Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy and author of "Off-Ramps and On-Ramps."

Cheryl Perkins, founder and president of Innovationedge.

Christina Bielaszka-DuVernay, editor of Harvard Management Update.

Jeff Stibel, president of Web.com.

Rohit Deshpande, Harvard Business School professor.

Adam Werbach, global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S and author of "Strategy for Sustainability: A Business Manifesto."

Rita McGrath, Columbia Business School professor and coauthor of "Discovery-Driven Growth."

Whitney Johnson, founding partner of Rose Park Advisors.

Dr. Atul Gawande, surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital and author of "The Checklist Manifesto."

Steve New, head of degree programs at Oxford University's Said Business School and author of the HBR article "The Transparent Supply Chain."

Shawn Achor, CEO of Aspirant and author of "The Happiness Advantage."

Paul Nunes, executive director of research at the Accenture Institute for High Performance and coauthor of "Jumping the S-Curve."

Zakary Tormala, associate professor of marketing at Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

Ricky Gervais, creator of the hit television series "The Office."

Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef and host of the Travel Channel's "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations."

Pankaj Ghemawat, IESE Business School professor and author of "World 3.0: Global Prosperity and How to Achieve It."

Rick Ridgeway, vice president of environmental initiatives at Patagonia.

Nancy Koehn, Harvard Business School historian and editor of "The Story of American Business."

Russ Feingold, former US senator from Wisconsin and founder of Progressives United.

Dorie Clark, strategy consultant and author of the HBR article "A Campaign Strategy for Your Career."

Mark Blyth, professor at Brown University and author of "Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea."

Thomas Mooney, co-owner and CEO of House Spirits Distillery.

Adam Waytz and Malia Mason, authors of the HBR article "Your Brain at Work."

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, says the U.S. can remain a global leader only if it addresses issues at home.

AnnaLee Saxenian, author of the classic book "Regional Advantage," still thinks the area's future is bright.

Ron Friedman, Ph.D., author of "The Best Place to Work," on how to structure your day to get the most done.

Hear this story based on real events at J.C. Penney. A discussion with contributor Jill Avery and editor Andy O'Connell follows.

Norman Winarsky, coauthor of "If You Really Want to Change the World," on ventures that scale.

Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of "Originals", on the science of standing out.

David Burkus, author of "Under New Management", explains why some companies are taking extreme measures to limit electronic communication. Burkus is also a professor at Oral Roberts University and host of the podcast Radio Free Leader.

Karim Lakhani, Harvard Business School professor and co-founder of the HBS Digital Initiative, discusses blockchain, an online record-keeping technology that many believe will revolutionize commerce. Lakhani breaks down how the technology behind bitcoin works and talks about the industries and companies that could see new growth opportunities or lose business. He also has recommendations for managers: start experimenting with blockchain as soon as possible. Lakhani is the co-author of the article “The Truth About Blockchain” in the January-February 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Dan McGinn, senior editor at Harvard Business Review, talks about what businesspeople can learn from how top performers and athletes prepare for their big moments. In business, a big sales meeting, presentation, or interview can be pivotal to success. The same goes for pep talks that motivate employees. McGinn talks about both the research and practical applications of mental preparation and motivation. He’s the author of the book, "Psyched Up: How the Science of Mental Preparation Can Help You Succeed." His article, “The Science of Pep Talks,” is in the July-August 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Erik Brynjolfsson, MIT Sloan School professor, explains how rapid advances in machine learning are presenting new opportunities for businesses. He breaks down how the technology works and what it can and can’t do (yet). He also discusses the potential impact of AI on the economy, how workforces will interact with it in the future, and suggests managers start experimenting now. Brynjolfsson is the co-author, with Andrew McAfee, of the HBR Big Idea article, “The Business of Artificial Intelligence.” They’re also the co-authors of the new book, “Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future.

Dominic Barton, the global managing partner of McKinsey&Company, discusses the firm’s sustainability efforts. He talks about the wake-up call he got about sustainability and how he tries to convince CEOs hesitant to make it part of their business model that doing so will improve company performance. He says he sees companies thinking about the environment. “But the speed and scale of what we need to do — I don’t think it’s sufficient.”

Dan Cable, a professor of organizational behavior at London Business School, explains why people often lose their enthusiasm for their work and how leaders can help them get it back. He says we shouldn’t forget that as humans we all need to explore and have purpose — and without that, we languish. Cable offers ideas for restoring people’s passion for their jobs. He’s the author of “Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do.”

Paul Daugherty and James Wilson, senior technology leaders at Accenture, argue that robots and smarter computers aren't coming for our jobs. They talk about companies that are already giving employees access to artificial intelligence to strengthen their skills. They also give examples of new roles for people in an AI workplace. Daugherty and Wilson are the authors of the new book “Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI.”

Avi Goldfarb, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, explains the economics of machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence that makes predictions. He says as prediction gets cheaper and better, machines are going to be doing more of it. That means businesses — and individual workers — need to figure out how to take advantage of the technology to stay competitive. Goldfarb is the coauthor of the book “Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence.”

Kathryn Hume, VP of integrate.ai, discusses the current boundaries between artificially intelligent machines, and humans. While the power of A.I. can conjure up some of our darkest fears, she says the reality is that there is still a whole lot that A.I. can't do. So far, A.I. is able to accomplish some tasks that humans might need a lot of training for, such as diagnosing cancer. But she says those tasks are actually more simple than we might think - and that algorithms still can't replace emotional intelligence just yet. Plus, A.I. might just help us discover new business opportunities we didn't know existed.

Joseph Fuller, professor at Harvard Business School, says that the story we hear about workers being afraid for the future of their jobs might not be right. In surveying 11,000 people in lower-income and middle-skills jobs and 6,500 managers across 11 countries, Fuller discovered that, contrary to what bosses believe, many employees are excited about new technologies and willing to be trained in new skills. But they don't always know what they need to learn or how to access and pay for it. Organizations can do a better job of identifying the skills gaps they have or will soon face and using their existing workforces to fill them. Fuller's project is a joint venture between the HBS Project on Managing the Future of Work and the Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute. He's a co-author of the HBR article “Your Workforce is More Adaptable Than You Think."

Matt Beane, assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, finds that robots, machine learning, and AI are changing how we train for our jobs — not just how we do them. His study shows that robot-assisted surgery is disrupting the traditional learning pathway of younger physicians. He says this trend is emerging in many industries, from finance to law enforcement to education. And he shares lessons from trainees who are successfully working around these new barriers. Beane is the author of the HBR article “Learning to Work with Intelligent Machines.”

Oliver Hart, Nobel-winning Harvard economist, and Kate Vitasek, faculty at the University of Tennessee, argue that many business contracts are imperfect, no matter how bulletproof you try to make them. Especially in complicated relationships such as outsourcing, one side ends up feeling like they're getting a bad deal, and it can spiral into a tit for tat battle. Hart and Vitasek argue that companies should instead adopt so-called relational contracts. Their research shows that creating a general playbook built around principles like fairness and reciprocity offers greater benefits to both businesses. Hart and Vitasek, with the Swedish attorney David Frydlinger, cowrote the HBR article "A New Approach to Contracts."

Dashun Wang, associate professor at Kellogg School of Management, crunched big datasets of entrepreneurs, scientists, and even terrorist organizations to better understand the fine line between failure and success. One surprising finding is that people who experience early failures often become more accomplished than counterparts who achieve early successes. Another insight is that the pace of failure is an indicator of the tipping point between stagnation and eventual success. Wang is a coauthor of the study in the journal Nature: “Quantifying the dynamics of failure across science, startups and security.”

The most important takeaway for holiday consumers completing their Christmas shopping online is to order early. Ordering online may be a very simple solution to the holiday rush, but it still takes preparation.

J. Martinez & Company fine coffees would like to discuss what exactly it is that makes Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee so incredibly good.

The new Comfort Inn & Conference Center Northeast, in Atlanta, GA, offers affordable accommodations to guests attending Golden Spike Train Show on January 12, 2013.

Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Airport Hotel North provides affordable accommodations to guests attending upcoming Scotts Antique Market Shows at Atlanta Expo Center. They are America's favorite treasure hunt.

This year, the standout sweetheart can choose a different route to his honey's heart with a brand new type of bouquet.

Maiden Gifts, easiest and fastest gift has expanded their fast delivery offers all through the month of February including their Valentine's Special Catalogue of Products.

Make it the best Easter ever. Decorate with style, entertain with ease and give beautiful unique gifts to create a memorable EGGCELLENT holiday. It is about Family, Eggs and Bunnies of course.

Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Airport Hotel (North I-85) provides affordable accommodations to guests attending upcoming 2013 Scott Antique Market Shows at Atlanta Expo Center. They are America's favorite treasure hunt.