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Theres no other phone Id rather be using right now than Samsungs Galaxy Z Fold7and thats a problem. Ive been a foldable phone appreciator for a while now, and a couple of years ago, I caved and bought a Galaxy Z Fold5 for my own personal use. The phone was far from perfect, but I loved being able to conjure a small tablet from my pocket to watch videos, read e-books, and multitask. Two years later, it is really hard going back to that phoneor to any non-foldable phone, for that matter. Using the Fold7 on loan from Samsung has emphasized just how compromised those earlier efforts were, and it makes those prior shortcomings a lot harder to overlook. Its a normal-size phone now Unlike a lot of other reviewers, I never hated the narrow outer screen on Samsungs previous foldables. Compared with other large smartphones, that screen was easier to use one-handed, and I grew accustomed to only using it on the go. [Photo: Jared Newman] But yes, it is nicer having a foldable phone whose outer screen works in any scenario. The Fold7s 6.5-inch outer screen is about 8 millimeters narrower across than an iPhone 16 Pro Max, so the ease of using it one-handed isnt entirely gone. But unfolding it when Im on the couch or at the kitchen counter doesnt feel as much like a necessity. The bigger deal, though, is the extent to which the Fold7 feels like a regular phone now. When folded shut, its 3.2 millimeters thinner than last years Fold6, and only about 0.7 millimeters thicker than an iPhone 16 Pro Max. Its also 12 grams lighter than Apples largest phone, and they just dont feel all that different anymore. You could even put a case on the Fold7 without adding insufferable levels of bulk. The only other foldable phones that have reached this territory are ones you cant buy in the United States, like Honors Magic V5 and Oppos Find N5. The inner screen isnt as weird Samsung isnt making a big deal about crease improvements in the Galaxy Z Foldmaybe because it doesnt want to draw attention to the crease to begin withbut its far less pronounced now. Youll still see it and feel it under your fingers, but the indent is gentler and blends in better when the screen is on. [Photo: Jared Newman] Theres also one other major improvement that wont show up on a spec sheet: Compared with my Fold5, the inner screen of the Fold7 has less of a gap between the built-in screen protector and the bezels around the display. That gap is a dust magnet on the older phone, and it can quickly get kind of gross in there. That hasnt been a problem with the Fold7. Multitasking is better Like earlier versions, the Fold7 can run two apps side by side or in floating windows. This is especially handy for watching live TV while doing other things, like dealing with emails or browsing the web. [Photo: Jared Newman] But on the Fold7, Samsung added a new mode thats more about quickly switching between a pair of full-size apps. If you open the apps in split screen, then drag the divider almost to the edge of the screen, youll see a narrow glimpse of the other app, and you can tap on it to switch over. Its a lot easier than using clunky swipe gestures, and it feels sort of like having two apps open, side by side, on a much larger screen. Its still a compromise None of these improvements means that the Galaxy Z Fold7 is just as good as a regular phone in every way. Foldable phones have inherent size and cost constraints that continue to require compromise. The main one, still, is camera quality. Yes, Samsung improved the Fold7s rear camera with a 200-megapixel wide-angle lens and larger image sensor, matching the S25 Ultra, but the ultrawide and telephoto lenses lack the same parity. (Limited optical zoom is the thing I miss most compared with other flagships.) Even with the main lens, the Fold7 struggles with motion in low lightI got a bunch of bad photos last weekend at an escape room with my familythough this may be more of a Samsung problem than a foldable one. The Fold7s fingerprint reader also remains under the power button on the side of the phone. I dont see this as a major downgrade from under-display fingerprint readers, but it does take some getting used to. (Like other Samsung phones, the Fold7 offers face recognition as an unlock option, but its less secure than the iPhone and Pixel phone versions, with the possibility of being fooled by an image of your face.) Then there are the little missing things, like S Pen support, dust-proofing, and Qi2 magnetic accessories. While Google added the latter two features to its forthcoming Pixel 10 Pro Fold, it made the phone thicker and heavier than last years model to accommodate them. Phone makers will inevitably whittle away at these things. Honors Magic V5, for instance, works with a stylus despite being slightly thinner than the Fld7and its use of silicon carbon batteries shows how device makers could fit more tech in less space. [Photo: Jared Newman] And yes, the Fold7 costs $2,000, which is $100 more than last years Fold6. Subsidies from the major U.S. carriers can knock that price in half, but thats still asking a lot when theyre offering subsidized iPhone 16s and Galaxy S25s at no cost. What Samsung wont tell you, though, is that the value of these phones drops like rocks on the secondhand market. The Fold7 only launched a month ago, yet its already selling for more than $600 under the list price in mint condition on sites like Swappa. Thats probably the road Ill end up traveling when I send the Fold7 back to Samsung and find my two-year-old Fold5 unbearable by comparison.
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E-Commerce
The C-suite executive’s dilemma has never been clearer: there is an analysis gap between recognizing that creativity is an essential skill versus designing space and time for individuals and teams to to build a creative capacity. While 2023 research from Visier demonstrated that 83% of workers admit to “productivity theater”performing busy work that creates the appearance of output without meaningful resultsthat same year, the World Economic Forum declared creativity to be the second most critical skill for our workforce by 2027. The collision of these realities signals a fundamental shift that smart organizations can no longer ignore. We’re entering what I call the “Imagination Era,” and the companies that thrive will be those bold enough to redesign work around human flourishing rather than industrial-age metrics. The Hidden Costs of Our Productivity Obsession The numbers tell a stark story. With 71% of knowledge workers experiencing burnout and job stress (according to the Anatomy of Work Index) costing U.S. industries over $300 billion annually in absenteeism and turnover (American Institute of Stress), our current productivity models aren’t just failingthey’re actively destroying value. While executives worry about quarterly targets, they’re hemorrhaging their most valuable asset: the creative capacity of their people. The irony is profound. At the very moment when artificial intelligence can handle routine tasks, freeing humans to do what we do bestimagine, connect, and innovatemost organizations are doubling down on mechanical approaches that treat people like sophisticated machines. This isn’t just shortsighted; it’s economically destructive. From Extraction to Cultivation: A New Operating System I propose a radical reframe: Instead of asking “How can we be more productive?” what if teams ask “What might we cultivate this year?” This shift from a mechanical, extractive mindset to one that embraces complexity and ambiguity isn’t philosophical luxuryit’s strategic necessity. The difference is profound. Productivity thinking operates in linear equations: 1+1=2. Cultivation thinking embraces “both-and” complexity, leaving room for the kind of metamorphosis that creates breakthrough innovation. According to 2024 research from Thrive My Way, when trained groups engage in creative problem-solving sessions, they generate 350% more ideas that are 415% more original than traditional approaches. The New Scorecard: New KPIs for the Imagination Era We can develop new key performance indicators organized around “Minimum Viable Experiences” rather than traditional output metrics. These aren’t soft measuresthey’re strategic investments in the capabilities that will drive future competitiveness: Human-Centered Metrics include measuring employee connection to meaningful work, minutes per week dedicated to deep reflection, and value creation through idea generation rather than widget production. Teams can track experimentation through small-scale prototypes and measure both organizational and community-impact audacious ideas. Well-being and Rest Metrics recognize that innovation requires renewal. Forward-thinking companies could measure sabbaticals taken and their impact on team creativity, time spent in nature per week, and the productivity boost following movement breaks. Tracking stress reduction through wellness assessments and creating dedicated time for play, measuring new connections generated through structured “recess” time, are practical and novel concepts. Innovation and Learning Metrics focus on interdisciplinary learning opportunities, innovation sprints, and curiosity-driven projects not tied to immediate business needs. What if you tracked the number of walking meetings, recognizing that physical movement often unlocks mental breakthroughs? Organizations ready to make this transition can start with my three-pronged approach: First, conduct a “Cultivation Audit” to identify productivity metrics that may be limiting innovation while developing measures for long-term human development. Second, implement “Seasonal Planning” that aligns organizational rhythms with natural cycles of activity, reflection, and renewal. Third, launch a “Space Design Revolution” that creates environments supporting both individual cultivation and collective creativity. The Competitive Advantage of Creativity The business case is simple: in an age where AI handles routine tasks, the uniquely human capacities cultivated through intentional movement, thought, and rest become the primary drivers of creativity and organizational value. Companies embracing this approach will foster breakthrough innovation through activated default mode networks, reduce costly burnout and turnover, develop essential creativity skills, create sustainable growth patterns, and build stronger collaborative communities. The goal isn’t abandoning productivity measures but expanding our understanding of meaningful work and impact. Organizations that make this shift will define the Imagination Era. The question isn’t whether this transformation will happen, but whether your organization will lead it or be left behind by those brave enough to cultivate human potential in service of extraordinary results.
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E-Commerce
In the summer of 2009, the NFL was bracing for war. The owners had walked away from a collective bargaining deal they had signed just two years earlier, demanding pay cuts, slashed pensions, and two extra games for free. They had stockpiled a $4 billion lockout fund and were ready to shut the game down for a year if that is what it took. On the other side stood a union reeling from the sudden death of its legendary leader, Gene Upshaw. Into that void stepped an outsidera trial lawyer from Washington, D.C., named DeMaurice Smithwhom ESPN called the man with the toughest job in sports. The players had less than $300 million, a string of failed strikes behind them, and the very real prospect of being steamrolled. On top of everything, the players desperately needed to end the owners’ unilateral right under the old deal to add as many games to the regular season as they wished. [Photo: Penguin Random House] But this time, the fight would not be linear. The new leader pushed his players to battle on every frontpublic opinion, Congress, and most of all, in the one place owners thought they couldnt be touched: their money. Out of that fight came one of the most unlikely weapons in sports labor historyan insurance policy against a lockout. It was the first, and only, of its kind. And if the players could pull it off, it might just prevent them from being at the mercy of thirty-one billionaires who saw an opportunity for the greatest power and money grab in the history of professional sports.Excerpted from Smith’s book, “Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America’s Game,” this is the story of how how that deal went down. AN ACE IN THE HOLE With negotiations tabled, I did what I do when Im overwhelmed: I escape, and I drink. An old law partner buddy, David Barrett, and I went to Palm Springs, California, and pounded cocktails. Owners had been openly bragging about their $4 billion rainy-day fundenough to survive a months-long pausefor years, even before the dust had settled following the Great Recession. Banks werent in a position to lend so much money, and after meeting so many owners, I couldnt imagine that some of those overgrown man-babies had the discipline to save roughly $130 million apiece. Would the TV networks give it to them? Dave asked. The league has leverage, he continued, because of how much the networks want the broadcast rights. The day after Dave and I hit the bars, I authorized the hiring of a former network executive to advise us on television contracts. I lobbed what felt like a stupid question to the former executive: Could there be a clause in a broadcast rights contract that would pay owners even if games werent played? Every contract, this executive explained, includes language about make goods. Say you run a doughnut shop and advertise it on Google. If, for instance, Alphabets servers get hacked and all of its sites go dark, this is the clause that requires Google to make good on the agreement and publish the ad later. Using similar logic, networks could agree to a deal in which they paid a certain amount of money in the event that games werent played, in exchange for a discount on future payments. If our theory was correct, it was as if the league had taken out an insurance policy from the networks. If they had, it would have been for less moneya potential violation of the leagues obligations to players under the collective bargaining agreement. All of this got me thinking that it sure would be amazing if there were such a thing as lockout insurance. It was a disaster wed known was coming, and it wasnt as if we were causing the lockout. In fact, our players were trying like hell to avoid missing work, so the risk wasnt even ours to transfer. Still, I wondered, could there be such an insurance policy? It was a question worth asking. I got permission to pursue this as a potential nuclear option in our arsenal. Its ultimate value wasnt the payout. It was the leverage it would create. Because if the policy did pay out, our side could withstand a work stoppage for far longer than the owners believed. Their $4 billion had to cover keeping stadiums and team facilities online, administrative staffs paid, and front-end costs guaranteed. Factoring in players salaries, this amount suggested they were prepared to miss half the 2011 season as they waited on players to cave. But if we sprang this insurance policy on owners at the right time, I explained, owners would realize their eight-game strategy was doomed. The insurance payout was $850 million, set to be distributed after two missed regular-season games. It was enough for players to sit out the entire year, and while it might not pay for their full salary, bonuses, and benefits, it was enough to pay each player $200,000 per weekenough that players wouldnt beg me to sign whatever proposal the league put forth. Now, here was the tricky part: The premium would cost $47 million. Players murmured, knowing the union had only $200 million in its coffers. It was a huge gamble. I believed that the insurance payout would be enough to protect our men and give them financial security for an entire missed season. For now, we had to keep it quiet. Secrecy was our most important component. We had an ace in the hole, and I had known for months who I wanted to deal the cards ‘Maybe its time we all put our guns away’ My phone rang. It was Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots. He asked I was up for one more meeting. Look, he said, this isnt a time to be hiding stuff. If you guys have more resources, we need to be transparent with each other. Lets just say I took steps to protect our players, I said. Nobody is going to crumble early. In my legal career, I had worked for men like these. Gone against them. Theyre not the type to congratulate you on a successful gambit and just accept defeat with a warm handshake. These guys are used to winning, and on the rare occasions they dont win, their response is to change the rules and punish the opposing side for making them sweat. As we waited outside the meeting room, I mostly felt dread. My brain had produced three possible scenarios, two of them bad. Owners could storm out or call our bluff, effectively a challenge to see who broke first. Players are taught to feel comfort in certainty, so either of those possibilities would break us. The third was that Kraft realized that a civil war was good for no one, that the NFLs business model was impervious to inflation, elections, and geopolitical conflict, invincible to almost everything except greed. The door finally opened, and we were invited into an initial meeting with just a few participats. On our side, NFL Players Association President Kevin Mawae picked Domonique Foxworth, Jeff Saturday, and me. I made eye contact with everyone in the holding room, more than fifty guys, and tried to convey confidence and conceal my anxiety. Theres no such thing as a fearless leader, and if there were, I cant imagine following them. Any conflict requires self-awareness and the acknowledgment that all of your planning, strategizing, and overthinking could fail. Against some of the most powerful and dangerous men in the world, I was well aware of the odds. We returned to the conference room door, and I lowered the handle. There sat NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, the Coboys’ owner Jerry Jones, and Kraft at a round table. To me, every group is a jury, and I try to read their shoulders and eyes. Richardson was fuming; Jones calmer than ice water. We took our seats, and Kraft began the meeting. In the same tone of voice I used for closing arguments in a murder trial, I told everyone about the insurance policy and its details. I paused, allowing the information to sink in. Nobody said a word. Im sure you thought there would be a resolution by week four, I said, because players would collapse. But were content to sit out the entire season. Im not sure Ive ever seen a hatred in someones eyes like that of Jerry Richardson. Roger turned bright red, the vein in his neck pulsing. Kraft remained silent. Jerry Jones seemed to realize that, in a single sentence, we had destabilized years of planning and maneuvering by the league. So lets just wait a minute, he said. Maybe its time that we all put our guns away. Kraft and Richardson looked at him. We can just sliiiide em back into the holster, Jones continued. The moment of truth In a negotiation, this is whats called the deal pointthe moment of truth. Jones recognized it before anyone else, acknowledging that owners were cornered. There would be no player collapse, and thered be no eight- or ten-game season. Why havent I been told about this? Roger said. De, you have to understand that Ive set up some things to protect the owners. Things I havent even told them about. Thats when I knew. It was checkmate. Ah, Puddin, I remember thinking. I got you, didnt I? Kraft took a long breath and said that wed given the league some things to discuss. He looked at me and issued the faintest smile, an acknowledgment, finally, that I might actually be worthy of respect.From the book TURF WARS by DeMaurice Smith 2025 by DeMaurice Smith. Published on August 5, 2025, by Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
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E-Commerce
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