Tag: leadership

I run Google TV. Here are my secrets for leading a team remotely

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Even before COVID-19 led people to turn their dining rooms into makeshift offices, remote work was on the rise. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many businesses have found that remote work makes it increasingly difficult to preserve their company culture. After all, perks such as childcare, happy hours, and social lunches don’t mean much if you’re not on-site. What’s more, remote work has the potential to throttle the kind of free-flowing collaboration and brainstorming that happens when people are in the same space. That said, remote work is not without benefits. In fact, when done right, it’s a win for companies and employees Read More …

The pernicious staying power of COVID-19’s first viral disinformation campaign

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This story is part of Doubting the Dose, a series that examines anti-vaccine sentiment and the role of misinformation in supercharging it.  Read more here . On a Monday in May, a now-infamous video titled “Plandemic” started to spread on social media. In a matter of days, millions of people had seen it. Media outlets devoted breathless attention to the conspiracy-laden film and its anti-mask, anti-vaccine, and anti-government agenda. It was not the first piece of disinformation about COVID-19, but it was perhaps the most potent. It also struck at just the right time. It was two months into the pandemic, and little was known yet about the virus. Americans were captive in their homes, searching the web for answers about a deadly disease. “Plandemic” offered a definitive storyline about COVID-19, when public health officials had unsatisfactory answers. The film took the opportunity to sow doubt in crucial figures such as National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief Anthony Fauci and call into question mask wearing—one of the few available tools at the time to combat the spread of COVID-19. It was the best attempt yet to undo critical public health efforts underway and make Americans question government leadership. “Plandemic” was the first big wave in a rising tide of unquellable disinformation and misinformation about COVID-19. By the time the internet platforms we rely on to curate the web suppressed the video, it was already too late. It had reached nearly 10 million people across YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook by some estimates. Read More …

Andrew Yang has some concerns about Zoom

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There’s nobody quite like Andrew Yang, the erstwhile presidential phenomenon whose campaign for a universal basic income found an unlikely ally in the Trump White House—and helped lay the groundwork for direct cash payments during the pandemic. He’s a political outsider who loves to be on the inside; a tech cheerleader who worries about artificial intelligence; a progressive who’s not afraid of Joe Rogan; and now a New York City mayoral candidate who’s . . . never voted for mayor. He’s also a serial entrepreneur, with deep ties to the tech community and strong opinions about how the public and private sectors should cooperate to foster innovation. That’s one of Fast Company’ s bailiwicks too, so we decided to catch up with the father of two (and former Fast Company columnist) in New York to discuss the Great Reopening, the future of bitcoin, why Manhattan beats Miami, and the trouble with Zoom. Fast Company: Congrats on the latest poll . Were you surprised at all to be leading the field with 32%? Andrew Yang: I’m excited that New Yorkers are excited. I think a lot of people are frustrated with what’s been going on in the city this past number of months and years. We know we need a different kind of leadership. I’m thrilled that people see that we can do better for ourselves. That’s my main mission, to restart the engine of New York’s economy and get the agencies and bureaucracies functioning at a higher level. Right—the number one thing on most people’s minds right now is the reopening the economy. We’re poised for a massive rebound in economic activity, but there’s a general feeling that the guidance from the government—on schools, restaurants, where and when you can take off your mask—has been confusing and slow. I’ve talked to dozens, maybe hundreds of business owners here in New York City, small-business owners, comedy clubs, restaurants, bars—and they were very frustrated with the operating guidelines and the lack of visibility. Right now there are different restrictions in New York State as opposed to New York City, which I think made sense at a certain point during the pandemic, but it makes less and less sense now, given the expanded vaccination rates and the fact that infection rates are falling. So number one is, can you reopen your doors? Number two, can you manage all of your financial obligations, primarily rent? If you were the average bar or a restaurant, you might owe somewhere between 3 and 10 months of back rent, even if your landlord is cutting you a break in terms of your cash obligations. Read More …

The startup that saved the restaurant industry in the nick of time

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Nick Kokonas, CEO of the restaurant reservations platform Tock, is meeting a handful of new employees over Zoom for the first time. The latest hires of his rapidly growing Chicago-based company are tuning in from their apartments. He’s logging in from a house in Lake Tahoe that he’s rented for a few weeks in January in an attempt to take a vacation after an extraordinarily busy year.  The plan is to welcome his employees to the company with an introductory pep talk. He’ll explain how his 6-year-old reservation system is designed to help chefs manage both their dining rooms and kitchens more efficiently. He’ll go on to tell them about the way it threw a lifeline to independent restaurants during the pandemic by allowing their kitchens to offer take out and delivery service on better terms than other platforms. And then he’ll explain how the 140-person company is now taking on some of the biggest industry players with a tech platform that gives more control to chefs and restaurateurs. He is, after all, co-owner of Chicago’s renowned Alinea restaurant, along with several other eateries in the city, and has spent the past decade and a half thinking about what a restaurant needs to survive and even thrive.  But before he begins, Kokonas wants to set one thing straight: He did not purchase the large wooden yin-yang that hangs above his head. “This is not my house. This is not my yin-yang,” he tells his new hires. “This is T. Read More …

3 ways to build an equitable health system, according to a Black doctor

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While the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our daily lives for one year, it has also further illuminated the inequities in our healthcare system experienced daily by racial and ethnic minorities. When we look at a past pandemic, the 1918 Flu, and compare it to the COVID-19 pandemic today, it’s clear there are still health disparities for Black Americans today—even 100 years later. It is critical that doctors like myself, as well as healthcare innovators and policymakers, work to break down these barriers and improve care for members of the Black community. While experts believe racial segregation may have contributed to Black Americans contracting the 1918 Flu at lower rates than white Americans, Black patients were more likely to die from the flu if they did become ill compared to white patients. Beyond the pandemic, Black Americans were suffering from higher rates of illness and death compared to white people. Reports in 1900 assert that Black communities were experiencing a 69% higher death rate from a number of diseases, such as tuberculosis and pneumonia, compared to white people. And now, more than 100 years later, Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, dying at 2.4 times the rate of white Americans. In several states across the country, the difference in mortality is shocking. For instance, in Chicago, it has been reported that Black people account for nearly 60% of COVID-19 deaths while only making up 30% of the population. Several major cities across the country have the same disproportionate trend. In 1918, Black people were often disbarred from care , leading to local and decentralized efforts to provide care within the community. We see these same disparities today. Poverty, redlining, poorer housing conditions, unequal access to quality physicians, and jobs that don’t allow individuals to work from home all create greater health risks for Black Americans, resulting in higher rates of acquiring COVID-19 and subsequently poorer outcomes. Read More …