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Fast Companys Most Innovative Companies is our flagship franchise and one of our most eagerly awaited editorial projects each year. To determine honorees, our editorial team spends months evaluating organizations that are driving progress across industries and around the world. We track their performance, compare them to competitors, and assess their impact within broader industry and societal trends. The final list serves as both a definitive snapshot of innovation today and a road map for whats next. Here’s what we’re looking for: Fresh innovation Most Innovative Companies is not a lifetime achievement award. We’re interested in whats new. Tell us about products, services, or strategies introduced in the past year. We also welcome news of upcoming launches. If something is under embargo, simply note that in your application. This is your chance to get on our radar early. Measurable impact We want to see that your innovation is making a difference. Share the metrics you use internally to gauge successwhether its revenue growth, user adoption, engagement, or other KPIs. If any data is confidential, just flag it in the submission. The big picture We recognize companies that are tackling major challenges and reshaping industries, culture, or society. Show us how your innovation moves your field forwardand how it connects to larger global or cultural trends. Editorial opportunity Each application is carefully reviewed by our editorial team, often by multiple editors. Beyond informing the Most Innovative Companies list, these submissions help shape our editorial coverage year-round. We frequently pursue additional stories based on what we learn here. In other words, this is a unique opportunity to introduce your company and tell your story directly to Fast Companys editorsin your own words. We’re accepting MIC applications through October 3.
Category:
E-Commerce
Chick-fil-A says it’s testing out a stand-alone drinks-focused restaurant concept. Called Daybright, the new concept will open this fall outside Atlanta, Chick-fil-A tells Fast Company. It’s being brought to life by Red Wagon Ventures, a Chick-fil-A subsidiary and business incubator named after founder Truett Cathy’s first business selling Coca-Cola out of a red wagon when he was 6 years old. “We look forward to sharing more details in the future,” Chick-fil-A says about the concept. Though there’s not yet a public menu for Daybright, it’s expected to serve coffee, smoothies, and cold-pressed juice alongside a limited selection of food. But sorry, peach milkshake fans, Daybright will not have any Chick-fil-A menu itemsand that goes for both food and beverages. The announcement indicates Chick-fil-A isn’t just looking to compete on chicken sandwiches alone anymore. As fast-food prices have risen and customers have decided to stay home or choose other options, beverages offer restaurants a higher-gross-margin item that it can easily upsell to customers. In other words, drinks are cheap for restaurants to sell, and customers might be convinced to pick up a snack to go with their beverage. The category can also draw in young people during off hours. With Daybright, the chain could also steal market share from the likes of Starbucks and Dutch Bros Coffee by nabbing customers who stepped out for a morning coffee or a quick, cheap snack. Daybright will arrive as other chains are experimenting and investing more in their drinks too. Taco Bell expanded its beverage offerings over the summer, and though McDonald’s in May shut down CosMc’s, its beverage-first, drive-through concept launched in 2023, it’s taking what it learned from the store to bring to McDonald’s locations in the U.S. and eventually around the world. For Chick-fil-A, a privately held company that reported $22.7 billion in sales in 2024, the new concept could be a lifeline since its sales growth has slowed. By giving customers a new reason to stop by, even if it’s just for a drink, Daybright could give Chick-fil-A a leg up at a challenging time.
Category:
E-Commerce
When I was a leader in corporate America at a large regional bank, I held the assumption that once I was promoted, and received my new title and salary, then I would finally feel confident and successful. I was wrong. The allure of a new title and office wore off quickly, and my persistent worries about whether I was cut out for leadership, or even a good leader at all, continued to persist. A decade later, even after I submitted the first draft of my book, Closing the Confidence Gap, I was overwhelmed with self-doubt. I felt completely stuck: Unable to move forward with marketing, I was paralyzed by many of the same old fears of What if people think Im no good and this book finally proves it? In my thousands of hours of conversations with leaders, I discovered that we share a common belief: that our confidence will arrive once we receive a certain title or status. We think we will finally feel successful. But it doesnt happen that way. Self-doubt is always waiting at the edges of our capabilities. When we attempt to push doubt aside and ignore it, we reduce our ability to remain curious and respond most effectively. Counterintuitively, avoiding the feeling only makes it grow stronger, thus playing a larger role in preventing us from applying for roles that excite us, holding crucial conversations, speaking up and sharing ideas, or making courageous asks. If self-doubt is holding you back from meeting your potential in leadership, here are some steps you can take to help manage that feeling, and even use it to your advantage. NOTICE AND NAME WHAT IS HAPPENING Noticing and naming an emotion is the first step toward emotional acceptance. This means that you are allowing your feeling to exist without judgment or a desire to change this. It can help to rely on an emotions wheel to find the language to describe what you are feeling. If this process is overwhelming, take four deep breaths and ask yourself, What feelings arise in my body? Once you get curious about these feelings, it will become easier to name the emotions. Naming our emotions doesnt amp up their power, it identifies them accurately. With this accuracy, we can feel more in control of their cause and the right next steps we need to take. NORMALIZE THE FEELING BY FINDING A SUPPORT SYSTEM The first step toward normalizing self-doubt is accepting the feeling. For example, you may say to yourself, Self-doubt is a normal, healthy human emotion and a sign that I am stretching my comfort zone. A second important step toward normalizing self-doubt is taking the vulnerable step to describe what is happening to a supportive and neutral party. This can be in-person or online, either with one person (such as a therapist or coach) or with a community. When I struggled with self-doubt after writing my book, I took the vulnerable step to share this with my entrepreneurial community who, in response, shared their own feelings of self-doubt. This helped me normalize this feeling and provided support to help me move forward. REFRAME SELF-DOUBT AS A STATE NOT A TRAIT The internal language we use impacts how we behave. When our internal language describes self-doubt as a trait (for example: I am a nervous wreck. I cannot show up for this presentation) we are not allowing room for this to be changed. Instead, we should reframe this feeling into a state. One potential reframe could be, I notice that I am feeling doubtful and nervous, this means Im moving closer to achieving my stretch goals.” To separate a state from a trait, it can be helpful to ask yourself what helpful reasons there are for feeling self-doubt. You may ask yourself, How does this emotion benefit me? Potential benefits include keeping you humble, or ensuring that you put in adequate preparation and effort for a keynote, meeting, or project. TAKE ACTION WHILE FEELING DOUBTFUL If you wait until you feel confident or fully ready to do something, you may wait forever. I have interviewed leaders like Arianna Huffington, Indra Nooyi, and Padmasaree Warrior. Here is what I learned from them: Rising through the ranks in leadership does not mean that your self-doubt disappears. It means that you have learned to anticipate and accommodate self-doubt at all stages of leadership. Successful leaders have transformed their relationship with doubt, knowing its essential on the path to a meaningful career. Taking action is a muscle that is built with small, brave steps. If you struggle with self-doubt while presenting, you may not give your first keynote to an audience of 1,000 people. Instead, you may agree to lead your next team meeting. Once you have done this a few times, you may then decide to speak up at a company-wide meeting. Its the actions of confidence that come first, the feeling that comes second. Confidence is a side effect of taking action.
Category:
E-Commerce
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