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As return-to-office policies take hold and fully flexible work arrangements decline, employees are re-adapting to in-person interactions. One of the biggest challenges? Giving and receiving constructive feedback. Unlike praise, constructive feedback highlights areas for improvementa critical driver of individual and organizational success, yet one that many find difficult. Whether remote or in-person, various factors, like overestimating negative consequences or fearing relationship fallout, often make both giving and receiving feedback feel high stakes. While virtual feedback has its own challengeslimited nonverbal cues, potential misinterpretation, and technological barriersthe shift back to in-person conversations introduces new complexities. Body language, tone, and the immediacy of face-to-face exchanges add layers of nuance that leaders may feel less practiced in navigating. Now more than ever, leaders and teams must navigate feedback thoughtfully. Heres how to make in-person feedback a tool for growthensuring it strengthens, rather than strains, workplace relationships. Anchor yourself in the right mindset Before giving constructive feedback, get into the right headspace. The goal is to help the other person grownot to vent frustration, prove a point, or put someone in their place. If emotions are running high, step back. Feedback should come from a place of support and a genuine desire to see the other person succeed, which in turn strengthens the team and organization. Stay centered, and make sure your words and tone reflect that intention. Choose the right time and place Giving feedback soon after observing behavior, reviewing work, or having a key interaction keeps it relevant and actionablebut timing and environment matter. In-person conversations offer the potential for richer dialogue, but only if done right. Avoid squeezing feedback into rushed moments, like between back-to-back meetings, where neither party has the focus needed for a meaningful exchange. Choose a time when both people are centered and not overwhelmed. Opt for a neutral space, such as a meeting room rather than your office, to minimize power imbalances, and ensure its free from interruptions to foster an open, productive discussion. Be specific Vague feedback falls flat. Instead of saying, You always interrupt or, Youre not a team player, point to a concrete moment: In yesterdays Ops meeting, you raised your voice several times and spoke over others. After that, the room got quieter. Speak from personal observationwhat you saw, heard, and when it happenedrather than assuming how others felt or making broad character judgments. This keeps feedback clear, actionable, and easier to receive. Get the nonverbal part right Its easy to focus mainly on what youre going to say, but dont forget how you say it, including the part that involves no words at all, which is much more important when you cant hide behind a screen. Tone and body language are thought to make up the vast majority of how communication is received. Speak in an even tone, including about challenging topics. Maintain good eye contact but not in a scary, intense way. Lean forward to communicate engagement and care. Avoid postures that convey defensiveness, like having your arms crossed tightly. Dont fear silence In our always-on world, its tempting to fill every space with words. Instead, try to be comfortable with silence, whether by pausing more frequently as you speak or not pushing for an immediate response from the other person. Silence, even a few seconds, creates time and capacity to become aware of and process emotional responses, contributing to a more genuine interaction that will help both parties understand and support each other. Mind the generational gap Members of different generations may prefer different modes of feedback. Gen Z may want an approach that takes into account their values and sources of meaning (I know collaboration matters to you, so here are some ways I see you doing it well and some areas for improvement), while boomers may be more focused on outcomes and practical advice. Ask for feedbackgenuinely Asking for feedback regularly from your team members models important leadership behavior and promotes an open, growth-oriented, high-performance culture. But it has to be a genuine request, and employees you manage may be reluctant to be honest for fear of retaliation. Be empathetic to that reality. Avoid asking for feedback in the same conversation where youre giving it. It can feel transactional or make the other person hesitant to share openly. If you dont want to hear it, dont ask for it. And remember: How you respond to feedback will determine whether the person feels comfortable providing any feedback in the future. Feedback skill is as much about receiving as giving. Its human nature to react defensively, but try to take a breath and open yourself to what is being communicated, especially if its coming from a place of support. Ask for specifics if theyre not provided. While listening, ask yourself, How might this feedback be true? How does it fit with how I see myself? And remember: Feedback is a gift. It is one of the most impactful experiences that supports growth. Practice, practice, practice Some people may be naturals when it comes to communicating feedback, but most arent. Luckily its a skill that can be improved. Think of feedback-giving as a muscle to strengthen. One way to do that is to start with low-stakes situations (say, giving feedback to a team member after a specific activity like a presentation) and work up to more sensitive areas of improvement like patterns of behavior or communication.
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E-Commerce
For the better part of the last half-century, the world has traveled to California to experience Silicon Valley. Theyve heard from Stanford dropouts-turned-unicorn founders, toured dazzling tech campuses, spoken with shrewd venture capitalists, and discussed, ad nauseum, the regions core DNA. Theyve come to scoop up the secret fertilizer, take it back home, and sprinkle it onto the local soil in the hopes of magically growing Silicon Prairie, or Silicon Heartland, or Silicon Fill-in-the-Blank. In reality, few places in the United Statesalmost none outside a handful of big coastal citieshave succeeded. Eventually, hopeful communities have abandoned their innovation hubs after disappointing results. But not all of them. Among the rare successes of a burgeoning tech hub, Tulsa stands out. I know because I helped lead the citys reinvention. So, in understanding how northeast Oklahoma managed to establish a growing innovation economy, other places may finally be able to carve out a sustainable path in tech. The task isnt simplethere are no shortcuts. But thats because, in the end, theres no secret ingredient. It simply comes down to whether cities can find the niche that corresponds with their strength and exploit it. No place will be able to compete with Silicon Valleys moneybut great gobs of capital sit in various locales, and yet few have become tech hubs. No place can replicate the Valleys concentration of talentbut for all the celebrated universities, few have spawned notable clusters of innovation. Thats not whats really important. Here’s what istruly important: Having a community think carefully about what their value add can be to the greater world of tech, and how they can lean into that specific attribute. Innovation economies grow from the bottom-up, not the top-down, and they can be tailored to fit your city. Thisis what Tulsa is doing so successfullyand its the reason that Im convinced other cities can do the same. When I was recruited to Tulsa in 2019, the economys two pillarsoil and gaswere both on the ropes. Like many other midsized cities, there was rising alarm that Oklahomans were poised to be left behind by AI, the states manufacturing and service jobs gutted by automation. So, the Tulsa-based George Kaiser Family Foundation asked me to lead an effort less to make the region a mini-Silicon Valley, and more to help Tulsa find what I call its tech nicheits own special place in the 21st century economy. As one cowboy hat-wearing entrepreneur told me, We dont want to be San Francisco. We want to be the best version of ourself. But that just raised a series of questions that most cities struggle to answer: What should the communitys tech identity be? How could we create durable jobs? Where should we deploy scarce capital? The economic development organization I founded, Tulsa Innovation Labs, led a community-wide effort to answer those questions. We looked initially at education technology and discarded it as a focusTulsa simply didnt have a competitive advantage in that realm. We then looked at agriculture technology and set that aside toothe potential impact of investing in that cluster wasnt sufficient to building a resilient tech economy. Instead, we zeroed in on four areas where we believed we could create the critical mass of activity necessary to reinvent Tulsas economy: virtual health, energy tech, advanced air mobility, and cyber. Having narrowed the field, we raised over $200 million in four years to invest in those clusters and put ourselves on track to create 20,000 jobs. The question today is what other older industrial economies such as St. Louis, Buffalo, and Cincinnati can learn from Tulsas experience. And the lesson is surprisingly simple: Rather than try to emulate Silicon Valley, they should find their own tech niche and then invest in infrastructure that fuels growth in those clusters. To do that, they need to follow four principles. First, cities should build on existing industries Every city has longstanding employers with expertise that can be transitioned to tech. Tulsas energy companies were facing intense disruption thanks to climate change. And although Oklahomas aerospace industry is largely in maintenance, repair, and overhaulnot techthe industrys regional facilities offered existing infrastructure and talent with valuable skills that can translate. Tulsas challenge was to build on top of those important assets to spark growth in emerging technologies. Second, cities need to identify their strongest opportunities in tech Cities should pick a few tech clusters that are adjacent to existing industries and show long-term growth trends, thereby building a bridge to a more vibrant economy. Given its legacy as the oil capital of the world, Tulsas prime opportunity was energy tech. As was advanced air mobility given the regions strong history in aerospace and the energy industrys use of drones to monitor pipelines. While its understandable that many startups want to be in Silicon Valley, others are realizing its wiser to build near established industries with the ready-made partners they provide and the dynamic ecosystems they can offer. Third, those searching for a niche should ensure it promises a range of jobs San Francisco is a cautionary tale because the explosion almost exclusively of high-paying positions for the most educated has increased housing prices and widened inequality. Choosing clusters that offer jobs demanding a variety of skills and education levelsjobs open to those without bachelors degreescan drive inclusion. In Tulsa, we selected cyber in part because workers with skills-based credentials are essential to the industry. About a third of the 20,000 jobs Tulsa is on track to create are accessible without a bachelors degree. Finally, cities should select a niche that allows them to lead Midsized cities need not compete with major tech hubs. Instead, they should search for specific clusters, sub-clusters, or parts of an industrys value chain in which they can lead. For virtual health, Tulsas opportunity was in remote care solutionstechnologies that, for example, enable remote glucose monitoring. Virtual health also has nice synergies with cybersecurity, which keeps those remote systems safe, as well as advanced air mobility in which drones could deliver pharmaceuticals to rural parts of the region. The specific clusters that comprise your tech niche should reinforce each other. Silicon Valley is a unicorn, and for too long, it has been viewed as the model for places that cant possibly recreate it. This myth has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, with a national innovation economy that leaves out most Americans and dismisses the Heartland as flyover country. Places like Tulsa can thrive in the decades to come if they find the right niche. Pulling off an economic renaissance isnt easy to do, but its entirely realistic. For anyone living in a place thats being left behind by tech, know that you can write your own future if you and your neighbors work together and grow from the inside out.
Category:
E-Commerce
When OpenAI announced earlier this week that image generation was now directly available within ChatGPT, a lot of the initial examples used advertising to show how it works. Powered by OpenAIs flagship multimodal model GPT-4o, the updated chatbot can now create visuals straight from its chat interface. Turbo Design founder Shane Devine posted an image of his prompt asking the platform to turn a generic office scene into a McDonalds ad. His reaction to the results: Were cooked. We are cooked pic.twitter.com/LfWizvSEoh— Shane Levine (@theShaneLevine) March 26, 2025 Other examples floating around in reaction hypothesized how the new tool would replace traditional photoshoots. Much like Levines comment, the mood appeared to be yet another sign of death at the door of traditional advertising creatives. Is it the future of all banner ads and bus shelter posters? If that McDonalds spec ad is any indication, weve still got a long way to go. For Fast Companys Brand New World podcast, Ive been talking to creatives, ad agency execs, and CMOs about the impacts of, and strategies around Gen AI tools. They all focus on the utility of these tools to help humans, not replace them. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Evolving AI (@evolving.ai) Even for its own Super Bowl ad, OpenAI only used Sora as a concepting tool. CMO Kate Rouch told me at the time, Because we made this on a pretty compressed timeline, it really helped the creatives prototype, experiment with camera angles, and things like that, all to speed up the process. Deepthi Prakash, Omnicom Advertising Group COO, says this latest update is a really valuable integration, allowing for a more conversational experience, and a more natural sparring partner to help identify insights and translate them to visual ideas. The quality of the visuals isnt at par with the best specialized technologies out there, she says. But its certainly good enough for a strategist or a business leader to help develop and communicate concepts and ideas. Omnicom-owned agency network TBWA announced its CollectiveAI platform last June. Integrating platforms like ChatGPT, as well as others from Google, Adobe, Microsoft, and more. Its tools are trained on the company’s past work to create social content and brand materials for clients, among other things. For Prakash, this new update simply improves their existing quiver. This doesnt really change things for us, she says. But hopefully, it accelerates the development of tools that are designed not just for specific tasks, but for entire workflows so that AI moves from being a set of tools to being a real partner in the creative process. Omid Farhang is the founder and CEO of award-winning independent ad agency Majority. He says this new update feels like the first time he ever watched Netflix on his phone. A moment that I knew for sure was coming yet still couldnt help feeling utterly dazzled that its here, says Farhang. Far from the existential dread expressed in some of the social media reactions to the new update, Farhang sees profound opportunity especially for smaller creative firms. It feels like for the first time ever, being a small, young company is a competitive advantage, he says. Because we have no legacy departments and antiquated processes to undo; we can harness AI with less fear, more nimbleness. More malleability. More playfulness. More audacity. Farhang advises any creative professional to embrace any and all the new AI tools. Since the dawn of man, every generation operates under the delusion that theyve hit the height of human potential, until an innovation emerges that reminds us we are perpetually the chrysalis, never the butterfly, says Farhang. All this chatter, speculation, daydreaming and resistance about AI are shrieks from the cocoon.
Category:
E-Commerce
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