How the Real Estate industry approaches technology - a tweetstorm.....

Desidia - Pieter Bruegel the Elder c.1556 - c.1560

Can't help but feel that real estate companies are fundamentally ducking the technology issue.

Repeatedly we see them 'joining up' with external orgs to 'expose us to the latest technology'

Effectively sitting there waiting for someone to show them something they can just buy. Shiny toy syndrome.

Expecting someone else to find them a silver bullet to transform their business.

But any silver bullet found for them will be available to anyone else - so where is the competitive advantage?

And besides, as spectators rather than participants, internal culture will remain the same. So alignment with tech 'mindset' will be low.

Just 'shopping' for tech is, IMHO, the lazy, easy approach adopted by followers, not leaders. The 'life is good' way to appear innovative.

The modern equivalent to CSR, a PR policy that fools too many in to thinking change is afoot. Without real commitment nothing changes.

I think the larger real estate companies should be building, not buying tech. They should be diving deep internally to understand...

.. what is is that would genuinely transform their value proposition vis a vis their peers. Not playing catchy up.

How we use real estate is fundamentally changing, and how we design, build, occupy, manage & transact likewise.

The whole industry is marching together, with a 'me too' attitude to technology. Everyone doing the same thing.

The smartest companies will know better than anyone else what will enable them 2 outrun the competition - and then build the supporting tech.

Because how can you stand apart when all you have is the same toolkit as everyone else? You can't, you won't.

That works when everyone is much of a muchness, like today, but that game is ending. The nature of supply and demand is changing.

The real estate business is no longer about real estate. We are moving, everywhere, from being a Product to a Service business.

And having the same old mindset, with the same, albeit new, tools as everyone else is a dead end.

Break free: reimagine 'your' company. Make it end to end digital with distinct technological capabilities. Build, don't buy!