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Work is filled with contradictions and disruptions these days, and the uncertainty can make the workplace feel like a constant emergency. As a result, people are stressed, pessimistic, and pulling back from their organizationsbut they’re not disconnecting from each other. Our new research shows that, even under tremendous pressure, employees are “quiet connecting”: helping each other regardless of what’s happening at the company level. Organizations would do well to recognize and strengthen these organic bonds because they can serve as a powerful counterforce to widespread employee disengagement. The Natural Ties That Survive Everything New research from meQuilibrium’s State of the Workforce Report reveals that people are truly showing up for each other through quiet connecting behaviors. Even as 55% of employees show signs of organizational disconnectwhat some call quiet crackingand 42% report high uncertainty-related stress, connections between colleagues remain remarkably strong. Among 5,477 employees surveyed by meQuilibrium (meQ), 71% regularly lend a compassionate ear when colleagues face workplace problems. Sixty-two percent actively help coworkers learn new skills or share job knowledge. Sixty percent dedicate time to advise, coach, or mentor fellow workers. Meanwhile, 53% pitch in to help overwhelmed colleagues with their workload. These aren’t occasional gestures; they’re consistent patterns of mutual support that emerge organically, without formal company initiatives. These instinctive helping behaviors are inherent even among the most disconnected employees. Workers continue showing up for their colleagues even when they’ve mentally checked out from their organizations and supervisors. The phenomenon persists across stress levels as well. Employees facing high uncertainty-related stress continue quiet connecting at nearly identical rates to their less-stressed counterparts. In some cases, stressed workers demonstrate slightly higher rates of helping behaviors, suggesting that quiet connecting may actually intensify as a natural response to organizational turbulence. How to Recognize These Support Networks Quiet connecting operates largely under the radar. It emerges through informal mentoring relationships, spontaneous knowledge sharing, and emotional support during difficult times. They’re the coworkers who stay late to help with a deadline and the colleagues who share expertise without being asked. Look for the employees others naturally turn to for advice. Notice who provides emotional support during workplace challenges. Identify the informal mentors who take time to develop others’ skills. This is quiet connection in action. The persistence of these behaviors reveals something profound about human nature at work. Even when traditional engagement metrics fail and organizational trust erodes, resilient peer relationships endure through quiet connecting. These strong lateral bonds may well buffer against the negative impacts of disengagement. How Managers Amplify What Already Exists The most effective approach isn’t creating helping behaviors from scratch. It’s recognizing and strengthening the quiet connecting that already exists naturally. The data shows exactly how this works. Managers who prioritize team mental well-being create environments where quiet connecting flourishes. Employees who report strong managerial support engage in these behaviors at significantly higher rates than those without such support, suggesting that managerial support amplifies natural quiet connecting tendencies. The multiplier effect is measurable. These supportive managers reduce their teams’ uncertainty stress by 37%. They also dramatically cut disconnect rates, from 78% down to 40% when managers actively support team well-beingeffectively reducing disengagement while strengthening quiet connecting. Empathetic management doesn’t replace peer support. Instead, it creates psychological safety that allows natural quiet connecting behaviors to expand and become more visible. When managers model collaborative problem-solving and openly discuss challenges, they permit others to do the same organically. The key is recognizing that managers already shoulder a substantial burden. They engage in these connecting behaviors at dramatically higher rates than non-managers78% versus 53% for mentoring and coaching, and 76% versus 56% for knowledge sharing. Practical Ways to Strengthen Natural Bonds Make quiet connecting visible. Create formal recognition programs that celebrate employees who support colleagues beyond their job requirements. Share stories of peer support in team meetings and company communications. By highlighting these organic connections, you can encourage more employees to do the same. Design systematic opportunities for connection. Don’t wait for organic helping to emerge. Implement volunteer programs, cross-departmental collaboration projects, and peer mentoring systems that give structure to natural supportive instincts. Train managers to nurture, not manage, peer relationships. Extend check-ins beyond task management to include conversations about well-being and stress levels. Provide mental health first aid training so managers can recognize when quiet connecting networks need additional resources and support. Strengthen managerial support systems overall. While managers are not therapists, they do have a direct impact on team and individual well-being. Evidence-based, comprehensive resilience training programs help managers strengthen their own well-being and support it in others. Toolkits can also equip managers to better support others. Address remote work challenges. Remote and hybrid workers experience 27% higher uncertainty stress than their on-site counterparts. They need these quiet connecting networks more than ever. Implement regular informal check-ins, virtual coffee chats, and structured opportunities for casual interaction that can facilitate organic peer support. The Foundation That Endures Our research reveals a profound truth about natural bonds in the workplace. While traditional engagement metrics show widespread disconnect and stress, human connection persists. Managers and employees continue creating informal systems that help teams survive and thrive during volatile periods. But leaders shouldn’t try to control these natural dynamics. Instead, recognize peer relationships and quiet connecting behaviors as vital organizational assets worth protecting and nurturing. Understand that the strength of these informal, organic support networks might be the most reliable indicator of true organizational resilienceand a critical antidote to the negative effects of employee disconnect. In a world where over half the workforce shows signs of disconnect espite traditional engagement efforts, quiet connecting may be the missing link, if we can learn to recognize it and strengthen it. The foundation of coworker connections is already there, emerging organically as employees self-organize around mutual support. It just needs the right conditions to flourish.
Category:
E-Commerce
Theres a mountain of evidence that having a sense of purpose is correlated with feeling happy. And while an inanimate object such as the moon cant feel emotions, humans have much to thank our natural satellite for in terms of its purpose. From the tides to seasons to gravitational stability, if the moon were a person it would no doubt feel pretty content. Even better, our moon is somewhat of an entertainer, putting on a dazzling display every few weeks that we here on Earth call the full moon. And this months full moon is no exception: Septembers “corn moon” will reach its peak illumination on Sunday, September 7. And if you are lucky enough to live in certain areas of Australia, Asia, Europe, or Africa, you will be graced with a total lunar eclipse. Even those who live outside those regions can enjoy the show, with a clever solution that bypasses both geography and weather. Read on to discover more about this months full moon and how to see it. How did September’s full moon get its nickname of the ‘corn moon’? The Old Farmers Almanac collected and popularized different names for the monthly full moons, immortalizing them in print. These monikers are apparently based on Native American, Colonial, and European traditions. Septembers full moon supposedly gets the title of the corn moon because this month is traditionally when corn was ready to harvest. Whats the science behind a full moon? Simply put, a full moon occurs when the Earth is directly between the sun and the moon, which means the entire face of the moon becomes visible as it is bathed in sunlight. The full moon is one of several lunar phases that mark the moons orbit around the Earth. While the full moon has a peak when it is at its fullest and brightest, it remains full to our eyes for a couple of days before it starts to wane. When is Septembers corn moon? Septembers corn moon will be at its fullest on September 7 at around 2 p.m. ET, according to the Old Farmers Almanac. That means the moon will be below the horizon, but it will remain full and bright to our eyes for a couple of days before it starts to wane. What is a total lunar eclipse? Colloquially known as a blood moon, a total lunar eclipse happens when the moon passes through the Earths shadow, also known as the umbra, effectively blocking out the light from the sun. Earths atmosphere filters and refracts the suns light, so although the moon doesnt become entirely dark, it turns a deep red or orange color. Thats because short wavelengths of light, like blue and violet light, tend to scatter more easily than those with longer wavelengths, like red or orange light. When, where, and how can you watch the total lunar eclipse? The upcoming total lunar eclipse will take place on the evening of September 78, depending on your location. It will last around an hour and 22 minutes, according to NASA. Skygazers located in Asia and Western Australia will have the best seats in the house for this natural phenomenon because they will be in the path of totalitythe zone where the eclipse is most visible. Other night sky enthusiasts in western Africa, western Europe, and eastern Australia and New Zealand will also get to see the eclipse to some degree. Unfortunately for moon fans in the U.S., a lunar eclipse is visible from half the Earth, and this one is not going to be visible from North America. But that doesnt mean the show will not go on. Space.com has your back and is hosting a free livestream and blog with updates of the total lunar eclipse, so you can catch the whole thing live despite geography and potential cloud cover. The website Time and Date is also covering the event. The curtain rises at 11:28 a.m. ET and totality occurs at 1:30 p.m. ET. The full runtime is 82 minutes. And never fear if you dont catch this one: The next total lunar eclipse that will be visible from the U.S. is set to occur on March 3, 2026. Happy moon-viewing! Perhaps thats your true purpose after all.
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E-Commerce
Austin just got its first official branding in nearly 200 years, and it’s an homage to natural springs, rolling hills, and a city thats emerged as a liberal island in an overwhelmingly red state. The branding, revealed at a press conference on September 4, includes an official logo for the city, a wordmark, and a set of guidelines for how Austins government will show up online. It was designed through a partnership between the Austin-based agency TKO, which handled an extensive preliminary interview process, and the Austin branch of the design firm Pentagram, which led the actual brand design. According to Pentagram partner DJ Stout, the process was a balancing act of creating an identity that was both authoritative enough for the city government and representative of the average Austinite. Already the result is generating a firestorm of negative attention on social mediabut Stout says thats completely expected in todays divisive branding reaction ecosystem. The new logo (left) and the previous city seal [Images: City of Austin] Input from all over In the years since its founding in 1839, Austin has developed many fragmented logos and symbols for various departments across the city, but never a cohesive brand system. By 2018, when Austin began considering a unified identity, Stout says there were more than 300 different amalgamations of logos for the city floating around. Pentagram officially started on the branding effort in October 2024 after winning an initial competition to helm the project. At that point, the city and TKO had already spent several months conducting surveys with citizens, stakeholders, and government employees about how the identity should show up. One of the main challenges that Stouts team faced in the brainstorming process was a common obstacle when working with bureaucratic organizations: The final look had to pass muster with multiple audiences, often with vastly different opinions and agendas. [Image: courtesy Pentagram] Obviously its meant to represent all the Austinites and everybody in the city, Stout says. But [the city] was very clear that our objective was to come up with a solution for the citys needs. Talk about design by committeedesigning anything for city government is the ultimate design by committee. Initially Stout championed the idea of an Austin star symbol that would nod to Texass iconic lone star while also adding some unique Austin flair to a commonly used shape in place-based identities, similar to Chicagos star logo or even Canadas maple leaf. However, just from showing these to lots of different groups, audiences felt that anything that smacked of state government did not fit the personality and the attitude of people who live in Austin, Stout says. Austin is a little liberal island, politically. For a city that lives by the tagline “Keep Austin Weird” and celebrates “hippie” culture, as Stout puts it, the identity needed to tap into a less politically leaning idea. [Image: courtesy Pentagram] A logo inspired by nature Ultimately, instead of referencing Texas at large, Austins new identity is intended as a love letter to the citys natural landscape. Stout was specifically inspired by a movement that started around the time he moved to Austin in 1986 called Save Our Springs, when the local community came together to fight water pollution and advocate for the protection of Barton Springs and the Edwards Aquifer that feeds it. Barton Springs Pool [Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images] I would say without a doubt that the reason people love Austin so much is because we have all this beautiful water, Stoutsays. We have Barton Spring[s], which is this giant spring-fed pool; we have Deep Eddy, which is a spring-fed public pool; the Colorado River runs right through Austin. The whole modern city is built around Lady Bird Lake. [Image: Pentagram] To reflect those water sources, the logoa stylized Aincludes a flowing blue wave. Its sandwiched by two green lines: One represents Austin as the start of Texass Hill Country, and the other references the urban canopy that covers the city. Even the hue of blue that Stouts team chose was inspired by a local phenomenon nicknamed the violet crown, which refers to the purplish color of the sunset. The wordmark font, a serif called Museo Slab, was chosen both because it feels a little Western, Stout says, and because it offered a more authoritative element for the city government to work with alongside the logo. The identitys overall aesthetic is predictably simple and corporate for a project with so many voices at the table. (The colorful Los Angeles Tourism logo is one exception.) Still, the Austin logo does manage several clever nods to the features that make the city unique. [Image: courtesy Pentagram] Why the internet hates rebrands Austinites wasted little time voicing their discontent with the identity. A post from the local Instagram account @365thingsAustin has drawn more than 1,000 comments, most of which are resoundingly negative. Did they make it on Canva?! one commenter asked. [I]t is so bad i want to give it a zero but thats not possible so i give it a 1, another said. Several locals seem particularly concerned with the cost of the project. Jessica King, Austins chief communications director, said in the press conference that the total cost to the city was $1.1 million. Stout adds that Pentagram and TKO split a total payout of $200,000. That cost $1.1M?! I could think of so many better ways to spend that money . . . there had to have been some prepping for winter weather that couldve taken place instead of being surprised every year! one commenter said. Stout is unfazed by the backlash, which he says has become a side effect of working in the industry over the past several years. He points to Pentagrams work on Hillary Clintons presidential campaign and his own rebrand for Loyola Marymount University as two examples of design efforts that received intense pushback when they first debuted but have since been recognized as solid identities. Its because of social media, Stout says. Back when I first started about 40 years ago, nobody even knew what an identity system was. In an era when branding has become a hot topic in the internet reaction economy (see: Cracker Barrel retracting its latest rebrand over backlash) its almost impossible to design an identity that the internet will actually celebrate. As for the Austin branding, Stout believes Austinites will eventually come around to the look after the unfamiliarity wears off. I’ve been a partner for 25 yearsthis is not one of the higher-paying jobs, Stout says. I did it because I love this city, and because I’m from the city, and it really means a lot to me.
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E-Commerce
I was reading funding news last week, and I came to a big realization: Andreessen Horowitz is not a venture capital fund. A lot of people are thinking it. So there, I said it. And its not just Andreessen. Its all the big funds. They started out as VC. They operate funds that invest in private early-stage companies. But they havent been VC funds for a very long time. Thats not a knock on their success or influence, both of which are massive. But to continue calling them venture capital is both disingenuous and damaging to how we understand our industry. I vote we stop. VC is not bifurcated. Its two totally different strategies. First off, its worth noting that all of these firms are legally not venture capital firmsthey are registered investment advisers (RIAs). This means they can, and do, invest beyond early-stage private companies, in things like public companies, crypto tokens, nontraditional assets, and more. Andreessen, Sequoia, Insight, General Catalyst, Thrive Capital, SoftBank Vision Fund, Lightspeed . . . all RIAs. All massive. No longer just VC funds. They’re big finance with a Sand Hill Road address. And if you take an honest look at their actual venture strategy, youll also find it isnt really venture anymore. Since its earliest iterations in the 1940s, venture capital has always meant investing in early-stage companies with the potential to generate alphahigh risk, high reward, uncorrelated with efficient (public) markets. Its never been about investing in the obvious. Quite the opposite, in fact. Thats not how big funds invest anymore. Andreessen partner Martin Casados viral tweet last week acknowledged this: Large funds are not picking contrarian bets. Theyre picking consensus ones. All of them are chasing the same founders, outbidding each other in giant rounds, competing away alpha for themselves and each other. Theyre okay with this. Their limited partners are okay with this. Theyll make money, presumably, off the beta. They have power, access, and cultural cache. They are #winning. But theyre not VC investing. Make data meaningful again Meanwhile, all the VC commentators (myself included) are tripping over ourselves about what this all means. My B-school classmate Rob Go wrote about VCs existential crisis (Viva la F!). Sapphires Beezer Clarkson says venture is broken. Carta data guru Peter Walker talks about the bifurcation of venture capital. Eric Newcomer describes it as a break between the haves and the have-nots. Every VC report thats come out in the last few yearsCarta, PitchBook, Crunchbase, AngelList, all of themshow a few rounds and funds so large that they completely distort the data. I say its time to split the data in two and analyze both strategies independently. Remove the mega-funds and youll see a clear, consistent picture of the actual venture ecosystem. Venture capital as its always beensmall, early, messy, contrarian, alpha-seeking. Analyze the mega rounds/mega funds on their own. Theyre not outliers; theyre their own investment category. I call it consensus capital. What is Consensus Capital? I might come back to refine this point in the future. From what I see today, there are four defining factors for consensus capital: The focus on giant outcomes only: Forget unicorns, their hunt is for trillion-dollar outcomes. The belief that only one type of founder can achieve such an enormous outcome: the consensus founder, if you will. Complete price-insensitivity, or a willingness to pay up at the entry point for that one type of founder. Funds so large that they can deploy huge amounts (tens or hundreds of millions) in a single early-stage round. Again, none of this is a knock. There are great consensus bets to be made, capital itself becomes the moat for some of these companies, exits may be (are presumed to be) sooner than true venture exits, and youll make money off the beta, highly correlated with the growth of the entire category. Crucially, you can deploy a lot more capital in one go following this strategy than via true venture capital. And large LPs want to move large amounts of capital. To them, the juice must be worth the squeeze. In other words, none of the above means you wont make money off consensus capital. It just means youre not seeking alpha. What this means for founders You might ask: If money is still flowing into startups, who cares what we call it? Thats fair enough. The problem is, when we talk about these giant funds as if they represent venture capital, we flatten the story of our ecosystem, and mislead non-consensus founders in the process. Consensus capital goes to founders who have a very particular, very predictable pedigree. They went to a handful of schools, worked at a handful of startups, or built at a handful of AI labs. They are highly discoverable; you can literally set up an AI agent to find them before they raise. Many consensus investors do. If youre one of those founders, it should be very easy to raise consensus capital. The different funds will compete aggressively against each other, marking up the price of your company, effectively erasing the alpha from their own portfolio. If youre not one of those founders, its not the end of the world. Sure, it will be harder. But there is an entire generation of alpha-seeking early-stage investorstrue venture capitalists (what Marc and Ben were 25 years ago)who are looking for outstanding non-consensus founders like you. This also doesnt mean that the two types of capital cant coinvest. You can become a consensus founder even if you lack the pedigree. The easiest (albeit not easy) way to do it is to go through a top-tier accelerator like Y Combinator. Or you can do it through traction and velocity alone. When you make your business undeniable, consensus capital will follow. A call for honest labels Everyone predicting the death of venture capital is wrong. Plain and simple. As long as there are non-consensus founders with a real shot at the Amercan Dream, investors willing to partner with them, and exit opportunities awaiting on the other side, VC will be alive and well. But only for those who actually follow the strategy. Let’s call the different funds what they actually are. Let’s create honest taxonomies that help founders find the right capital for their stage and ambition. Lets split the analysis so the benchmarks for traction, valuations, and round sizes are not distorted by the beta-rich consensus crew. Let’s give LPs clarity about what they’re actually buying when they write checks to different types of funds. And let’s remember what venture capital really is: messy, early, conviction-driven, non-consensus bets on the future.
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E-Commerce
Tesla hasnt enjoyed a lot of good news lately. Just the last few days have brought news of the electric car-makers dimming sales in Europedown 42% in the European Union compared to a year ago, in the face of competition from Chinese rival BYDand a recall in Australia of Model Y SUVs to address a potential software glitch that may cause passenger windows to close with excessive force. In its most recent quarter, the company reported revenue of $22.5 billion, a 16% decrease. So it makes sense that this week Tesla made a fresh effort to change the story about the brand and its trajectory. It did so with the release of its latest Master Plan, a public document intended to declare its future goals and plans. Its safe to say, not everyone was convinced. Critics complained that, at best, its vague, and at worst sounded like AI-generated buzzword soufflé. (Our desire to push beyond what is considered achievable will foster the growth needed for truly sustainable abundance.”) While this did not appear to be the conversation-changer Tesla sought, the company is right to try to give the narrative around its business a boost. CEO Elon Musk seemed to acknowledge this when he posted on X that 80% of Teslas value will eventually come from its Optimus robotsa prediction that, while lacking details, was quickly picked up as a sign that he is thinking beyond EVs. The problem is that Musk has projected similar narratives before: namely, that Teslas future is really about self-driving taxis, humanoid robots, artificial intelligence, or a combination of all the above. The narrative hasnt stuck, partly because Tesla isnt really a leader in any of those sectors. Even his latest Optimus prediction was tossed in among what has now become a familiar manic barrage of X posts about a variety of cultural and political issues that have nothing to do with making cars or running a business. The Tesla Master Plan seemed to be worth only a sliver of the CEOs attention. (And thats despite the company recently granting Musk $29 billion in new Tesla shares in what seemed like an attempt to get him to focus). A master plan to rule all other master plans This is actually Teslas fourth Master Plan, and in a way they have all been marketing documents. The first two were written by Musk himself, basically blog posts as impassioned manifestos; the third was a nerdier, benchmark-filled white paper. Each offered a narrative around Teslas mission, its context, its supposedly world-changing implications. But lately, the Tesla narrative has come from without: the apparent flop of the Cybertruck, the loss of market share for even its more successful vehicles, the endless controversies stemming from Musks DOGE adventures, culminating in his de facto dismissal from President Trumps inner circle. The upshot is an ongoing case study of a once-mighty but now-tarnished brand. And to be clear, the brands historic strength is significant, and retains considerable loyalty from consumer and investor fans alike. The company is still worth more than $1 trillion, and its shares are trading at around $340, which is right in between a recent range of about $220 in March to $488 last December. It might even get a short-term sales bump from EV shoppers looking to buy before the Trump administration phases out consumer incentives. The whole sector is in for a challenge once that happens. While Tesla spins its wheels on putting forward a story about that brands next chapter, rivals are racing to define the brand from the outside. Musk, his attention still seemingly divided as he posts constantly on X, flirts with politics, and scraps for a lead role in the AI free-for-all, used to be the lead author of the Tesla narrative. Its a brand that has been defined far less by traditional marketing than by its CEOs endless zeal. With that zeal directed elsewhere, a different Tesla story is taking hold: an EV maker run by a guy who doesnt really care about cars anymore.
Category:
E-Commerce
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