How do the most creative people work? Bryan Cranston Kendrick Lamar Max Levchin and other creatively supercharged folks share their methods.
Want to know what it takes to earn a spot on Fast Company’s Most Creative People In Business list? Check out our Editor-In-Chief on Morning Joe.
By M. Cecelia Bittner, Jessica Hullinger
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“We always seem to view our role models as if they’ve made perfect choices every step of the way. If only that were really true!”
Facebook’s NYC headquarters was packed to the brim Tuesday night with career-minded techies looking to gain insight from a panel of some of the tech industry’s leading ladies. The chat was organized by Girls in Tech, a global organization “focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of powerful, influential women in technology and entrepreneurship,” and was moderated by Kickstarter’s Bethany Sumner.
The conversation originally focused on career mistakes, but veered to cover everything from mentorship to sexism in the workplace, and left guests with a heap of actionable tips.
Who was on the panel:
- AT&T’s Amanda J. Stent
- Facebook’s Goranka Bjedov
- Bloomberg’s Catherine Hui
- Techie/startup founder Nikki Stevens, @drnikki
What they said:
“I didn’t become who I am by accident. I struggled through the whole journey.” -Catherine Hui (Bloomberg)
“Don’t say ‘no’ out of fear. Say ‘yes’ to yourself. Know that you are worth it and that you can do it.” -Amanda J. Stent (AT&T)
“If you’re playing World of Warcraft 25 hours a week, you’re probably hiding from something in your life.” -Goranka Bjedov (Facebook)
“Make mistakes. Just don’t make the same mistake five times.” -Bjedov“Until I fail empirically, I am good enough to do the job.” -Nikki Stevens (formerly Refinery29)
What’s the biggest career mistake you’ve ever made, and how did you overcome it? Looking back, what piece of advice would you give your younger self? Tell us on Twitter with #FCadvice.
“Solutions are quite complex in maternal health. For us, there is no silver bullet, but we can tell the stories.”
—Christy Turlington Burns is one of this year’s Most Creative People for her work in raising awareness about maternal health.
After Apple booted Google Maps from iOS last year, Daniel Graf led the development of a beautiful, refreshed mapping experience that shot to number one in the iTunes store and kicked Apple’s ass on its own turf. Here’s how Graf made it happen—in his own words:
“We have a very successful Android version of Google Maps, so the easiest thing to do was to say, this is super-successful, users love it, so why don’t we just port it over to iOS? But I wanted to challenge the team. While the Android version is a great product, you can also tell it’s been around for a while. You have to access everything via menus—it’s not really best-use-case driven anymore. I said, let’s take a step back—what if we could start from scratch and forget anything we’ve ever done? We have the foundation—the Google data, the mapping data, the local business data, the imagery, the navigation algorithms—it’s a dream to start with.”
Taco Bell is testing a Waffle Taco. Because… why not?
The Takeaway from Warren Buffett’s Office Hours: ”Find the job you would have if you were independently rich. Associate with people you love doing what you love,” Buffett says. “How can it be any better?”
“Every time someone comes to Syria Deeply, I feel like they’re coming over to my house for dinner. What will I serve them today?”
Lara Setrakian (No. 20) shares her approach to content on her site, Syria Deeply, which has redefined conflict coverage.
It’s here! We’ve named our 100 Most Creative People of 2013!
At the top of the list? Who else but Nate SIlver…?
“If there’s anything my mom taught me, it’s that there’s a big difference between being given something and knowing you’ve earned it yourself by working hard, one day at a time.”
“The first thing I remember learning from my mother was ‘Be like a duck: Calm on the surface but paddling like hell underneath.’ She used to keep this on our fridge along with another slogan that said, ‘Don’t get mad, get even; live long enough to be a problem to your kids.’”
Happy Mother’s Day! Advice from the moms of today’s successful business leaders
“You’ve gotta keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.”
If you were born after 1976, you’re getting screwed by the economy.
