Judy Smith is a crisis manager whose career was the inspiration for the TV show Scandalspecifically its lead character, Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington. For more than 25 years, Smith has advised world leaders and Fortune 500 CEOs. In 1993, she founded Smith & Co., a crisis management firm with offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York, and London. She was involved in the Iran-Contra investigation, advised Monica Lewinsky when the former White House interns relationship with President Bill Clinton became public, and served as an adviser during the COVID-19 outbreak.Fast Company asked Smith to analyze the CrowdStrike outage, which shut down millions of computers and caused thousands of flight cancellations. Smith, who is personable and an easy conversationalist, was bubbling over with suggestions.What did CrowdStrike do well?I think its important to note that the CrowdStrike IT outage was caused by an update glitch, and had nothing to do with bad actors. Companies are rightly focused on hackers, preparing in case they are victimized by a cyberattack. In this case, one of the largest global outages in history was caused by a content error. It shows that companies have to prepare for anything, as part of the frustration from the public is the relatively slow response and recovery.In terms of what they did well: First, they apologized within hours after the incident and accepted responsibility for the damage that that was caused. Second, they confirmed quickly that the actual incident was the result of an outage, not a breach. Sometimes people wait a bit, and what that does is leave a bad empty space for rumors, speculation, and fake news. They were able to position themselves as the experts and authority on the issue: They knew what was going on and heres how they were addressing it. Third, they tried to communicate through several channelsnews, social mediait was such a widespread issue that they were trying to reach everyone, which is good.What could they have improved?Well, a crisis is never going to be received well. However, had they done proper planning, some of this could have been mitigated. They should have had a crisis communication plan in place. That way, the moment this hit they would know how they were going to communicate with various stakeholders through various channels and who is in charge of that. Their first public statement was overly corporatefilled with a lot of jargon. In todays environment, executives need to speak more plainly and address consumers head-on. You also need to give a timeline for recovery. I know this is hard, but not having one leaves people frustrated.Also, they offered a laughable $10 Uber Eats gift certificate as an apology. This caused additional outrage that the organization didnt grasp the magnitude of the situation, and caused more reputational damage. It felt tone-deaf.In addition, they tried to offer support to customers, but it was inadequatecustomers were confused and couldnt find proper lines of communication to get their needs met.What do they need to do going forward?A sincere apology to priority stakeholders goes a long way. Thats when leadership acknowledges the issue, takes responsibility, pledges to evaluate what went wrong, and commits to enhancing systems to avoid this in the future. Empathy matters. Statements filled with legalese are not going to pass the sniff test. Their communication needs to be very genuine as they move forward in the future.Its important to reach out to stakeholders. You want frontline assessments. It shouldnt be a small group talking about what went wrong and how to fix it. You want to find out from people firsthand what went wrong.They should also enlist an independent third party to conduct a review. This demonstrates that they are taking this seriously. When we do this for companies, we speak to the CEO and individually with everyone to get their assessment about what they think went right and what went wrong. We do it individually so people give honest assessments. Then we prepare a report that lays out the findings of the review as well as additional risks the company might face. We always ask: What other risks does the company have that you feel unprepared to meet?Whats the biggest mistake companies make when they are in situations like this?The biggest mistake is they focus on legal too much. Everyone is concerned about legal risk and damage and implications, but you need to weigh those considerations against communicating with stakeholders in a way thats honest and authentic and resonates.In addition, you need to plan for crisis management and then you need to practice the plan. You need to anticipate your biggest risk and lay out who is going to be in charge of the crisis, and the group needs to come together on a regular basis and make sure they are prepared. You dont want to write a plan and then stick it in a drawer. The team that is handling the crisis needs to have a relationship and know how to work together so theres already trust when the crisis hits. Our landscape is changing constantly and you need to be ready.

Strong offshore winds have the potential to supply coastlines with massive, consistent flows of clean electricity. One study estimates offshore wind farms could meet 11 times the projected global electricity demand in 2040.The U.S. East Coast is an ideal location to capture this power, but theres a problem: getting electricity from ocean wind farms to the cities and towns that need it.While everyone wants reliable electricity in their homes and businesses, few support the construction of the transmission lines necessary to get it there. This has always been a problem, both in the U.S. and internationally, but it is becoming an even bigger challenge as countries speed toward net-zero carbon energy systems that will use more electricity.The U.S. Department of Energy and 10 states in the Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission are working on a potentially transformative solution: plans for an offshore electric power grid.At the core of this grid would be backbone transmission lines off the East Coast, from North Carolina to Maine, where dozens of offshore wind projects are already in the pipeline.The plans envision it supporting at least 85 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2050close to the U.S. goal of 110 gigawatts of installed wind power by midcentury, enough to power 40 million homes and up from 0.2 gigawatts today. The Department of Energy and the Northeast States Collaborative formalized their goals in July 2024 through a multistate memorandum of understanding.Emerging research from the Department of Energy, the research company Brattle, and other groups suggests that an offshore electric power grid could mitigate key challenges to building new transmission lines on land and reduce the costs of offshore wind power.Cutting costs would be welcome newsoffshore wind project costs rose as much as 50% from 2021 to 2023. While some of the underlying causes have subsided, such as inflation and global supply chain disruptions, interest rates remain high, and the industry is still trying to find its footing in the U.S.What is an offshore electric power grid?Todays offshore wind projects use a point-to-point, or radial design, where each offshore wind farm is individually connected to the onshore grid.This method works if a region has only a few projects, but it quickly becomes more expensive due to the cabling and other infrastructure. Its lines are also disruptive to communities and marine life. And it requires more costly onshore grid upgrades.Coordinated offshore transmission can avoid many of those costs with what the Department of Energy calls meshed or backbone designs.Rather than individual connections to land, many offshore wind farms would be connected to a shared transmission line, which would connect to the onshore grid through strategically placed points of interconnection. This way, electricity produced by an offshore wind farm would be transmitted to where it is most needed, up and down the East Coast.Even better, electricity generated onshore could also be transmitted through these shared lines to move energy to where it is needed. This could improve the resilience of power grids and reduce the need for new transmission lines over land, which have been notoriously difficult to gain approval for, especially on the East Coast.Coordinated offshore transmission was part of early U.S. discussions on offshore wind planning and development. In the late 2000s when Google and partners first proposed the Atlantic Wind Connection, an offshore transmission project, the benefits in both offshore renewables and the entire energy system were intriguing. At the time, the U.S. had just one utility-scale offshore wind project in the pipeline, and it ultimately failed.Today, the U.S. has 53 gigawatts of offshore wind projects being planned or developed. As energy researchers, we believe coordinated offshore transmission is important for the industry to succeed at scale.Offshore grid could save money, reduce impactsBy enabling power from offshore wind farms and onshore electricity generators to travel to more places, coordinated transmission can enhance grid reliability and enable electricity to get to where it is most needed. This reduces the need for more expensive and often more polluting power plants.A 2024 report from the National Renewable Energy Lab found the benefits of a coordinated design are nearly three times higher than the costs when compared with a standard point-to-point design.Studies from Europe, the U.K., and Brattle have pointed to additional benefits, including reducing planet-warming carbon emissions, cutting the number of beach crossings by a third and reducing the miles of transmission cables needed by 35% to 60%.In the U.S., offshore transmission lines would be almost entirely in federal waters, potentially avoiding many of the conflicts associated with onshore projects, though it would still face challenges.Challenges and next stepsBuilding an offshore grid will require some important changes.First is changing government incentives. The federal investment tax credit for offshore wind, which covers at least 30% of the upfront capital cost of a project, does not currently help pay for coordinated transmission designs.Second, planning needs to take everyones concerns into account from the beginning. While the overall benefits of coordinated transmission designs outweigh overall costs, who receives the benefits and who bears the costs matters. For example, more expensive power generators could earn less, and some communities feel threatened by offshore development.Third, greater coordination will be needed among everyone involved to dispatch power to and from the regional grids. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions recent Order 1920, requiring power providers to plan for future needs, may serve as a blueprint, but it does not apply to interregional projects, such as an offshore transmission backbone connecting more than a dozen states across three regions.The U.S. reached an important milestone in March 2024 with the completion of South Fork Wind, the countrys first utility-scale wind farm, bringing U.S. offshore wind power capacity to nearly 200 megawatts. Eight more projects are under construction or approved for construction. Once built, they would bring installed capacity to over 13 gigawatts, roughly the same as three dozen coal-fired power plants.An offshore transmission backbone could support offshore wind development and the East Coasts energy needs for generations to come.Tyler Hansen is a research associate in environmental studies at Dartmouth College.Abraham Silverman is a research scholar at the Ralph OConnor Sustainable Energy Institute at Johns Hopkins University.Elizabeth J. Wilson is a professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College.Erin Baker is a professor of industrial engineering applied to energy policy at UMass Amherst.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

In life, work, and leadership succession, things rarely go to plan, and the ability to pivot during transitions differentiates those who capitalize on the moment from those who falter and retreat. Regardless of your political stance or personal feelings about President Bidens decision to end his reelection campaign, these events are reminders of the vital importance of building resilience and discipline into your succession plans. Done poorly, leadership transitions seed fear and distraction; done well, they infuse fresh thinking, optimism, and energy into an organization (or a country).Acknowledge the human elementThe complex and emotional decision-making of the past few weeks no doubt took a significant toll on President Biden and his family. One of the great dilemmas of leadership is the need to display enough confidence and certainty to galvanize a wide range of stakeholders while possessing sufficient humility to pivot and adapt. Nowhere is this dilemma more present than in a leaders self-assessment of when its time to step away. Ive seen powerful and fearless leaders grapple on a deeply vulnerable level with the need to confront their own limitations and acknowledge when its time to move on.When succession plans attend only to process and ignore the human dynamics, they eventually derail as unaddressed issues emerge. By contrast, when a leader is prepared, they can be fully engaged and objective in making the best decision for the future.Make it a collective decisionWith all the emotional and strategic complexity involved in transitions, its impossible to do it well alone. By all accounts, the weeks leading up to President Bidens decision were filled with family retreats and closed-door sessions with trusted advisers. Boards of directors and chosen advisers are responsible for addressing the hard questions around an executives transition and driving an ongoing dialogue around timingnot at the moment of crisis but in an ongoing cadence.In my work with first-time CEOs, one of the most frequent early observations they make is how isolating the role can be. Those around them are increasingly aligned and supportive and those outside have rare and limited access. For a group of advisers to be effective, they must possess and be given the authority and freedom to speak honestly and challenge assumptions.As President Biden grappled with one of the most difficult decisions of his career, how many of those around him were telling him what he wanted to hear, and how many were saying what he needed to hear? To ask and answer the toughest questions around succession and timing, a leader must resist the tide of consensus, encourage dissent, and seek out opinions that disrupt and reshape their thinking.Root in context and optionalityDetermining the right time for transition is not just about the leader and their general fitness for duty; its also determined by the broader context and the demands it creates. Much like the notion of wartime and peacetime presidents, companies have discreet chapters that call for distinct leadership.Its critical to look beyond the person to determine what the situation requires before assessing if a leader continues to be the right one for the moment. Many who weighed in on a second Biden term focused on what he achieved in his first. The better question might have been, what needs to be achieved to win and deliver a second term, and who is the best person for the moment?The strongest succession plans depend not on a sole anointed candidate or a fixed timeline but rather on a range of options that are dynamically tracked, developed, and evaluated. With this approach, as the time of transition nears, leaders can embrace their exits with the confidence that a viable plan is in place.Instill organizational confidence in the next leadersVice President Harriss rapid amassing of support was undoubtedly initiated by the presidents firmly expressed backing. One of the most critical roles a leader plays in their own transition is the unwavering advocacy for their successor. Humans and organizations alike thrive in predictability and certainty and wither in chaos.A leaders ability to step aside, suspend their own ego, and give space to their successor signals to the organization that there is little to fear and reason to be hopeful. The smoothest CEO successions Ive experienced have all been characterized by thoughtful planning, balanced timing, and disciplined communication, leaving little space for confusion and fracturing.Major life transitions are always challenging. Ones that impact thousands if not millions of people are infinitely more so. Doing succession well requires acknowledging that its both a very structured and a very human process. With no right answers or simple solutions, the best approaches navigate the delicate balance with discipline, humanity, and optionality.

If youre excited to get your hands on Apples new generative AI platform, known as Apple Intelligence, I have some good news and some bad news for you. First, the bad news: Apple Intelligence, the flagship feature of the iPhones upcoming iOS 18 software update, will now reportedly not be immediately available when iOS 18.0 launches in September. The company has said merely that it will come out sometime in the fall.Now the good news: You dont have to wait. You can try it out today. Heres how:Apple Intelligence delayedBack in June, Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence, its long-awaited entry into the generative AI space. Apple Intelligence bakes in generative AI features across the iPhones iOS 18 operating system. These features include an AI-powered Siri, generative text capabilities, generative art (and emoji) creation, and ChatGPT integration.The news pleased Wall Street and Apple fans alike, the former seeing Apple Intelligencewhich is limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and upcoming iPhone 16 modelsas the driver for an iPhone upgrade supercycle this fall, and the latter just excited to get their hands on Apples first dedicated AI tools.But theyre going to have to wait a little longer. Thats because Apple has decided to delay the rollout of Apple Intelligence from iOS 18.0 (available in September) to iOS 18.1 (likely not available till October). According to a Bloomberg report, delays are being made to give the company more time to fix bugs.But this doesnt mean you need to wait until October to use the iPhones new AI tools. In fact, you can start now.How to get Apple intelligence on your iPhone todayThis week, Apple took the unusual step of releasing a second version of the iOS 18 developer beta to members of its Apple Developer Program. The primary iOS 18 developer beta was released in early June, and it covers the iOS 18.0 build of the iPhones upcoming operating systemthe one still scheduled to launch in September.But now Apple has also released a separate iOS 18 developer beta, which is the iOS 18.1 version of the softwarethe build that will include Apple Intelligence and ship to all users in October.If you are a member of the Apple Developer Program, or want to enroll for membership, you can get that iOS 18.1 beta on your iPhone today, granting you access to Apple Intelligence features that the general public now wont gain access to until October.But in addition to being an Apple Developer Program member, if you want get access to to the iOS 18.1 beta with Apple Intelligence, youll also need to have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max. This is because Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro to run (all iPhone 16 models will support Apple Intelligence when they are released this fall).Once you are an Apple Developer Program member, you can download the iOS 18.1 beta with Apple Intelligence onto your iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max immediately.Should I download the iOS 18.1 beta?If you arent an actual developer, its best to avoid the iOS 18.1 beta for now. This is because betas are notoriously buggy, and those bugs can have disastrous consequences for the data on your iPhone.Developer betas are designed for those who have the technical knowledge to help troubleshoot problems that may arise from using beta software. Non-developers typically lack such skills, making using developer betas a riskier proposition.Plus, its likely that in August Apple will release a public beta of iOS 18.1 to ordinary users who have signed up for its public beta program. Public betas are usually more stable, making them less risky to use. If youre a non-developer its just better to hold off until Apple releases this public beta.Besides, its not like the iOS 18.1 developer beta has all the features of Apple Intelligence included. As MacRumors notes, many of the coolest features of Apple Intelligence are nowhere to be found in the current iOS 18.1 developer beta. Missing features include flagship tools like the revamped Siri, generative art tools, generative emoji, and ChatGPT integration.But even if you decide to hold off on installing the iOS 18.1 beta, you wont have to wait long. Itll only be a few more months until Apple Intelligence rolls out for anyone with the right iPhone to use.

Tucked within the expansive Native American halls of the American Museum of Natural History is a diminutive wooden doll that holds a sacred place among the tribes whose territories once included Manhattan.For more than six months now, the ceremonial Ohtas, or Doll Being, has been hidden from view after the museum and others nationally took dramatic steps to board up or paper over exhibits in response to new federal rules requiring institutions to return sacred or culturally significant items to tribesor at least to obtain consent to display or study them.Museum officials are reviewing more than 1,800 items as they work to comply with the requirements while also eyeing a broader overhaul of the more than half-century-old exhibits.But some tribal leaders remain skeptical, saying museums have not acted swiftly enough. The new rules, after all, were prompted by years of complaints from tribes that hundreds of thousands of items that should have been returned under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 still remain in museum custody.If things move slowly, then address that, said Joe Baker, a Manhattan resident and member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, descendants of the Lenape peoples European traders encountered more than 400 years ago. The collections, theyre part of our story, part of our family. We need them home. We need them close.Sean Decatur, the New York museums president, promised tribes will hear from officials soon. He said staff these past few months have been reexamining the displayed objects in order to begin contacting tribal communities.Museum officials envision a total overhaul of the closed Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains hallsakin to the five-year, $19 million renovation of its Northwest Coast Hall, completed in 2022 in close collaboration with tribes, Decatur added.The ultimate aim is to make sure were getting the stories right, he said.Discussions with tribal representatives over the Ohtas began in 2021 and will continue, museum officials said, even though the doll does actually not fall under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act because it is associated with a tribe outside the U.S., the Munsee-Delaware Nation in Ontario, Canada.The museum also plans to open a small exhibit in the fall incorporating Native American voices and explaining the history of the closed halls, why changes are being made and what the future holds, he said.Lance Gumbs, vice chairman of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe in New Yorks Hamptons, said he worries about the loss of representation of local tribes in public institutions, with exhibit closures likely stretching into years.The American Museum of Natural History, he noted, is one of New Yorks major tourism draws and also a mainstay for generations of area students learning about the regions tribes.He suggests museums use replicas made by Native peoples so that sensitive cultural items arent physically on display.I dont think tribes want to have our history written out of museums, Gumbs said. Theres got to be a better way than using artifacts that literally were stolen out of gravesites.Gordon Yellowman, who heads the department of language and culture for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, said museums should look to create more digital and virtual exhibits.He said the tribes, in Oklahoma, will be seeking from the New York museum a sketchbook by the Cheyenne warrior Little Finger Nail that contains his drawings and illustrations from battle.The book, which is in storage and not on display, was plucked from his body after he and other tribe members were killed by U.S. soldiers in Nebraska in 1879.These drawings werent just made because they were beautiful, Yellowman said. They were made to show the actual history of the Cheyenne and Arapaho people.Institutions elsewhere are taking other approaches.In Chicago, the Field Museum has established a Center for Repatriation after covering up several cases in its halls dedicated to ancient America and the peoples of the coastal Northwest and Arctic.The museum has completed four repatriations to tribes involving around 40 items over the past six months, with at least three more repatriations pending involving additional items. Those repatriations were through efforts that were underway before the new regulations, according to Field Museum spokesperson Bridgette Russell.At the Cleveland Museum in Ohio, a case displaying artifacts from the Tlingit people in Alaska has been reopened after their leadership gave consent, according to Todd Mesek, the museums spokesperson. But two other displays remain covered up, with one containing funerary objects from the ancient Southwest to be redone with a different topic and materials.And at Harvard, the Peabody Museums North American Indian hall reopened in February after about 15% of its roughly 350 items were removed from displays, university spokesperson Nicole Rura said.Chuck Hoskin, chief of the Cherokee Nation, said he believes many institutions now understand they can no longer treat Indigenous items as museum curiosities from peoples that no longer exist.The leader of the tribe in Oklahoma said he visited the Peabody this year after the university reached out about returning hair clippings collected in the early 1930s from hundreds of Indigenous children, including Cherokees, forced to assimilate in the notorious Indian boarding schools.The fact that were in a position to sit down with Harvard and have a really meaningful conversation, thats progress for the country, he said.As for Baker, he wants the Ohtas returned to its tribe. He said the ceremonial doll should never have been on display, especially arranged as it was among wooden bowls, spoons, and other everyday items.It has a spirit. Its a living being, Baker said. So if you think about it being hung on a wall all these years in a static case, suffocating for lack of air, its just horrific, really.By Philip Marcelo, Associated Press

Artist David Franklin was sitting on a tree stump in rural Washington state when he answered a phone call that would change his life.In the early 2010s, Franklin was having difficulty finding creative work, and had taken a position as a timber cruiser, taking measurements in remote groves of trees for a forestry company. He had also applied for a role in a factory. But it wasnt an ordinary manufacturing job. It was a specialized residency program that places a dozen artists each year in the Kohler Companys Wisconsin manufacturing facilities, where they create art with the same ceramic or metal foundry equipment factory workers use to make plumbing fixtures.While out at the forest worksite, Franklin found a spot with cellphone reception and a stump to sit on for a phone interview that helped win him a seat in the program. Like other artists whove gone through the residency, he found the experience to be life-changing, exposing him to new tools and practices beyond the woodcarving techniques he was most familiar with. It also opened the door for years of public art commissions, says Franklin, who will soon have a major piece displayed at Chicagos Shedd Aquarium.David Franklin, 2015 [Photo: John Michael Kohler Arts Center/ Kohler Co.]It was just really cool, he says. I love working and making things with my hands, and then I was in this atmosphere of this bigger art world that Id never really experienced before, and that was incredible.The residency, known as the Arts/Industry program, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Its a collaboration between the family-controlled Kohler Company and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center museum in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, that today gives artists three months of unique access to industrial equipment, materials, technical assistance, housing, and a small stipend. It also provides inspiration and ideas to Kohlers artisans and designers, influencing the look of some Kohler plumbing fixtures like the companys Artist Editions line.Even as art residencies have become more prevalent, Kohlers residency is still an unusual opportunity. So much so, that one recent application cycle attracted more than 600 applicants for 12 annual slotssix in the foundry, six in the potterymaking it essentially as selective as an Ivy League university.Kohlers residency is hands down one of the most unique residencies in the world, says artist Beth Lipman, whos participated in both the pottery and foundry residency and served as program coordinator for about five years. There is not [another] consistent, long-term residency that anyone can apply to go work in a factory to create art in this way.Mark Cowardin, 2002 [Photo: John Michael Kohler Arts Center/ Kohler Co.]A factory comes to lifeThe program got its start after a 1973 contemporary ceramics exhibition at the Arts Center titled The Plastic Earth. At the time, says Arts Center Executive Director Amy Horst, the creative world rather sharply delineated between craft work and the fine arts. But Ruth DeYoung Kohler II, who then led the Arts Center, brought artists with work in the show to tour Kohlers industrial pottery facility, where they were enthralled by the ceramic work being done. She soon invited artists Jack Earl and Tom Ladousa to spend a month doing ceramic work in the factory, then expanded to the formal residency program with help from her brother Herbert V. Kohler Jr., who then headed the Kohler Company.He said, Ruthie, Ive got the factory, youve got the artists, lets see if this will work, says Laura Kohler, the companys chief sustainable living officer and Herbert Kohlers daughter.At the time, most artists hadnt spent much time in factories, and many Kohler factory workers hadnt had much exposure to the art world. But artists were quickly impressed by the workers levels of craftsmanship and deep expertise, and factory employees appreciated artists willingness to work long days to master new techniques and get as much done as possible in their limited time on site. The mutual respect that was formed and the energy that was created between them was really what solidified the program for 50 years, says Horst.Franklin, for example, found himself bonding with factory associates over a project turning wood carvings into molds for schools of ceramic fish, a natural conversation starter in a workplace just a few minutes drive from Lake Michigan. The fish thing just resonated with people, he says. The fishing culture around the Great Lakes is huge.Jack Earl, 1974 [Photo: John Michael Kohler Arts Center/ Kohler Co.]A hard hat residencyThe residency doesnt require that applicants have experience in ceramics or metalworking, and many artists have backgrounds in other disciplines. That can make for a steep but rewarding learning curve as artists don hard hats and safety glasses and learn to use new equipment to produce work on an industrial scale. Residents are expected to leave one piece with the Kohler Company and one with the Arts Center, but the two works can end up being just a small fraction of what they create. Everyone is seduced by the opportunity to make an incredible amount of objects, so even non-object makers quickly become object makers within that space, says Horst.Both the pottery and the foundry have a technician dedicated to assisting the artists, and factory workers often weigh in with tips and troubleshooting advice about, say, making molds, but artists are generally expected to rapidly adjust to the heat, noise, physical labor, and safety protocols inherent in factory work.It can be hard physically, but its very rewarding, says conceptual artist Edra Soto, currently doing a second residency in the pottery studio. Being removed from my daily life in a studio with technical support is like a dream come true for an artist like me.[Photo: Courtesy Edra Soto]Soto, a Puerto Rico-born artist now based in Chicago, has used the space for a variety of projects. One transforms cleaned up cognac bottles found in her neighborhood into works of art. Others include colorful ceramic theater masks and tiles decorated with colors inspired by Puerto Rican architecture. Its three months, but it goes really fast, so one thing that I was very mindful about was to just select a few projects that I could focus on and then expand on, she says.Other artists have found ways to work with forms already produced by the Kohler factory. Willie Cole, a New Jersey artist who held a pottery residency in 2000 and now has an exhibition at the Arts Center, says at the time he had been working heavily with found objects, so some of his work at the Kohler plant included animal sculptures made from ceramic bits and hardware culled from imperfectly formed fixtures that would have otherwise been discarded. I like to create spontaneously, so I had all these pieces laid on the table, but it wasnt what I was working on most of the day, he says. It was something I would walk by each day, and then move a little piece around like a jigsaw puzzle.Once theyve experienced whats available, artists sometimes return for second residencies to expand on their work or try new techniques. During a foundry residency several years after her time working for the museum, Lipman created a series of cast metal works titled Distill, made from cardboard dioramas holding miniature furniture and ancient flora like lichen and ferns. She credits her time working for the residency program with giving her the knowledge to take the project as far as she did, like adding chrome, enamel, and a rust patina to the works.I witnessed countless foundry residents going through, she says. I was able to kind of assimilate the information as if I had had that residency, but it was just from witnessing their process a little bit.Beth Lipmans Wild Madder washroom installation at the Art Preserve, 2021 [Photo: John Michael Kohler Arts Center/ Kohler Co.]Art as a corporate imperativeThe Kohler institutions have generally blurred the lines between art and industrial design. Artists, including past residents, designed stunning public restrooms for the Arts Centers main building and its Art Preserve, which archives and showcases spaces like artists homes and workspaces. The washroomsthe museums preferred termare themselves works of art that can be almost intimidating to use for their intended purpose, including one designed by Lipman tiled with ceramic replicas of local flora specimens from the University of Wisconsin. And an installation based on the Kohler factory studios, on display at the Arts Center as part of the 50th anniversary celebration, feels like a cousin to the artist spaces showcased at the Preserve.Work produced at the Kohler residency is routinely exhibited at the companys showrooms around the world and, for pieces that can withstand the weather, along an outdoor art walk near company headquarters. The company bought one of Franklins fish pieces and displayed it at its Kohler Experience Center in West Hollywood, helping win the artist additional commissions from remodeling homeowners impressed with his style, he says.Our philosophy with Arts/Industry is to show the work, says Laura Kohler. Not store the work, but to get it out and let people experience it.Over the years, art rooted in plumbing materials has had its influence on Kohlers own designs. The Artist Editions line emerged in 1981 after pottery resident artist Jan Axel developed a sink design that caught the eye of the Kohlers. We liked it so much, we wanted to make it commercially, says Laura Kohler. I think my father probably saw it and said, I want to see if I can make that at scale.Jan Axels Kohler Serpentine [Photo: John Michael Kohler Arts Center/ Kohler Co.]Artists have over the years continued to put Kohler manufacturing technology to new uses. After artists recently inquired about a 3D printer in use at the factory, the company purchased a second one for their use. Soto recently harnessed it to help produce scaled up versions of her masks. A new MakerSpace program brings in artists by special invitationthats where Franklin created his new work for the Shedd, along with a new set of fish for Miamis Kohler Experience Center, and artist Patty Chang will soon be working there on a piece that will be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Some artists have recently worked with material from Kohlers WasteLAB, where the company has in recent years devised ways to harness scrap that would otherwise go to landfills. And to finish some of his fish, Franklin and some of the factory staff experimented with physical vapor deposition (PVD), a technique that had previously only been used at the factory for applying glossy finishes to metal fixtures like faucets, rather than ceramics.It turned into a beautiful glosssome of them are gold, some of them are rainbow, says Laura Kohler. Thats the kind of discovery that happens with this collaboration.

Here at Ellevest, were thinking a lot about what the Feminization of Wealth can mean. And, honestly, its pretty great stuff.What is the Feminization of Wealth, you may be asking?Its a term we coined to describe a world in which women have more money. And this world isnt just a daydream. Its a world well likely usher in because of pretty powerful mega-trends in motion right now.One of these mega-trends is theGreat Wealth Transfer, which weve researched and written about in our2024 Women and Wealth Survey. To TL;DR this historic event, its the name given to the next 20 or so years when women will increasingly inherit money (directly from boomer men who will leave their wealth to their wiveswho live longer than they doand then to their kids).But its also bigger than that. Another mega-trend leading to the Feminization of Wealth is that women are increasing their earning power. This can happen as a natural result of women now making up themajority of collegeandpostgrad graduates(setting them up to earn more money) and with womenstarting more businesses(ditto). It can happen as theincreased diversity of boardsmay be driving a tipping point in women CEOs at big companies.The Feminization of Wealth can also be an outcome of womengetting married laterand so maintaining control over their money. Or womenmaintaining control over their moneyeven after they get married. It can also be an outcome of more single womenbuying homes, and of more and morewomen investing, both of which can help her build her wealth. (Love this last one particularly.)And what is a key characteristic of a woman who is building her wealth?Confidence.(Thats not our opinion. Thats whatour researchtells us.)And what does a confident woman do?She leaves a bad marriage. And then she builds a better life for herself and her children, on her own terms.She quits the dead-end job that fills her with dread every Sunday night. You know, the one where shesforced to return to the officeor lose out on a promotion. And she goes to work instead at a modern company that understands thatflexibility at work is an advantage. And thatdiversity drives better performance.She spends more money on her kids: coding courses, dance lessons, sports equipment, and field trip spending money. And she may help financially support other family members while beginning tobuild generational wealth.Shebuys the f***ing latteor goes to the Beyonc concert with her friends or takes the trip to Europe (complete with souvenirs)without the wholeguilt-driven, shame-centered internal monologue about over-spending.She donates to nonprofits that align with her values. Like fighting climate change. Like supporting other women and girls. And, in doing so,she doesnt insistthat her name is plastered all over their headquarters or that they have a big gala for her.She donates to political candidates who support legislation that supports her and her family, like paid family leave and a stronger social safety net.She invests tomake a positive impactdirecting money into the hands of companies committed to addressingissues disproportionately affecting women. Its a money move that can strengthen ourcommunities, oureconomy, and ourclimate, all while driving financial returns.We know we say it all the time, but for those in the back:Nothing bad happens when women have more money.This is a worlddriven by the Feminization of Wealththat were set on seeing soon.This article originally appeared in Ellevest and is reprinted with permission.

Matt Beane is an assistant professor in the technology management department at UC Santa Barbara and a digital fellow with Stanfords Digital Economy Lab. His research focuses on building skills in a world filled with intelligent technologies, often necessitating field work investigating robots and AI in the workplace. He has been published inAdministrative Science QuarterlyandHarvard Business Reviewand has spoken on the TED stage. Matt also helped found and fund Humatics, an MIT-connected, full-stack IoT startup.Below, Beane shares five key insights from his new book,The Skill Code: How to Save Human Ability in an Age of Intelligent Machines.Listen to the audio versionread by Beane himselfin the Next Big Idea App.1. The 160,000-year-old school hidden in plain sightConsider Athens, 507 BC. Twelve-year-old Menelaos begins his second year as apprentice to Stephanos, the master sculptor. Today, he walks to the carpenters workshop for lumber. Then to the brass smith for pins and braces. He brings it all back and keeps it organized as the senior boys finish the scaffolding for a new piece. All day, he hauls blocks of marble around the workshop, directed by the senior boys, who take their cues from Stephanos. As the sun goes down, hes cleaning up after everyone.Throughout, hes been watching. Noticing the marble scraps and bent tools. Listening as they told stories and talked technique. Asking a question or two while he did his work. Next year, if he works hard, hell be splitting the marble, keeping tools organized and sharp, and learning about the next tasks up the apprenticeship chainroughing out blocks, negotiating for supplies, talking to customers. Six years later, hell be carving his first solo work on the citys outskirts, with apprentices looking up to him. And six years later, he will be carving his first solo work in his own studio on the outskirts of the city, with new apprentices looking up to him. This is all likely true, by the way: We have one of his masterworks, a marble statue of Orestes and Electra, signed Menelaos, the pupil of Stephanos.When it comes to skillability we can rely on under pressurethis expert-novice bond has been the foundation of skill development for millennia. In fact, the archaeological evidence is pretty clear that its been in place just about as long as weve had language: about 160,000 years.2. The skill codeOver the last 12 years of my research, Ive found the hidden code that makes the expert-novice relationship so powerful. When I say code, Im talking about something like the DNA of how we learn our most valuable skills. That working relationship between experts and novices is a bundle of three Cs humans need to develop mastery:challenge,complexity, andconnection. Work near your limits, engage with the bigger picture, and build bonds of trust and respect. Like the four amino acids are to genetics, the three Cs are the basic building blocks of learning valuable skills. Look back, and you will find them embedded in Menelaoss story. Youll find them in your own journey to mastery and in how youve helped others build mastery.Just asknowingthe building blocks was only the beginning in genetics, so it is just the beginning with skill. Challenge, complexity, and connection must occur in certain healthy, sometimes counterintuitive, ways to produce reliable skill. Sometimes, these follow specific sequences that were used tothat map with our beliefs of how skill development happens. But our world is changing. New sequences are emerging, others are dying off, and one size doesnt fit every person, occupation, or organization. Knowing this skill code empowers us not just to re-create the 160,000-year-old school, but to identify and preserve healthy skill building in any form it might take in this dizzying, modern world.3. Were breaking the best school weve gotIf we dont put knowledge of the skill code to use right now, our species is in deep trouble; were handling intelligent technologies in ways that subtly degrade human ability.In millions of workplaces, were blocking the ability to master new skills because we are separating junior workers from senior workers (novices from experts) by inserting technology between them. In a grail-like quest to optimize productivity, we are disrupting the components of the skill code, taking for granted the necessary bundling of challenge, complexity, and connection that could help us build the skill we need to workwithintelligent machines.Lets visit Kristen in the OR to see how this is playing out. Six months after her open surgical rotation, she wheels a prostate patient into the operating room where a four-armed, thousand-pound robot is waiting. The attending surgeon attaches the robot to the patient. Then they both rip off their scrubs and head to control consoles 15 feet away to do the whole operation remotely.Kirsten justwatchesas her attending manipulates the robots arms, retracting and dissecting tissue. Just like many intelligent technologies, the robot allows him to do the work himself, so he basically does. He knows Kristen needs practice; he wants to give her control. But he also knows she would be slower and make more mistakes. So, she barely gets to try. No chance shes a better surgeon after this procedure. I have top-quality data on this problem from all sectors of the global economy, and the same goes for hundreds of millions of us around the world. This is a multitrillion-dollar problem.4. Learning from the shadowsThe Skill Codeis not a sky is falling book. I bring good news from the front lines. Ive gone to great lengths to find people who are defying the odds and getting good results. Faced with the erosion of the expert-novice bond, some people are finding a new way that the rest of us and our organizations can learn from.Take Beth, another surgical resident whoon paperwas in the same spot Kristen was in. They were in the same top hospital. She came from a similar medical school with similar courses. She had the same attending surgeon, similar patients, and the same formal training in robotic surgery. But right away, I could tell Beth didnt feel frustrated, bored, or shut out of the learning process like Kristen did. Thats because she wasnt; every time she came into the OR, the attending let her operate between 10 and 50 times as long as Kristen. Where Kristen looked like a baby foal learning to walk, Beth was good.Beth was a bit of a rebel, but one with a cause: skill. The approved way to learn robotic surgery didnt work. People like Beth intuitively find rule-bending ways to build skill anyway. In her case, this means watching tons of surgery on YouTube and operating on patients with limited or no supervision. . . . Cringing yet? I called this shadow learning for a reason.But at a high level, shadow learning gets results for workers who could be shamed or fired for it. Ithasto work to be worth the risk. Their tacticsand the skill code that underwrites themare crucial for the road ahead.5. Reworking the skill codeWe need to go much further than simply retrenching to protect the skill code. Intelligent technologies canand in many places, mustbe part of the skill solution. You may be tempted to conclude were living in a John Henry moment, where its techno-productivity versus human ability. However, my findings show that we can transcend this dilemma: in many cases, we can get new, breathtaking results by augmenting the skill code with intelligent technologies.Technologyitselfis not causing any of the problems were experiencing with skill.Werethe ones striking a deal with our increasingly intelligent tools:offer us techno-enhanced productivity, and well sacrifice the expert-novice bond.We must realize that such a deal is optional.To supercharge skill development to levels yet unseen in the history of our species, we need a new, always-on, accessible, globe-scale infrastructure for ensuring healthy challenge, complexity, and connection. Humans alone arent capable of something so complex. We need the best of human and nonhuman intelligences to make that vision manifest.Right now, we could have systems that coach us toward more productive outcomes. For instance, turning to ChatGPT for help with a persuasive email. We might write the first prompt, and the system would reply, Ive got to ask you a couple of questions to make sure this gets you the sale. And by the way, do you want to get better at this by the time the emails done or get an intro to an expert on this? That would only take a few extra minutes. No human in the loop. Just an AI-enabled engine with two objectives: get the user the desired results and nudge them toward more skill.Thoreau wrote, Love must be a light, as much as it is a flame. I know we both love humanity, and I hope these insights shed light on how to save human ability in the age of intelligent machines and also light a flame for you to get out there and do something about it.This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.

Rising temperatures due to climate change are causing more than just uncomfortably hot days across the United States. These high temperatures are placing serious stress on critical infrastructure such as water supplies, airports, roads, and bridges.One category of critical infrastructure being severely affected is the nations K-12 schools.Ideally, the nations more than 90,000 public K-12 schools, which serve more than 50 million students, should protect children from the sometimes dangerous elements of the outdoors such as severe storms or extreme temperatures.But since so many of Americas schools are old and dilapidated, its the school buildings themselves that need protectionor at least to be updated for the 21st century.Some 28% of the nations public schools were built from 1950 through 1969, federal data shows, while just 10% were built in 1985 or later.As a researcher who studies the impact of climate change, I have measured its effects on infrastructure and health for over a decade. During that time, Ive seen little attention focused on the effects of climate change on public schools.Since 2019, climate scientist Sverre LeRoy, at the Center for Climate Integrity, and I have worked to determine whether the nations schools are prepared for the heat waves on the approaching horizon.Comparing the climate conditions under which U.S. schools were built with the projected conditions over the next two decades, we looked at the vulnerability of all K-12 schools to increasing temperatures. We determined whether or not current schools have air-conditioning or whether they would be required to add air-conditioning in the future.The results of our study, Hotter Days, Higher Costs: The Cooling Crisis in Americas Classrooms, show that by 2025, more than 13,700 schools will need to install air-conditioning, and another 13,500 will need to upgrade their existing systems.Hot classroomsResearch has shown that high classroom temperatures can make it harder to learn. Hot school days cause difficulty in concentrating, sleepiness, a decrease in energy and even reduced memory capacity.Local school districts have policies for extreme heat events. However, rising temperatures mean these guidelines are no longer limited to rare occurrences.Over the past several years, schools across the U.S. are increasingly forced to take heat days, cutting school days short because of classrooms that are too hot for students to learn effectively.This is happening in places that range from Denver to Baltimore to Cleveland.Compounding the increase in temperatures is the national trend that seasonal temperatures are rising in both the spring and the fall. For example, Rhode Island and New Jersey have seen average spring and fall temperatures rise more than 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.7 Celsius). Rather than high temperatures occurring only when students are on summer break, these heat events now occur regularly during the school year too. Students today in a greater number of cities are beginning and ending the school year in classrooms that often exceed 80 degrees.Expensive upgradesThe problem of more hot days is due to average temperatures increasing over the past 40 years. The number of days with high temperatures has risen across the country, with notable increases in large northern cities. For example, Chicago has seen the number of days with 80-plus-degree temperatures during the school year increase from 27 in 1970 to 32 in 2020 and a projected 38 by 2025. These increases affect schools in two distinct ways.Schools in the traditionally cooler northespecially older schoolswill need to be retrofitted with new air-conditioning systems at an accumulated cost of $40 billion by 2025. For schools in the traditionally warmer South and West, many existing systems will need to be upgraded at a projected cost exceeding $400 million.Temperature increases are especially costly in large cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where existing efforts and continued needs will result in outlays exceeding $500 million, $1.5 billion, and $600 million, respectively. These large districts have a greater number of older buildings that require upgrades in electrical and structural systems to support new air conditioning systems.For all schoolseven ones that dont require system upgradesthe additional costs of operating air-conditioning systems to meet the new demands will exceed $1.4 billion per year.An equity issueSince school districts are dependent on local taxes or bond measures to finance the school system, districts in affluent areas have a greater opportunity to obtain funds through tax increases or voter-approved bond measures.In contrast, districts located in less affluent countiesincluding Bell County, Kentucky; Scott County, Tennessee; and DeKalb County, Alabamaface the challenge of creating safe learning environments without a financial safety net. With household incomes for the entire district in the bottom 20% of national averages, or less than $43,000 per year, these districts are unable to absorb significant tax increases.In this regard, classroom environments become an equity issue. While the increase in temperature may affect all children, the relative impact of the increase and the ability to adapt is not equal.Unsustainable solutionsIncreasingly, school districts are turning to individual window units to address classroom overheating. However, window units do not cool interior offices, cannot circulate and exchange air within the classrooms, and will not meet expected life spans due to extensive use. Furthermore, they create uneven cooling patterns and classroom disturbance due to noise. While these solutions are popular from an initial budget perspective, they ultimately fail to solve the hot classroom crisis.Where mechanical systems are not an option due to budgetary constraints, school districts are looking at altering the school year to start later or end earlier. However, there are limits to this approach because there are minimum requirements for the number of days that are in the school year. Some schools are even experimenting with remote learning as a response when extreme temperatures are an issue.The bottom line for schools and their surrounding communities is that rising temperatures from climate change are a growing threat to school infrastructure. Schools will need additional funding to install or upgrade air-conditioning systems, pay for increased energy usage, or redesign school buildings to enhance natural cooling. Various cities and states argue that fossil fuel companies have a duty to pay these infrastructure costs associated with climate change.The only other choice is for Americas students to continue to endure classrooms where its simply too hot to learn.Paul Chinowsky is a professor of environmental design at the University of Colorado Boulder.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.