It’s been a bit since I’ve posted here. I didn’t go into this slump expecting to not write, I actually have a few queued up. However, I hit an unexpected bump in the road: my mind wasn’t in it any more.
I’ve been on the Corporate side of the world for a bit over two years now. That means I’ve actually been having the fun of doing strategy, doing implementation, managing change, and seeing how all of this real estate stuff people in the industry talk about work in real life. I’ve been able to do great work and get great results.
That should be a great recipe for writing.
Turns out, that for me at least, it’s not.
Over two years, a number of my assumptions about what’s possible in real estate have been overturned. It’s nothing big or obvious. It’s a collection of little things that add up into something big. What are those big things?
- Strategy exists for 5+ years but changes annually. You cannot parachute someone in to push change. It happens in chunks but needs consistency to be real.
- Technology is almost always sold like fads instead of on real value. Almost every company that sells technology is full of marketing gimmicks. Almost every services company selling technology is trying to push an angle instead of telling the truth about how technology is nothing without process.
- Change management and strong leadership is the real key to success. Leases are always getting done but good leases take leadership.
- It’s easy to rely on 3rd party brokerage firms for value. It’s hard to consistently get the value you are trying for. Too much is dependent on individuals and timing.
It all summarizes down that doing real estate right takes time. Too much time for a 3rd party to really drive it. But things also move quickly at moments that you need to always have the team queued and ready.