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Revolution in the world of work
Alan Webber on new work rules for the new work world
by Kate Bernhardt
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 "The idea for Fast Company magazine came to me one night when I tripped on a discarded shoebox and hit my head on an open desk drawer," Alan Webber says. "On the desk were copies of Rolling Stone, Harvard Business Review, and US News and World Report." And sure enough, Fast Company isn't your father's business magazine.
Instead of staid portraits of middle managers or analyses of consumer trends, Fast Company gives its readers the tools they need to make it today -- MTV style. Its hot graphics underscore snappy content that goes deep inside the new economy's winners -- and losers -- providing equal parts inspiration and caution. You might not like everyone you meet in the magazine, and you certainly won't embrace every provocative idea you find there, but it's a guarantee that you'll be taking home its messages (and talking about them with your colleagues) every time you read an issue.
Like Fast Company, Webber himself embodies rock, politics and business, with a background including stints as editorial director of the Harvard Business Review, special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and auto-industry analyst. He says there's a bit more than a head bump to the story of Fast Company's launch in November 1995: business plans, pitches to contacts with deep pockets and fat address books, mock-ups and demos, and many anxiety-driven nightmares (that is, when there was time to sleep, which there wasn't very often). However, less than 4 years later, Webber and co-founder Bill Taylor have a thriving mini-empire with a dynamic Web site, Real Time events that bring magazine readers together with the "thought leaders" who inspire them, and a global grass-roots community called Company of Friends, which consists of over 10,000 magazine readers who participate in self-organizing local discussion groups, mentoring and networking organizations, and creative problem-solving teams.
There's a revolution happening in the workplace, according to Webber and Taylor, and their magazine was born to address the changes -- for businesses and individuals -- that radical upheaval generates. Fast Company (which they call their "handbook of the business revolution") must be getting something right: the magazine was named "Launch of the Year" by Advertising Age, "Startup of the Year" by Adweek, and in April 1999 the American Society of Magazine Editors gave the magazine a very high honor -- the General Excellence Award.
One thing's for sure: for most of us, the standard work week -- and the stable job description -- are gone forever. Webber's got some ideas on how to cope, and thrive.
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On video, meet Alan Webber.
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Alan Webber
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