And in an emotional recounting of his black friend’s experience outside the office that went viral on YouTube, AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson encouraged employees to get to know each other better. Last month, in an unprecedented show of solidarity, 150 CEOs from the world’s leading companies banded together to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace and, through an online platform, shared best practices for doing so. MORE

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Peter Bisson, Elizabeth Stephenson, and S. Patrick Viguerie for The McKinsey Quarterly (June 2010). To read the complete article, check out a wealth of resources, and watch a video during which McKinsey director Bisson explains why trends matter, the value of tracking global forces, and how MORE

Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age inspired Jeff Bezos to create the Kindle ; Sergey Brin mines Stephenson’s even more famous Snow Crash for insights into virtual reality. At the end of the 19th century, New York City stank. One hundred fifty thousand horses ferried people and goods through the streets of Manhattan, producing 45,000 tons — tons! — of manure a month. MORE

Randall Stephenson of AT&T explained, “We had 270,000 people we employed around the globe. CEOs have a lot to worry about, but what are their greatest concerns? What keeps them awake at night? MORE

As AT&T CEO and Chair Randall Stephenson, recently told the New York Times, “There is a need to retool yourself, and you should not expect to stop… People who do not spend five to 10 hours a week in online learning will obsolete themselves with the technology.” MORE

Louise Carus Mahdi, et al (1996); and From Boys to Men: Spiritual Rites of Passage in an Indulgent Age , by Bret Stephenson (2006). I''ve been reading about traditional and modern rites of passage. MORE

Here is an excerpt from an article co-authored by Peter Bisson, Elizabeth Stephenson, and S. Bob's blog entries Amazon Elizabeth Stephenson France Telecom’s Orange GDP growth Germany’s T-Systems Kindle OECD countries Peter Bisson Rik Kirkland S. Patrick Viguerie for The McKinsey Quarterly. MORE

Chris Smith and Chris Stephenson. The virtual stack of resumes in your inbox is winnowed and certain candidates have passed the phone screen. Next step: in-person interviews. How should you use the relatively brief time to get to know — and assess — a near stranger? MORE

photo credit: aresauburn™ Bruce Stephenson (@FamilyPhoto on Twitter) asked: “[What is the] best way to start to participate when new to a forum?&# I am going to tackle this from the perspective of an individual wanting to participate in a forum for personal reasons, such as a passion for a specific topic. If you are [.]. How Should I Participate MORE

Then there's another view, which I heard from author Neal Stephenson in an MIT lecture hall last week. Stephenson was clearly trying to be provocative. Stephenson, who has "devoted a shocking amount of time" lately to learning about alternative space-launch technologies, said at MIT that "the reason none of them happen turns out to be insurance.". It's an age of unprecedented, staggering technological change. MORE

As Michael Stephenson , a key leader in global customer programs at Oracle puts it, his firm has various business units that focus on specific industries. As Michael Stephenson points out, "Sales reps come to us all the time saying things like, ''I want General Motors to come talk to this prospective customer.''" So he probes, asking what GM is doing that''s relevant to the prospect, and what in particular they might talk about. MORE

Scott Stephenson, director of collections for the Revolution Museum. An impressive story of historical preservation and replication: “We all know Mount Vernon, but this is a home of George Washington that most people don’t even think about,” said R. The future first president stayed in the field with his troops through the war, living and working in the tent that was the nation’s first “oval office” of sorts, he said MORE

The decision maker at AT&T was CEO Randall Stephenson. The key to winning over a decision maker like Stephenson is working with a champion to provide enough data, analysis, and outside validation to ensure that those who would question his decision see a trail of sound and thoughtful due diligence. Pete spent 9 months helping us build a solid platform of credibility that would limit Stephenson’s risk if the investment turned out to be bad. MORE

It was inspired by comments from author Neal Stephenson, who espoused the latter view in a Q&A at MIT. So I wrote a piece juxtaposing the Stephenson/Cowen view with the work of MIT's Erik Brynjolfsson, who has been amassing evidence that a digitization-fueled economic revolution is in fact beginning to happen. That's probably because, if there is one person in the world whom Wired.com readers consider a "knowledgeable member of their cultural community," it is Neal Stephenson. MORE

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson says technology workers need to learn online for at least five hours per week to fend off obsolescence. When University of Illinois psychologist Brian Ross enrolled in a computer science course, it had been a long time since he’d even taken a class. With his beard and balding dome, he stood out. A decade older than his classmates, Ross was, to all the other students, that guy. He was nervous. But he had an advantage. MORE

As early as 1994 Neal Stephenson was envisioning the era of Big Data, and how it might change the work of a market researcher. Fiction writers who specialize in creating dystopian near-futures seem to put a lot of stock in the potential of customer intelligence. And it sure beats how David Foster Wallace portrayed the job in "Mister Squishy." ) Philip K. Dick, of course, gave us the billboards of Minority Report , recognizing and calling out personalized offers to people on the street. MORE