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We spend so much time at work, its natural that we strike up friendships with colleagues. Its common, and research shows its even good for your career and happiness. But what happens when your office pals performance drags the team down, causes inefficiencies, or more work for you? How do you bring it up . . . and should you? Its a tricky needle to thread, but experts provide tips for fielding these potentially awkward conversations with your office ride-or-die. The complex friendship dynamic When a colleague feels more like a friend, it can make a discussion about their laziness more difficult, says Leanna Stockard, a licensed therapist with LifeStance Health, one of the countrys biggest mental healthcare providers. Given the amount of time we spend in our workplace, the line between personal and working relationships can be blurrier, she says. When a person feels more like a friend, you can feel a stronger sense of loyalty to them as opposed to if they were just a coworker. So it can be understandable that you dont want your friend to get in trouble if you sense their performance slipping. You may even feel inclined to pick up their slack. I believe that this is a mistakebecause if you do decide to pick up their slack, you are essentially enabling their behavior, explains Stockard. It communicates to your friend that they do not have to follow through with their responsibilities, because you will end up doing it. Deciding whether to raise your concerns is a personal decision. And if theres no change after a direct conversation, it might be time to escalate, because your responsibility is to the team and organization, not just the friendship, says Jonathan Alpert, a New York City- and Washington, D.C.-based psychotherapist. But do it professionally. Document examples of poor performance and inform your supervisor without framing it as a personal gripe, he continues. Focus on facts and team impact. This prevents resentment from building and puts the issue where it belongswith management.” Also, understand that friendship adds a layer of emotional complexity. We might be afraid of damaging the relationship, being seen as overly critical, or creating tension in an otherwise enjoyable dynamic, says Alpert. Theres also an implicit expectation in friendships for loyalty and leniencywhich clashes with workplace accountability. Heres how to gently (and professionally) raise concerns with a lazy friend: Keep it private and kind. Because youre friends, have a conversation one-on-one. Avoid discussing their performance in front of others , suggests Alpert. He suggests framing your language about their work is affecting the teamnot around your feelings you might have, like frustration or impatience. Try this: When tasks slip through the cracks, it puts more pressure on the rest of us and creates stress for everyone. This keeps the conversation professional and objective, Alpert says. Understand their work method isnt exactly like yours. Its important to recognize that you can only control yourself. Just because someone has a separate work ethic than you, it does not necessarily mean that theirs is wrong, Stockard explains. She says if their work is indeed directly impacting yours, you can discuss with them how their work ethic is negatively impacting you, and what could be some constructive ways to make your lives easier. Separate your personal relationship with your work relationship by making it clear that you do not want their accountability at work to influence your friendship, Stockard adds. And that before things impact your personal relationship, you want to discuss your work issues. Consider a lighter approach. Because of your friendship, a lighthearted comment could be an easier way to bring up your concerns. You can make a lighthearted comment about working harder than your friendor how your back hurts from the weight of their slack, suggests Stockard. Delve deeper. Noticing that their performance is slipping a bit? Ask your friend if something else is going on. If this behavior is uncommon for your friend, or that it has gotten worse over time, I would recommend asking your friend how they are doing, or if anything is going on in their personal life that might be impacting their ability to do their job, recommends Stockard. If you feel available to assist them while they are going through this, make sure you clearly communicate boundaries about what you are or are not willing to do. Despite the fact your colleague is cool or fun to grab lunch or gossip with, it can be bad for you if their output is dragging the team down, either intentionally or unintentionally. It can be uncomfortable to share your concerns about their work ethic, but in the long run, its better to speak up. (You can joke about it at happy hour later.)
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Some of the most ambitious cancer science is happening in a disease few outside of oncology can name, and its revealing a future where cancer is no longer a death sentence. Multiple myeloma (MM) is a blood cancer that affects the bodys plasma cells, causing them to mutate and grow uncontrollably in the bone marrow. These plasma cells produce abnormal antibodies called M-proteins that wreak havoc on the immune system, kidneys, and bones. MM is also relatively rare. While breast cancer saw approximately 370,000 new cases in the U.S. in 2024, multiple myeloma only saw about 31,600, per internal data from Evaluate. Even among blood cancers, MM only makes up 10% of cases. Yet, despite its rarity, multiple myeloma has become a springboard for some of the most advanced drug innovations in cancer, fostering the development of advanced gene therapies and antibody technologies. While new breakthroughs extend MM patients lifespans, treatment for the disease is exposing a new reality of navigating cancer as a chronic, high-cost condition. MYELOMAS MANY INNOVATIONS Despite only making up less than 2% of cancer diagnoses, multiple myeloma has seen an array of breakthrough treatments that have more than doubled its five-year relative survival rate since 1990. These include: Stem cell transplants, which use a patients own stem cells to rebuild healthy bone marrow after intense chemotherapy targeting cancer in the bone marrow itself Proteasome inhibitors, which kill myeloma cells by interfering with the normal break down of proteins Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs), which stimulate the immune system and eliminate proteins essential for the survival of myeloma cells Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-Ts), which custom-engineer a patients own T cells to target and destroy malignant plasma cells Bispecific antibodies (bispecifics), which redirect T cells to kill malignant plasma cells by bringing the two cells in close proximity Monoclonal antibodies, which precisely target specific proteins on cancer cells or in the tumor environment, and are behind some of the most promising survivability gains Though not the first cancer to see some of these novel treatments, MM is one of the first diseases to achieve approval for CAR-Ts, bispecifics, and monoclonal antibodies all at the same time. Its unique attributes unlock innovation, driving $24 billion in U.S. drug sales in 2024 alone, per Evaluate internal data. MMS UNIQUE ADVANTAGES Multiple myeloma has four key advantages that make it a sandbox for cancer innovation. MM has a high survival rate. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)one of the most common cancershas a five-year survival rate of 32% across all stages; multiple myelomas is 62%, with a median patient survival length of 810 years. Longer survival creates a bigger window to offer multiple treatments. Multiple myeloma comes with its own accelerometer. The M-protein biomarker rises and falls quickly, offering a clear sign of the cancers progression and response to treatment. Consequently, trials to develop new multiple myeloma medications show efficacy faster, so are less expensive than those for most other cancer drugs. MM can be almost completely eradicated from the body. In 2024, MM became the first cancer for which the FDA endorsed minimum residual disease as a surrogate goal or endpoint for drug trials, which qualifies many MM drugs for breakthrough therapy designation or accelerated approval. Multiple myeloma received approval for seven new drugs between 2020 and 2022, including multiple first-in-class therapies. This surge in innovation, rarely seen in oncology, is likely to continue now that minimal residual disease is accepted as a surrogate endpoint. The incentives for developers to create new MM drugs are strong. Unlike other rare diseases whose treatments only incrementally increase survival, MM treatments drastically improve length and quality of life. The latest combination of drugs being tested to treat MM has been modeled to increase survival without disease progression by a full decade among healthier patients. As a result, MM patients are more likely to spend on high-cost drug regimens to keep the disease at bay, further funding research. Multiple myelomas ability to foster innovation drives comparatively lofty drug sales for its rarity. Evaluates internal data shows that, in 2024, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) saw about six times more new cases than MM, yet NSCLC drugs only brought in a third more revenue than MM drugs did that year. Drugmakers are looking to re-create MMs success in other cancers, but its innovations have proven difficult to reproduce. REPLICATING MMS ADVANCEMENTS Multiple myeloma drugs have proven more effective because they can directly reach the diseases liquid tumors within the bloodstream. In contrast, other cancers solid tumors are embedded in dense, immunosuppressive tissue environments that can be difficult for drugs to access. Furthermore, solid tumors often lack good cell surface targets that differentiate them from surrouning healthy cells. Many companies have tried to apply MMs breakthroughs to other cancers and a few are beginning to see success in solid tumors. Gileads CAR-T therapy is showing promise in shrinking deadly brain cancer tumors, while bispecifics are beginning to show promise in treating small cell lung cancer. The trick for scientists now is to take the base-level innovations that have worked in MM and apply them with more specified targeting, delivery, and immune activation to other cancers. Meanwhile, the treatment innovations MM patients enjoy also bring new, unintended consequences. CANCERS CHRONIC FUTURE Multiple myeloma reveals a future where cancer patients not only live longer but also shoulder continual treatment expenses. A study examining Medicare claims from 20062016 found the average lifetime treatment costs for MM were $184,495, and out-of-pocket costs have only increased since then. As a result, one in four patients with MM experience financial hardship due to treatment costs, causing some to skip doses or delay care. Despite already high treatment costs, myeloma therapies continue to increase in price. Evaluates internal data reveals that Medicare coinsurance patients can expect to pay $105,700 out of pocket for cutting-edge CAR-T Carvykti. However, even the price for the most widely prescribed MM drug, Revlimid, has increased 17% in the last four years, notwithstanding cheaper, generic versions of the drug beginning to roll out in 2022. To make long-term cancer survival a viable reality for more patients, drugmakers will have to iterate on MMs playbook while U.S. hospital systems and insurance companies make innovations more accessible at scale. In the meantime, we can glimpse into the future of cancer treatment in multiple myeloma, where breakthroughs are making long-term survival the new normal. Soon, MMs innovations will spur discoveries that extend the lives of all cancer patients.
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Welcome, and thanks for reading this issue of Fast Companys Plugged In. On August 22, President Donald Trump announced via Truth Social that the U.S. federal government had acquired 10% of Intel. The chipmakers news release trumpeted the deal as historic. That it was. But it was also ignominious. In Trumps own account, he had humbled an iconic American company. Maybe even shaken it down. Fifteen days earlier, he posted to Truth Social that Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan had ties to China, which left him highly CONFLICTED and demanded his immediate resignation. On August 11, Tan visited the White House. On August 22, the deal was official. The U.S.s ownership stake in Intel doesnt involve any new funds. Instead, its a retroactive quid pro quo for $8.9 billion the company had already been granted but not yet paid through the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. Joe Biden signed that bill three years ago, a $280 billion gambit to reverse the decades-long flight of chip manufacturing to Asia. As Trump put it, Tan walked in wanting to keep his job, and he ended up giving us $10 billion [the approximate value of the 10% stake] for the United States.” Notably, The Wall Street Journals Robbie Whelan, Yang Jie, and Amrith Ramkumar reported that Taiwans TSMC, the worlds largest chip manufacturer, pushed back against forking over any equity to the U.S.even if declining to do so would require it to give up CHIPS Act money it was getting to help expand its production capacity in Arizona. For anyone who lived through the PCs heyday in the 1990s, seeing Intel run out of options is a stunning development. Its not just that it dominated the market for PC processors so utterly that after years of shrinkage it still has close to a 75% share. More than any other company, Intel once shaped the technologies that kept the technology business booming. In a sense, the entire PC industry became a front for it, to a degree that wasnt obvious then and has since faded into history. For instance, Intel engineers invented USB, maybe the most significant new PC technology of the 1990s. It didnt pioneer Wi-Fi, but its decision to integrate it into a processor2003s Centrinohelped make it standard equipment on every laptop. When Apples thin-and-light MacBook Air became a hit and Intel was concerned that Windows portables were clunky by comparison, it came up with the Air-like Ultrabook; PC makers merely followed its lead. Intel also supplied the motherboards many manufacturers used, allowing it to define a computers feature set and even its shape. In such cases, building a PC amounted to little more than filling out its platform with components such as memory and storage and wrapping a case around it. The 1991 ad that launched Intels wildly successful Intel Inside campaign [Image: Intel] The companys grip on the industry wasnt just technological. Starting in 1991, its Intel Inside campaign convinced millions of people to pay attention to the chips that powered computers. But Intel didnt just buy ads on its own. It also established a co-op fund that paid up to half the cost of ads placed by PC companies. More than 500 of them participated in the program, including brand names such as Dell, HP, IBM, Sony, and Toshiba. The co-op dollars manufacturers received were tied to the quantity of Intel processors they purchased. Naturally, ads subsidized by the fund were required to highlight the Intel Inside message. They also couldnt mention models using chips from other companiesa stipulation that put longtime Intel rival AMD at a massive disadvantage, regardless of the quality of its products. Intels co-op dollars indirectly paid for a disproportionate share of the entire PC businesss marketing budget. At first, magazines such as my former employer PC World benefited from the companys largesse. Later, when Intel instructed manufacturers to divert ad dollars to the web, the magazines felt it in the pocketbook. For a technology company, being all-powerful has its downsides. Andy Grove, Intels third employee and its CEO from 1987 to 1998, summed up his fear of resting on ones laurels in the title of his 1996 bestseller, Only the Paranoid Survive. By the early years of this century, however, Intel began to radiate not paranoia but complacency. As the world changed, it didnt. The results were disastrous. In the 1990s, for example, Intel focused on integrating graphics into its CPUs rather than designing more powerful discrete graphics processorsthe kind sold by smaller, specialized chipmakers such as Nvidia. Then Nvidia proved its graphics chips were also adept at running AI algorithms. Now its the worlds most valuable public company, with a market cap quadruple the size of Intels. And then there were phones. Intel talked to Apple about providing the processor for the first iPhone, but concluded it couldnt turn a profit on the deal. Smartphones went on to be bigger than the PC ever wasand almost none of them ever had Intel Inside. For years, Intel had been synonymous with Moores law, its cofounder Gordon Moores observation that the number of transistors that could fit on an integrated circuit doubled every two years. As techs engines of progress moved beyond the PC, even its ability to stay on the cutting edge of chip manufacturing faltered. When longtime executive Pat Gelsinger rejoined the company as CEO in 2021, it was in desperate need of a turnaround. Gelsingers ambitious strategy involved getting its manufacturing advances back on track and becoming a contract manufacturer (foundry) for chips designed by others. But Intels board ousted him after less than four years, before his vision could play out. That led to Tans appointment and, five months later, the Trump deal. How Tan intends to reset Intel once again remains fuzzy, and Trumps interest in the company may limit Tans options rather than expand them. The U.S. government doesnt have an Intel board seat or, in theory, an active role in steering the company. Yet Intels CEO said the deal is structured to prevent it from selling its foundry unit. Meanwhile, Trump says he hopes for many more instances of his administration extracting equity from businesses that need something from him. In the 1990s, Intel was a shimmeringif occasionally obnoxiousparagon of American manufacturing excellence. Today, with the U.S. tech industry dangerously dependent on Taiwan chip production, Stratecherys Ben Thompson calls its 10% government ownership solution the least bad option. Intels collapse, he argues, would be catastrophic not for the U.S.s leading semiconductor company, but for the U.S. itself. Trump must already be salivating at commandeering the credit for any dramatic turnaround. Just thinking of his triumphant Truth Social posts makes me wincebut I am rooting for him to get the opportunity nonetheless. Youve been reading Plugged In, Fast Companys weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to youor if you’re reading it on FastCompany.comyou can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Friday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping me at hmccracken@fastcompany.com with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters. I’m also on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, and you can follow Plugged In on Flipboard. More top tech stories from Fast Company How large language models can reconstruct forbidden knowledgeLike a student who once designed a nuclear bomb from textbooks, today’s AI systems can stitch together public scraps of information into dangerous blueprintsat speed, at scale, and without realizing it. Read More Can artists really stop AI from stealing their work?Tools like Glaze and Nightshade aim to muddle AI training, while lawsuits and legislation target AI companies directly. But researchers warn defenses may never fully hold. Read More Emerging drone tech firms are powering the defense industry’s next chapterAgile drone technology companies are breaking into a market long dominated by defense giants, winning contracts through speed, precision, and real-world results. Read More Brands are using your inbox to get ready for a new wave of tariffs‘We don’t want to raise prices, but we will have to.’ Read More How AI is exposing the BS economyAI is revealing just how much work doesn’t need to exist in the first place. Here’s how it can help us fix work. Read More Tech billionaires are building their own private cities. Here’s who’s doing what whereElon Musk, Mark Cuban, Mark Zuckerberg, and other tech billionaires are building private towns and compounds, reshaping communities from Texas to Hawaii. Read More
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