Envy Rob Katz. Not because, as a junior partner at private-equity firm Apollo Advisors in 1991, he was elected to his first board of directors seat before his 25th birthday. And not because, after a decade doing billions of dollars in deals for his first boss, the legendary financier Leon Black, Katz all but retired at age 36. He left New York City with his wife and two young sons soon after 9/11 and bought a big house in Boulder, Colo., where he spent much of the next four years indulging his passion for cycling.
Change or Die: How often have employees heard that mantra from their boss? But in the book of the same name, Fast Company senior writer Alan Deutschman explores how difficult change is even for those facing likely death, such as criminals and heart disease patients. Remarkably, he finds that the odds—including for those facing the real choice and not just hyperbolic cheering from the corporate sloganmeister—can be overwhelming.
Palo Alto, Calif.—It seems to happen every day. A meeting is called to outline a new strategy or sales plan. Down go the lights and up goes the PowerPoint. Strange phrases appear—"unlocking shareholder value," "technology-focused innovation," "maximizing utility." (What does that mean?) Lists of numbers come and go. Bullet point by bullet point, the company's goals float across the screen. Eyes glaze over.
AP - A storm carrying the threat of more snow and ice moved across the Southern Plains on Friday as more than 100,000 homes and businesses remained in the dark from earlier blasts of cold, wet weather.
AP - U.S. and Iraqi forces swooped into a mosque complex in east Baghdad on Friday and detained a top aide to radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the latest in a series of operations aimed at eviscerating the leadership of the Mahdi Army militia.
AP - DNA test results confirmed that the leader of the al-Qaida linked group Abu Sayyaf was killed during a clash with Philippine troops in September, officials said Saturday.