I first noticed that something weird was happening this past spring.

In April, the number of workers who quit their job in a single month broke an all-time U.S. record. Economists called it the “Great Resignation.” But America’s quittin’ spirit was just getting started. In July, even more people left their job. In August, quitters set yet another record. That Great Resignation? It just keeps getting greater.

Boardrooms around the world are abuzz with talk of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, augmented reality and automation. The boardrooms at Honeywell are no exception. After all, we’re a technology company. Technology is what we do. The events of the last two years, however, have made it abundantly clear to everyone who works at Honeywell: Innovation is not about bits and bytes; it’s about lives and livelihoods.

“Why is the sky blue?” “Why are we doing things this way?” “Is talent natural or nurtured?”

If you’ve ever asked yourself at least one of these or other similar questions, then you must be at least somewhat curious by nature. And that’s a very good thing.

What does it mean to be curious? We think of curiosity as seeking to understand through questioning. Why is curiosity important? Without curiosity, there would be no innovation. One must challenge the status quo or want to deeply understand why things are the way they are to create something that's new and meaningful.

A few weeks ago, I ran a 50k. Despite its lofty 30.069-mile length, this distance is, in truth, the infant of the ultra-marathon universe. However, for this novice, it was 18 miles longer than any distance I had ever run previously.

While I embarked on this for reasons mostly around challenge and health, the months of training and the race itself led to three unexpected and lasting lessons for my business.

We may be living through the “Great Resignation,” but before drafting your resignation letter, it’s important to take a hard look at whether quitting is the best way to achieve your long-term career goals. Five factors to consider: 1) Do you have a sponsor in place? If so, it may be a worthy gamble to double down, work hard, and let them know how committed you are to the organization’s success. 2) Your company may have unforeseen opportunities. Your colleagues’ departures could mean opportunities for you to take on new responsibilities, build new relationships, and be seen with fresh eyes by management. 3) You’re crushing your goals.

If April 2020 was the month of pink slips—as the rapid spread of COVID-19 resulted in the loss of 20.5 million jobs—then Fall 2021 is the dawn of their revenge.

A record-breaking 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August across an array of industries, according to a report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That’s the highest level since the agency started tracking such data in 2000, and the sixth consecutive month of sky-high quitting rates. Meanwhile, the 7.7 million people who remain unemployed aren’t, for the most part, jumping at the roughly 10.4 million job openings—leaving business after business with ‘Help Wanted’ placards in their windows.

PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), an urban office REIT and the first, longest-tenured and pioneering owner, operator and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, agtech and technology campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, today announced that its executive chairman and founder, Joel S. Marcus, was honored last evening for Distinction in Civic Engagement and Renewal by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum during its Benefit Broadcast commemorating 20 years since 9/11. This prestigious recognition highlights Mr. Marcus's many meaningful contributions to the Memorial & Museum and his unwavering support of its mission to commemorate those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993; educate the public and a new generation about their ongoing global impact; and inspire Americans and people around the world to value courage, public service, hope, empathy and resilience in the face of adversity.

Exits top $582 billion as US VC continues its extraordinary year

In nine months, the US venture capital industry turned 2021 into a year for the record books, leaving 2020's eye-popping numbers far behind.

The Q3 2021 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor depicts how the frenetic pace of dealmaking, exits, and fundraising has easily toppled last year's records, as venture capital's strength continues to support the country's economic recovery.

Image: https://pitchbook.com

Some of America's largest university endowments unveiled eye-popping annual gains in the past week. Duke University reported a 56% return for the fiscal year ended June 30. Washington University in St. Louis generated a 65% gain.

These top-performing endowments can thank alternative assets—in particular, venture capital—for the banner year, which is said to be the best since 1986. But that short-term success could prove to be a double-edged sword.

The climate crisis is the defining issue of our age, and to fight it effectively, we’ll have to redesign our world. That requires money and technological innovation – but it also demands knowledge of local communities, and policymaking. Dawn Lippert works at the intersection of all of those issues.

As a long-time business consultant and investor, especially to entrepreneurs, I recognize your sparkle of vision, to build the ultimate world-changing product. Every one of you sees yourself as the next Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or maybe even Steve Jobs. Yet most of us succumb after a time to the short-term pressures of growing a business, and the long-term vision gets pushed aside.

I recently had a conversation with Ankur Agrawal, a partner in McKinsey & Company’s New York office. Agrawal contributed to the development and analysis of Mastering change: The new CFO mandate released on October 7. We talked about the evolving role of the CFO—which, to boil it down, is going to mean increasingly focusing on tech.

Even if you're not familiar with artificial intelligence (AI), you probably know that it's a hot topic. You might have even seen some of your favorite brands testing out new ways to use AI in their products and services. 

In fact, there is so much interest in AI right now that most major companies have dedicated entire teams to explore how they can incorporate the technology into their business models. At its core, AI aims to make decisions based on data. 

Leaders today are facing a challenge. While they need their employees to get up to speed, feel the competitive hunger to win again, and to rekindle collaboration, they’re facing an odd kind of inertia: Priorities are fuzzy, progress is slow, and social interactions feel somewhat awkward. One senior leadership team described the feeling on her team as “bland with frantic bursts.” So how can leaders help their employees break through the lull? The answer is to set aside “normal” strategies around motivation (goal-setting, incentivizing, tracking the numbers, and pacing for progress with milestones and deadlines) and focus more on managing their team’s energy and understanding the psychological changes their employees have undergone over the past two years.

Researchers from the Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory in Ann Arbor created a new machine learning platform that detects and quantifies radiation-induced defects of parts and testing materials in nuclear reactors.

Using augmented reality (AR) for testing the nuclear components, the researchers say the platform could play a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by speeding up the development of components for advanced nuclear reactors.

Evolution in technology has changed our lives forever. If it weren’t for tech, we would still be struggling with so many things. Thanks to technology, we now have smartphones, high-speed internet, modes of transport, quick means of communication, which are making our daily lives much easier.

Image: https://techengage.com

SCOTLAND’S first offshore wind underwater substation is set to be built to harness the UK’s biggest wind energy development and power millions of homes with renewable energy.

Aker Offshore Wind has set out its plans for the substation as part of its floating wind proposals which could generate up to 6,000MW of energy in the Outer Moray Firth.

If progressed, the vision would be the UK’s biggest wind energy development and power millions of homes with renewable energy.

Image: https://www.heraldscotland.com

This white paper addresses ways governments and communities can work together effectively to ensure that community goals and priorities are reflected in economic development practices. This topic is timely as community groups, businesses, philanthropies, economic developers and governments grapple with economic conditions that have left many residents struggling. This paper helps leaders determine how to adapt their economic development efforts so that more residents prosper.

Medical devices are ubiquitous in US healthcare— everything from the delivery room’s sterile gloves and umbilical cord clamps to the breathtakingly sophisticated neurosurgical operating room’s stereotactic navigation systems. More than ever medical devices are a fusion of hardware, software, and even synthetic living material. These are the physical tools through which new life science discoveries improve our lives.

Successful entrepreneurs are usually hard-driving, and highly focused on some specific goals, like being the dominant player in a given domain, or the low-priced provider of their product. Yet other entrepreneurs will talk for hours about all their ideas, and how they intend to change the world, but I don’t hear any specific goals or milestones.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com