CRE is not a complicated world. Don’t over think it. Do what needs to be done in a way that is easily understood, stands up to analysis and conveys the action that should be taken. Any more than that and you are making things harder than they need to be.
Configuration versus customization – know which one you are doing for clients.
Configuration – Taking an existing system and modifying it for a particular use. No new software, database changes, or IT issues are involved. In an Excel Spreadsheet, configuration is not having to write equations beyond sums and subtotals. Customization – Creating something new and unique based on a client’s current need. This new development may…
Creating Solutions for clients that don’t know what they need.
Part of the issue with any technology is that it was designed with a particular audience and use case in mind. If you leave that audience or use case type then the technology is going to be less and less likely to gain traction. However, most technology companies don’t want to create custom (or even…
Asana’s Management and Design Philosophy is a good one
Hey CRE – here’s one for you. An interesting little program called Asana. Quartz has written up a great piece running down how they do what they do with only 65 employees. Long story short – avoid social media features and focus on the work. Seems like a great concept. Full disclosure- I’m a past…
All real estate is hyper local….sort of by definition.
Buildings are the ultimate pinpoint in the map. You can’t get more precise than the front door. I’ve seen the phrase “hyper local” popping up lately (mainly by everyone’s favorite CRE activist Duke Long) and I’m really not sure what trend it is supposed to signify. Somehow it’s all about data and location and making…
#CRE #Entropy should be your next big thing.
Entropy of an isolated system can increase, but not decrease. [Source] I’m about to go full on geek but I’ll also keep it as simple as possible. The 2nd law of thermodynamics says that entropy in a given closed system always increases. To simplify greatly, this means that over time chaos increases. Said another way,…
If Twitter drops the 140 char limit, then what’s the point of the service?
The point of Twitter as I understand it is to allow people to communicate in short bursts online. To get a stream, you need lots of little messages flying around. But more and more people are wanting them to raise the limit on the number of characters allowed in a tweet. But the entire purpose…
What’s the difference between a Partner and a Service Provider?
Every single company that provides business to business services attempts to make themselves into more of a Partner than a Service Provider. They want to be seen as adding value beyond their competition so that they can sell their service at a higher price and not be negotiated down to the lowest acceptable margin. But…
Language is important. Cursing is a tool. Don’t over use it but don’t throw it out either.
Social media- that place where opinions are everywhere. Somehow I stumbled upon an interesting post that taught me that “crap” is a swearword inappropriate for work environments. Imagine my shock at learning that saying the word “crap” implies that you are: Immature Lower class Rude Lower in intelligence Impatient Undependable Less educated Thoughtless Careless The…
Culture is more than just the internal workings of a company.
It’s time for our group’s annual summit – quite the gathering of some of the smartest people I can imagine working with. My favorite part of it is getting back together with people I haven’t ran into in the past year just to catch up and see how everything is going in their world. That’s…