It is Thanksgiving week in the US. This is the perfect time for a little pause to look back on all the change that we have been dealing with. Self-reflection is an activity that has benefits beyond just a review of the year. It can help with stress by putting the day-to-day into perspective. It can help with frustration by connecting the lines between what happened before and what is happening now. It can help remind us of the good we’ve encountered, while also giving us the opportunity to let go of the bad.
For me, 2023 has been unique in my professional career. At this point, I have been in the workforce for a terrifying 18 years. I came out of college shortly before the Great Recession which formed an interesting baseline for what to expect in the professional world. Even with that start, the pandemic was unlike anything before it. If we are honest, at least we knew why the years were off. 2020 to 2022 were directly pandemic-related. 2023 was the first full year dealing with the fallout but none of the restrictions.
Looking back, 2023 was the year that challenged all of our underlying assumptions about how work can and should be done. The big debate was mandates (I am certain you all know my opinion on it if you have made it to paragraph three of this post). A big question was the role of the office in how we work regardless of mandates. Another was where is the world of commercial real estate heading. And let us not forget the culmination of WeWork’s adventure to finally land in bankruptcy.
With all that, my thankful professional moment is that all the big questions and issues seem to be on the table and in front of us. They do not yet look to have a clear solution, but knowing the problem is the first step to finding solutions. 2023 has been the start of an incredible real estate journey that we will all travel down whether we really want to or not.