The best course of action after a mistake is to acknowledge it immediately, ask for help and keep your colleagues in the loop, says Sigal Barsade, a professor at the Wharton School. "People often avoid conflict by disappearing. They'll stop emailing you if they owe you something, which can be infuriating," she says.

While most professionals maintain some sort of to-do list, not as many remember to celebrate everything they've accomplished, writes Chris Bailey. Use a weekly accomplishments list to track your progress and stay motivated, he writes.

Being a good conversationalist boils down to acting like a journalist, and treating every person as though they have something to tell you or teach you, says radio host Celeste Headlee. A corollary: If someone says something you don't understand, don't be afraid to ask for clarification or explanation.

IBM might lay off more than 14,000 employees as part of a "workforce rebalancing," according to a report from Bernstein. IBM had rejected an estimate that it would eliminate a third of its workforce, saying the report was "completely outlandish and untrue."

What are companies searching for when they publish either vague or highly detailed job ads? CareerTrax founder David Jensen in this commentary tackles the most common wording in job ads and provides strategies for how to read between the lines and craft the best response.

Many Japanese restaurants display plastic food in their windows to lure diners -- and more than half of the display food is painstakingly produced by hand in a single small factory. About 30 artists work to create incredibly detailed and lifelike salad leaves, melon slices, sushi and other plastic foodstuffs. "That's something a machine can never do," says food artist Takahiro Ishigami.