was also an important industry connector, which is important since the design industry runs on relationships. Laura Young, managing director of collectible design gallery the Future Perfect, met many of the artists she represents now through her work at Areaware directing product development. Areaware laid the foundation for my career, she says. And Smith, who now runs Yun Hai, a retail shop and online store specializing in Taiwanese cooking, met many of the manufacturing partners she works with today through Areaware. The way that I do business is based on everything I learned there, she says.
Like the reshuffle of Food52, theres a chance some parts of Areaware might not completely disappear. For example, Wiggins is in talks with Weeks to take over production of the Cubebot. Honestly, we’re trying to find someone to take over the arduous and difficult business model, Wiggins says. And because it’s arduous and difficult and very unprofitable, it’s hard to find someone to do that.
What really holds people back from stepping up as allies in support of their marginalized colleagues? For example, why dont more men say something when they see a colleague or a customer make a sexist remark about a female co-worker?
Our research, published in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, suggests that people often hesitate to intervene when co-workers are mistreated because they themselves feel disempowered in their organizations and experience distrust and polarization.
Our findings run counter to the common assumption that people dont step up to support marginalized colleagues because they dont care or are unmotivated. Not seeing much action against inequity and injustice can drive this cynical idea. Its built into many diversity, equity and inclusion training programs that rely on motivational tactics of persuasion, guilting and shaming to get people to act.
We are psychology researchers interested in how people can use their strengths to effectively support others who are marginalized. We surveyed 778 employees in Michigan and 973 employees across all provinces of Canada, representative of urban and rural areas, working-class and professional jobs, and across all demographics, including gender, race, and sexual orientation. We asked them, What makes it hard for you to be an ally for underrepresented and marginalized people (e.g., people of color, women, persons with a disability) in your organization?
Low motivation represented just 8% of the barriers people cited. And lack of awareness that marginalized groups face inequities accounted for only 10% of the barriers people mentioned. Most diversity training money tends to be devoted to teaching employees about these topicssuggesting why many diversity training programs fail.
The most common barrier to allyship that our participants named was distrust and tension between people in their organization, which had them second-guessing themselves and self-censoring. People also reported feeling disempowered, like they didnt have the power, opportunity or resources to make a real difference for their colleagues.
Why it matters
Researchers, specialists and consultants alike approach issues of workplace inequity with the assumption that to drive action, they need to first unblock potential allies deep-seated resistance to change. For example, specialists assume that people need to become more motivated, more courageous, less biased or better informed about existing inequities in order to act as allies.
In this study, we temporarily set aside all preexisting assumptions and directly asked people what made it hard for them to be an ally, in their own words. Our goal was to identify practical roadblocks at the top of peoples minds that stop them from taking the first step, or the next logical step.
When popular messaging, like on social media, and organizational interventions misunderstand the causes of peoples inaction, they risk exacerbating frustration and tensions. Interventions need to account for their audiences true perspectives on what makes allyship difficult. Otherwise, theyll lack credibility, and people will likely be less receptive to program content.
What still isnt known
Wed like to further investigate the impacts of the specific barriers mentioned in our study. More insight could help workplaces focus interventions on addressing barriers that are the worst pressure points and avoid overspending on interventions that can move the needle only so much.
More than a quarter of respondents said they experienced no barriers to standing up for colleagues. Wed like to investigate whether these respondents simply didnt want to engage with our question, are uncertain about the barriers, or are already engaging in some form of allyship. Our teams previous research has shown that even loud allies who publicly call out bias often also engage in quiet allyship actions, such as privately checking in on how a victim of bias is doing and assisting in strategizing next steps.
Whats next
Our research team is investigating whether programs designed with this studys findings in mindstarting with building trusting relationships and helping people feel empoweredcan increase allyship action. When diversity programs built on inaccurate assumptions dont show the desired results, they risk having funding withdrawn or being halted altogether. Instead, as organizations take stock and pivot, evidence from our study and others can help them more effectively plan their next move.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
Meg A. Warren is a professor of management at Western Washington University.
Michael T. Warren is an assistant professor of psychology at Western Washington University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Recently, I made myself a promise: I would not buy any more Lego for at least a year. That plan has quickly been foiled. Lego’s first-ever Peanuts set is just too good, too iconic, too beautiful (plus, my son loves Snoopy and Woodstock.) This perfect brick renditionwith the classic red doghouse and even the campfire and marshmallows to toastis too cool pass up.
Lego’s addiction to licensed intellectual propertythe company now sells 25 IP-based themes out of 45 total, often burying the open-ended, creativity-first sets that built the brandis still a problem, but this Snoopy’s Doghouse set proves exactly why these licenses work so extraordinarily well to burn your credit card.
[Photo: Lego]
The magnetism of that simple beagle silhouette, combined with Lego’s three-dimensional engineering and the bricks’ intrinsic attractive power, is a perfect formula to trash all my financial constraints. Plus, Charles M. Schulz created something so visually strong, clear, and emotionally direct that translating it into 964 plastic bricks feels less like exploitation and more like homage.
Snoopy debuted on October 4, 1950, just two days after Peanuts launched, and he spent decades evolving from a puppy shuffling on four legs into the anthropomorphic dreamer who sleeps on top of his doghouse and imagines himself as the Red Baron, a World War I flying ace. Schulz based him on Spike, his childhood black-and-white mixed breed who was unusually intelligent and could understand about 50 words.
The name Snoopy came from Schulz’s mother, who once suggested it as a good name for a future family dog. (Fun note: Schulz had considered Sniffy before remembering her advice). Over 75 years, Snoopy became more than Charlie Brown’s pethe became a vehicle for fantasy, playing shortstop on Charlie Brown’s baseball team, typing novels as the World Famous Author, and strutting around as Joe Cool. He ascended the cultural ladder enough that even NASA adopted him as a mascot, naming the Apollo 10 lunar and command modules after him and creating the Silver Snoopy Award for astronaut achievement in 1968.
[Photo: Lego]
Woodstock, the small yellow bird who first appeared in 1966 but wasn’t named until June 22, 1970, cemented Snoopy’s status as a character who operated in his own emotional universe. Schulz named Snoopys avian pal after the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, whose logo featured a bird perched on a guitar. The origin story is pure Schulz sentiment: A mother bird built a nest on Snoopy’s belly, then abandoned it, leaving Snoopy to raise the hatchlingsone of whom became Woodstock. Schulz never specified Woodstock’s species (fans guess canary or goldfinch), and he once drew a strip where Snoopy gave up trying to identify him.
Like many of us, Atlanta-based designer Robert Becker is a die-hard fan of the characters, so he spent about a year developing the concept before submitting it to Lego Ideas, the Danish companys program that accepts designs made by anyone who signs up for an account and submits a build. Submissions get considered for mass production after they receive 10,000 votes by other Ideas members. Thats when they may get approval by a company committee to be refined by Legos own designers in a long collaborative process.
[Photo: Lego]
“This set has so much character, Monica Pedersen, marketing director at the Lego Group, says in the sets press release. We were delighted that the Snoopy Campfire product idea received over 10,000 votes on the Lego Ideas platform. Im glad, too, Monica.
At 964 pieces and a $90 price tag, the set also hits the Lego complexity-affordability-granularity sweet spot, unlike many of the huge sets the company has produced in the past few years. Snoopy legs and neck are adjustable, letting you pose him and Woodstock in multiple display positions. The red doghouse opens to reveal a typewriter inside, which you can move anywhere. And the campfire scenewhich can also be hidden inside Snoopys homeis set against a starry sky backdrop. The set is already available for preorder; it will be sold in stores starting June 1.
And yes, my kid and I will be counting the days till it ships to us.
If youre a manager today, your job may well be changing. That is, if it hasnt already.
As companies continue to compress their org charts and axe layers of middle management, a new role is emerging: the supermanager.
Leaders are finding themselves responsible for significantly more direct reports and broader responsibilities. And in many industries, the trend shows no sign of slowing.
A Gallup survey published in January, citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that the average number of reports managers have increased from 10.9 in 2024 to 12.1 in 2025. The share of managers overseeing 25 or more employees has also grown in the past year, with 13% now supervising teams that large.
This long-term increase in managerial span of control has been described as part of the Great Flattening. It is being driven by several forces, including leadership churn, layoffs targeting middle management layers, and the AI boom, and organizations increasingly see fewer reasons to maintain multiple management layers.
Some workplace experts argue the shift is overdue, pointing to years of bloated management structures. Others warn the trend is backfiring, leaving employees lost in the noise and saddled with unrealistic demands.
Either way, the supermanager is becoming commonplace across countless industries.
When bigger teams lead to burnout and turnover
The role is changing, Jennifer Dulski, the CEO and founder of the AI-assisted team performance platform Rising Team, tells Fast Company. Every manager can now become a supermanager.
Michele Herlein, a former senior HR leader turned leadership expert who holds a doctorate in business administration, tells Fast Company that slimming down an organization can have immediate benefits, like reducing costs, and speeding up decision-making. But when organizations increase spans of control without redesigning the role itself, the consequences ripple quickly.
When people are reactive instead of proactiveputting out fires instead of preventing themchaos follows, Herlein says. When one megamanager is burnt out, the entire department feels it.
Leena Rinne, vice president of leadership, business, and coaching at Skillsoft, tells Fast Company that companies are effectively creating a new leadership role without acknowledging it.
If you’re going to have a flat organization and a lot of direct reports, you better be thinking about what the skills are that that leader needs and equipping them with those skills, Rinne says.
She believes the supermanager era can workbut most organizations are skipping that step, she says.
Rinne experienced the shift firsthand, managing 80 direct reports in one previous role. It was very different from managing eight: She needed absolute clarity on her vision and strategy rather than filling her time with individual one-on-one meetings.
The problem, she argues, is that many organizations are flattening their structures, but not evolving how they support managers.
Organizations think, oh, if we just put more pressure on them, they’ll figure out how to do it more effectively, she says. Then they don’t give them the training, the tools, the skills, the clarity, the visionall of these things that should come from higher levels of leadership.
The model isnt necessarily brokenbut the support often is
Dulski, who previously held leadership roles at Yahoo, Google, and Facebook, agrees that the supermanager era can work if companies rethink what management is for. Before the flattening, she argues, many managers oversaw too few people.
My personal view is that five to seven has been the right zone, she says. And with the right tools, we can probably get to 10 or 12 fairly easily.
But the benefits arent automatic. To make it work, supermanagers should spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on what Dulski calls the two Cs: clarity and compassion.
That means prioritizing fewer, clearer goals and using systems to replace constant supervision and micromanagement, which some have relied on to climb the traditional career ladder.
Great managers are like great sports coachesthey show clearly what winning looks like, have everybody clear on what their role is, and then they step back, she says. Managers are not doing a good job when you put very little support into helping them understand their role and training them to be good at it.
AI can help with this, but technology alone wont solve everything, Dulski warns.
Its counterintuitive to a lot of people, Dulski says, but the success of future managers and leaders lives at the intersection of deep human connection and AIone without the other will no longer be enough.
When a supermanager hasnt been given the time and resources to develop those skills, burnout follows. Gallup data has already shown that the workforce is disengaged, so piling additional responsibilities on top of people and expecting them to simply deal with it is only going to compound the problem.
As Rinne says: You cant flatten your way to growth.
How to survive and succeed as a supermanager
The Great Flattening is likely to continue, fueled by hybrid working, cost pressures, faster decision cycles, and the reduced need for oversight enabled by AI tools.
It looks like supermanagers are becoming the norm as a result, so those suddenly thrust into this role should try to make it work, but only if their organization is implementing the model thoughtfully and intentionally, rather than out of panic.
The supermanager era will be defined about leading differently, with clear goals, transparent communication, and leadership development to make it a sustainable one, experts say.
I think most organizations don’t invest in their leaders enough, period, Rinne says.
Herlein agrees, adding that a lot of supermanagers are stuck on a hamster wheel, not advancing, because theyre running on fumes.
It’s not that the model is broken, Herlein says. They just can’t do it without the broader organizational support and resourcesthey cant do it alone.
Thriving as a supermanager means distinguishing between the two paths ahead: embrace this new way of leading, or recognize when the environment isnt sustainable, and jump ship.
Do women board members make a company more innovative or risk-averse? The answer is both, according to our recent study. It all depends on how the company performs relative to its goals.
Professors Ma³gorzata Smulowitz, Didier Cossin and I examined 524 S&P 1500 companies from 1999 to 2016, measuring innovation through patent activity. Patents reflect both creative output and risk-taking. They require significant investment in novel ideas that might fail, disclosure of proprietary information and substantial legal costs. In short, patents represent genuine bets on the future.
Our findings revealed a striking pattern. When companies performed poorly in relation to their goals, they produced fewer patents after more women joined their boards.
However, companies exceeding their performance targets saw increased patent output as their number of women directors grew. Similarly, when companies were financially flush, there were more patents generated when their boards had more women.
The situation changed when we examined radical innovations, those patents in the top 10% of citations. For these high-risk, high-reward innovations, the risk-averse effect of women board members dominated.
When a companys performance fell below aspirations, there were fewer radical innovations as its board gained female members. We found no corresponding increase in radical innovations when performance exceeded goals.
One finding surprised us. We predicted that boards with more women would reduce innovation when companies approached bankruptcy. Instead, it was the opposite: Boards with more women actually increased patent output as bankruptcy loomed. This suggests that women directors may fight harder for a companys survival through innovation when facing existential threats.
Why it matters
Between 2000 and 2024, the number of women on S&P 500 boards increased from 27% to 34%. But previous research has painted conflicting pictures on the effect that women board members may have. Some studies showed that women reduce corporate risk-taking, while others demonstrated they increase innovation and creativity. Our work suggests both perspectives are correct under different circumstances.
For companies and regulators pushing for greater board gender diversity, this research provides practical guidance. Companies performing well can expect increased innovation by adding women to their boards. These directors can bring diverse perspectives, improved decision-making and better resource allocation that translate into more patents.
Conversely, poorly performing companies can expect boards with more women to focus on stability over risky innovation. This isnt necessarily negative.
Research shows that banks led by women were less likely to fail during the financial crisis, and companies with more women directors experience less financial distress. Reduced innovation during tough times may reflect prudent risk management rather than risk aversion.
Traditional theories predict that poor performance triggers risky searches for solutions. But boards with more women appear to prioritize organizational survival over uncertain innovation when performance suffers. They may assess that failed innovation attempts could worsen an already precarious situation.
This research also speaks to the glass cliff phenomenon, where women often join boards during crisis periods. Our findings suggest these directors may bring exactly what struggling companies need: careful risk assessment and focus on survival rather than potentially wasteful innovation spending.
What still isnt known
We measured innovation through patents, but many innovations never become patents. How women directors affect other forms of innovationsuch as copyrights, trade secrets and first-mover advantageremains unclear.
What are the mechanisms driving the differences? Do women directors actively advocate for different innovation strategies? Do they change board discussion dynamics? Do they influence CEO and management team decisions indirectly? Future research needs to open the black box of boardroom decision-making.
Finally, the long-term consequences need examination. We measured patent output, but not whether the patents translated into commercial success or competitive advantage. Understanding whether the innovation patterns we documented ultimately benefit company performance would provide crucial insights for decision-makers.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
Stephen J. Smulowitz is an assistant professor of strategic management at Wake Forest University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Rob Shaver is a 49-year-old retail worker who recently had a streak of running at least 1 mile every day for three years. Hes also been living with Stage 4 bone and lung cancer for more than 20 years.
Shavers commitment to living in spite of illness is chronicled in the short film The Life We Have, which uses his life as a lens through which to examine questions at the heart of the human experience: What gives life meaning when time feels fragile? How do we keep moving forward when suffering feels endless?
Though profoundly sad, the film, directed by Sam Price-Waldman, is also thoughtfully inspiring. We see Shaver on his good days, running and spending time with his brother and mom. We see him on his bad days, at the hospital for chemo, or pulling out his hair at home as a result of his treatments. Smiling on the road. Crying at the kitchen table. Its a quiet film, built on moments of happiness and hardship.
Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of the project is that its produced by REI, and Shaver works at the outdoor retailers San Antonio store (as do his mother and brother). Up until now, The Life We Have has been screened only at film festivals, but on February 18 the brand is launching the film on its website and YouTube channel.
Paolo Mottola, VP of brand marketing at REI, says Shaver and his store manager just cold-called him a few years ago. They liked what REI Studios, the brands content division, had been doing and thought they had a story to tell.
While REI Studios has done more traditional outdoors action-based work, its also produced more narrative-based work like Frybread Face and Me. Executive produced by Taika Waititi, the comedy-drama is about a boy who spends a summer with his grandmother on a Navajo reservation. REI Studios also put out Canary, a documentary feature that follows adventurer and climate scientist Lonnie Thompson.
We want to tell human stories that people can empathize with and resonate with, says Mottola. This story [The Life We Have] isn’t about achievement or accomplishment in the traditional outdoor sense. This is an achievement and an inspiration by someone doing something really, really hard in a hospital bed, or getting out of their own bed to just jog a mile. Its about that connection to each other and that connection to the outdoors and how we’re better people for that.
[Photo: REI Studios]
Life worth living
Director Price-Waldman and producers at Wondercamp have been documenting Shavers story since mid-2023. Joe Crosby, REIs director of brand and content marketing, says that based on initial conversations REI Studios wanted to make the film, even if it would be viewed only by the brands roughly 15,000 employees.
That was inspiration enough for us to tell the story, Crosby says. As Wonder Camp plugged in, they were embedded, and his health circumstance was changing while they were producing the film. It took on a different life through the production and execution of the film into what you’re seeing now, and it will now see a wider audience than our employee community.
[Photo: REI Studios]
Over the course of the 25-minute film, Shavers illness recedes from and steps into the spotlight, conveying the unpredictability of his everyday life. The role of running, even if its just a mile, in affirming his purpose and providing him with joy is clear.
Everyday, be thankful for your body, be thankful for your mind, he says.
Over the past year the film has received numerous awards, including Best Short at the AmDocs Film Festival, the Audience Choice Award at the Telluride Mountainfilm Festival, and Best of the Fest at the 5Point Film Festival.
[Photo: REI Studios]
REI challenges
The film lands at a time when REI could use an inspirational story of its own. Its faced financial declines in the past few years, with sales down 2.4% in 2023 and 6.2% in 2024. In October 2025, the company announced it would be shutting down its Soho store in Manhattan, as well as locations in Boston and Paramus, New Jersey.
CEO Mary Beth Laughton joined REI a year ago to help right the ship that has been rocked by employee unrest over the companys reported efforts to slow unionization, as well as a damning internal report on racial equity within the company.
Mottola says the brands broader film work is not just a marketing effort, but also a way to advocate for the best parts of the companys internal culture. He sees work like The Life We Have building on REI Studios consistency oftelling employee stories like 2020s The Mighty Finn, about Cleveland store manager Ethan Sheets and his 7-year-old son Finn.
Our role is to build the brand and keep people excited about it, and keep audiences and our members engaged in the brand, Mottola says.
Evolving studio
As hyped as brand entertainment is these days in marketing circles, REI was in relatively early on establishing an internal division devoted to content and entertainment. Originally launched in 2021, REI Co-Op Studios has projects on Netflix and Hulu, and produces everything from short films to weekly podcasts and an online newsletter.
Mottola says the strategy has shifted based on those early experiences. The brand is being more selective in the long-form projects it chooses to invest in, and is focused on retaining distribution control. It’s been a huge learning curve for us the last few years, he says. But I think we found the partners we like to work with, understand the ecosystem we need to work in, and the time we need to take to get a story from concept to audience.
This week, the brand is launching a nationwide Run for Rob screening tour with regional run clubs and raising funds for local nonprofits including Cancer Support Community. Screening events have already been hosted in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle, and the tour continues in Denver on March 1 and additional cities in the coming weeks.
Its not often (or ever) that brand content can be described as profound, but Shavers story and how hes able to articulate his journey certainly qualifies. Its a message any viewerand the brand itselfcan take to heart.
Its about so much more than running, Shaver says in the film. Its about making a choice every day to live deeply and thoroughly. And with beautiful effort. Not for results. Not for money or fame or lifestyle. But for the richness of being alive.
Ive worked remotely since 2006 (way before it was common). However, my days were filled with calls to colleagues and DMs to chat about everything from work to what we had planned for the weekend.
Now Im a solopreneur. I have occasional calls with clients, but theyre rare. Most of my days are spent working alone. In many ways, this is great since I have the freedom to work however and whenever I want. But staying motivated when its just me requires being really thoughtful about how I work.
According to a 2025 report by Leapers, nearly half of self-employed professionals feel lonely occasionally or some of the time. One in five feels lonely or isolated often or always. It can be really hard to stay motivated when youre working in isolation. You have to create your own structure and find ways to keep going without other people around.
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Design your own workday
Traditional 9-to-5 hours don’t always make sense when you work alone. You don’t have to start at 8 a.m. just because that’s when your clients start working. You can work when you’re most productivebut you have to make sure you actually get stuff done during that time.
For example, I still mostly follow a traditional workday schedule because I have kids, and thats when theyre in school. However, I also find that Im incredibly productive early in the morning, before anyone else is awake. I have the least energy in the evenings, so my day often ends at 3:30 or 4 p.m.
Time-blocking helps create structure, even when no one is holding you accountable. I block off chunks for deep work, admin tasks, and meetings. Seeing my calendar filled in is like making an appointment with myselflike I have somewhere to be (even if that somewhere is my home office).
If you’re not sure when you do your best work, track it for a week. Note when you feel focused versus when you’re dragging. Then build your schedule around when you have the most energy, not traditional working hours.
Create a work mode environment
When your home is also your office, it’s really easy to blur boundaries. The dishes and laundry are right there. Creating separationeven artificial separationcan help signal to your brain that it’s time to focus.
Small rituals work surprisingly well. For me, its making a cup of coffee, closing the door to my home office, and putting on a specific playlist to start my morning. These are my mental switches to get into work mode. I do work only at my desk (unless Im traveling).
If you don’t have a dedicated workspace, find other ways to create that boundary. Some solopreneurs work in a specific corner of a shared room or use only certain apps during work hours. You can use headphones to block distractions. The ritual is the important part, not the specifics.
Work alongside other people
When you work for an employer, you have some outside accountability to get your tasks done. Whether its your manager or a teammate, you know that other people are watching you (either in an office or metaphorically).
When you work alone, you have to actively find ways to be around other people. Working with others can improve your focus, increase your motivation, and reduce procrastination (a concept known as body doubling). If you find it hard to stay on task while running your solo business, body doubling can make a huge difference.
Virtual coworking has become popular for this reason. Platforms like Flow Club or FLOWN let you work alongside other people on video for a specific period of time (one hour, two hours, etc.). I’ve also done casual video calls with fellow solopreneurs where we just work together silently. If you join a virtual coworking session, come with a specific project or task that youd like to complete during the allotted time.
If virtual coworking isn’t your thing, try working from a coffee shop, library, or coworking space occasionally. Even once a week can break up the isolation and give you a change of scenery. You still get the benefit of body doubling when youre in a room with other people, even if theyre not connected to you in any way.
Make working alone work for you
Working solo means you dont have a lot of external cues. You dont realize how much you rely on other people and your work environment to keep you motivated until youre on your own. Suddenly, its a random Tuesday at 10 a.m. and you have no desire to workeven with a looming client deadline.
When you intentionally design your workday and find small ways to simulate accountability, motivation will follow. Youll realize that you dont need a boss, coworkers, or an office to stay on track. You just need systems that work for you.
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The business worlds most exclusive club has always been the boardroom. For decades, it has operated as a roped-off circle of experience, where pattern recognition, war stories, and collective gut instinct guided the biggest decisions. But the most recent quarterly earnings calls and 2026 spending projections across industries from tech to finance make it clear: That era is ending.
As business complexity explodes and competitive cycles compress, those old methods are showing their limits. Artificial intelligence is exposing blind spots, surfacing inconvenient truths, and rewriting how boards govern, challenge, and lead.
The transformation goes beyond adding new tools and technologies to the boardroom playbook. AI is changing how directors think, what they question, and how they hold management accountable. And as AI matures, its transforming boardrooms from bastions of intuition into engines of continuous intelligence.
Here are three ways that shift is unfolding, and how forward-thinking boards are adapting.
Data Finally Beats Anecdotes
In my experience doesnt cut it anymore. AI can process customer behavior patterns, market signals, and competitive shifts faster and more accurately than any human can. When a director recalls how a similar situation played out 15 years ago, AI can instantly test whether that approach worked then, and whether it would still work today.
Leading boards are now requiring management to back up claims with AI-driven analyses alongside traditional reports. Gut instinct still has a role, but its being paired with evidence-based validation. Boards and leaders must learn to partner with AI’s analytical horsepower, even (or especially) when it feels unnatural or risk being left behind.
Predictive Intelligence Forces Long-Term Thinking
Boards often fall into the trap of short-termism, reacting to the last quarter rather than anticipating the next disruption. AI changes that.
Predictive models can now forecast churn months in advance, identify market shifts before they appear in analyst reports, and simulate how strategic moves might play out under different scenarios.
This pushes boards to engage in true foresight: asking whats next, not what happened. It extends the time horizon of governance from postmortem analysis to strategic anticipation.
New Skills Are Redefining Who Belongs in the Boardroom
Board composition must evolve. The traditional mix of former CEOs, financial experts, and industry veterans, valuable as they are, is no longer sufficient.
Boards now need directors who understand data governance, algorithmic bias, and digital operating models. That doesnt mean replacing experience with youth, but pairing wisdom with fluency.
Forward-thinking boards are addressing this through structured approaches: creating dedicated AI oversight committees, partnering long-serving directors with AI-savvy advisors, and requiring all directors to complete AI governance education programs. The goal isnt to turn every director into a technologist, but ensure that every director can think critically about AIs strategic and ethical implications.
Whats Next?
Boards have always made decisions based on databut until now, that data arrived slowly, selectively, and often filtered through human bias. AI changes the tempo and texture of governance. It challenges assumptions in real time.
Companies whose boards resist this shift will find themselves making yesterdays decisions about tomorrows challenges. Those who embrace it will lead with sharper foresight, faster adaptation, and deeper accountability.
The choice isn’t whether to embrace AI in governanceit’s whether boards will use it to lead or follow.
At its core, public health is about driving healthy behavior changes by building awareness, meeting people where they are, and offering solutions that are accessible and grounded in evidence. Throughout my career, I have worked on issues ranging from foster adoption and drunk driving prevention to tobacco prevention and cessation, always with science as our foundation. But the media landscape, and how people engage with information, has changed dramatically. To remain relevant and effective, public health must evolve. That means rethinking not just what we communicate, but how we motivate, engage, and sustain healthy behaviors.
WHY ITS IMPORTANT TO LEAN IN
Gamification, using elements of game design in an existing digital product or intervention to engage users and change behavior, has become an increasingly common approach in public health. It can reframe intimidating goals like exercising more, managing stress, and quitting nicotine into smaller, achievable steps that feel tangible and motivating. When implemented effectively, gamification can improve user engagement by supporting intrinsic motivation, learning and skill development, social interaction, and a sense of accomplishment.
In many ways, public health cant afford to ignore gamification. Addiction is already gamifiedand its winning. As one example, smart vapes now feature screens, rewards, animations, and puff tracking. These high-tech devices have become top-selling products, with 32% of youth and 33% of young adults reporting using vapes with screens, games, or Bluetooth connectivity in the past month. These products are applying the same engagement strategies used in consumer tech to drive repeat use and ultimately sustain addictive behavior.
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS
Mounting evidence supports gamification use in public health. As an example, some randomized trials show that socially incentivized gamified interventions can significantly increase physical activity, compared with non-gamified approaches. Similar approaches have been used to improve medication adherence, chronic disease management, and preventive health behaviors. Participants assigned to team-based challenges or friendly competition sustain healthier behaviors longer than those receiving traditional prompts alone. Progress you can see becomes behavior you repeat.
Interventions using gamification share some core principles: making health interactive, trackable, or social. Many effective gamified health interventions align with self-determination theory, which identifies three drivers of motivation: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE BACKING IS NEEDED
Well-designed programs dont just reward outcomes; they reward effort, consistency, and resilience. In public health, that distinction matters, because change rarely happens all at once. It happens through daily re-commitments. Public health succeeds when it rewards persistence and practicenot perfection.
Campaigns, which often complement an intervention, can also be gamified. The campaign itself can inspire behavior change, while also encouraging sign-up for the specific health intervention. The collective result: stronger outcomes.
The approach can be especially relevant for younger generations, who may expect things like daily check-ins, streaks, and digital accountability as part of their digital experiences. We are infusing some gamified elements into EX Program from Truth Initiative, our free, digital nicotine-cessation resource developed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic. By implementing elements that mirror gamification principles like check-ins, milestones, progress encouragement, virtual rewards, and social reinforcement, we help participants stay engaged with quitting behavior. These features are designed to reward effort and participation rather than outcomes alone. We know that every try makes you stronger the next time.
APPLY GAMIFICATION BEYOND TRADITIONAL HEALTH TOOLS
We have also tested creator-led digital experiences that reflect how young people already motivate one another online. As part of You Got This Day, a national moment designed to reframe Quitters Day as an opportunity to recommit after relapse, Truth Initiative worked with Gen-Z creators to create and launch a Snapchat augmented-reality lens called 30 Day Challenge.
Developed through Snap Academies, the lens encourages young people trying to quit nicotine to focus on making it one more day without using nicotine, through visual progress tracking, supportive messaging, and social accountability. Rather than relying on financial incentives or competition, the experience emphasizes encouragement, persistence, and community, reinforcing evidence-based support through EX Program.
For Gen Z, platforms like Snapchat and TikTok arent channelsthey’re cultural fluency. Designing health interventions that live there brings gamification to young consumers where it already resonates.
REASONS FOR CAUTION
Evidence points to important caveats to consider when moving toward a more gamified public health approach. Over-reliance on competition can discourage people who fall behind. Extrinsic rewards can crowd out internal motivation, or risk trivializing an important topic for participants. And without strong privacy protections, data-driven health tools can run the risk of eroding trustparticularly among individuals who are already wary of surveillance and misuse.
Theres also a risk of superficial engagement. Points without purpose dont change lives. The most effective interventions are grounded in evidence, are culturally relevant, and are responsive to users real-world challengesnot just their attention spans.
THE PROMISE
Despite these challenges, the promise of gamification in public health is real. This novel approach for public health can become a catalyst for measurable health behavior change. By recognizing how people already engage with technology and then designing public health tools that feel supportive, human, and achievable, were turning participation into progress. In a world where screens dominate attention and traditional health messaging can struggle to break through, gamification can complement proven public health strategies that support sustained behavior change. The future of public health isnt louder messaging, its smarter engagement.
Kathy Crosby is CEO and president of Truth Initiative.
