Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles to Help You This Week
/January 9th, 2017
Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners:" corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles and the submissions of others (with credit to you if I post them). I wish you a terrific week!
100,000-square-foot startup hub 'TechRise' planned for Buckhead“We are seeing increasing demand for short-term leases among emerging growth companies, and specifically in the tech sector,” noted Ken Ashley, executive director at Cushman & Wakefield. “Those companies are changing so rapidly, it’s hard to see even six months into the future, much less five years.”
While there is demand for short-term office space created by co-working spaces and incubators, it is unlikely the real estate industry will adopt the model at scale. “It’s one shelf, but it’s not the whole store,” Ashley said. “It would be unlikely that you would see many landlords take entire buildings and commit them to short-term (leases).” www.bizjournals.com
[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]“We are seeing increasing demand for short-term leases among emerging growth companies, and specifically in the tech sector.”[/tweet_box]
Why Millennials Don't Like to Make Phone Calls"The biggest reason has to do with time. We might not like to admit this, but as we get older, we stop forming as many new brain cells. (The myth is that we lose a lot of brain cells each day.) Millennials think faster than anyone older than 34. Millennials process information faster than most of us. They don't have time for outdated technology.
In my informal survey, Millennials said they want to communicate faster and get better answers. To me, it's the difference between asking a question on Twitter or trying to find an expert on a topic. Maybe the quality of the answer is different, but you can post on Twitter in about five second. (Believe me, I've tested this.) When I asked a question about parking in Las Vegas recently, about three people answered within seconds." www.inc.com
[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]Millennials process information faster than most of us. They don't have time for outdated technology.[/tweet_box]
Stop Setting Goals You Don’t Actually Care About"At the start of 2016, I asked myself one question: “How can I make achieving my professional growth goals effortless?” I found the answer was elegantly simple — by focusing on alignment goals.
Many people fail on their professional development goals for the year because they take on a lot of goals — goals that they feel they “should” do but ultimately don’t energize them. For example, maybe they tell themselves that they need to read a pile of books in order to learn more, keep up with their colleagues, or just stay up-to-date with their industry. But if sitting down to read feels more like a chore, it’s unlikely they’ll make any progress — and they may feel badly for not achieving their goal when the year comes to a close. While the goal itself felt like it was something that fit the needs of their professional role, it didn’t match the individual’s preferences or ambitions." www.hbr.com
Tech That Will Change Your Life in 2017"Ok, teleportation is still a ways off. But we’re still in awe of what’s in store for the next 12 months. The list below has become an annual tradition, where we talk to industry insiders, track the trends and otherwise gaze into our crystal ball to identify the tech that’s going to make an impact in the near term—for better and worse." www.wsj.com
How To Earn Your Manager's Respect"A recent HBR study of nearly 20,000 employees around the world found that the most important thing that workers want from their managers is respect. “If you don’t feel respected, you won’t be engaged in your work,” says Linda Hill, professor at Harvard Business School and the coauthor of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader. Respect from your boss has many layers, according to Michael Watkins, chairman of Genesis Advisers and a professor at IMD. It begins with being seen as “someone worth keeping and someone [your boss] wants to have as part of his team.” It progresses to being viewed as an employee deserving of “interesting and challenging assignments,” and finally as an employee that your manager, “wants to invest in and develop because he thinks you have a bright future.” Wanting respect is one thing; getting it is another. Here are some strategies." www.hbr.com
Meet The 28-Year-Old CEO Plowing Travel Guidebooks Into The FutureThree years after graduating from Western Kentucky University, Daniel Houghton, 28, took the helm of the now 44-year-old travel brand, Lonely Planet, in 2013. One of his first tasks? Laying off 75 people, one-fifth of the company’s employees, many of whom worked on Lonely Planet's free-spirited print guidebooks (though layoffs touched every team). Guidebook sales, industry-wide, had plummeted 40% from 2007 through 2012, so Houghton decided Lonely Planet had go digital to survive. One year after he took over, digital accounted for 30% of Lonely Planet’s revenue, and print sales also rebounded, up 27% since 2013. In his first month as CEO, Houghton circumnavigated the globe three times in two weeks, meeting Lonely Planet’s partners and staff in offices spanning five continents. www.forbes.com
Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!Ken
I needed, in fact I must, see what all the buzz is about if for no other reason than to have an authentic experience to share. It’s a little like describing the color blue if you’ve never seen it. Sometimes in life, the experience is worth its weight in gold.The whole idea came to life for me at a C&W meeting in Chicago where I bumped into WeWork CEO 
WeWork is one of a number of competitors in the area of 
After the meeting, I was able to grab a cup of terrific coffee and sit outside on one of the nicest fall days we’ve had in Atlanta. It felt a little intoxicating and even a little sinful to be able to sit outside on calls and working on documents. But I liked it!As the day wore on, it was a little strange to not have an assigned workspace (which you can purchase for yourself, if you like). I had to pack my bag up for lunch, and when I came back, it felt a little like walking into an airport business club – where would be the best strategic location for my afternoon tasks?I also found that concentration in an open environment can happen, but that it’s an acquired skill. Back to the airport club analogy – you can let you mind wander and people watch if your not careful. As the week progressed, I developed better discipline and became much more productive.I’ve become used to working physically close to my team, so when they left to head to our office, I had to reach out by phone or email. Not a problem…just a slightly different way of handling the day to day.It’s Really About the CommunityWE Work. Now I get the goal -- center manager Aja explained that the mission is for everyone at WeWork to find a way to support each other. If you need a PR guy, an accounting lady or any other service under the sun, check out the app. There is also a huge flat screen at every WeWork in the world that show's Instagram profiles of WeWorkers from all over.I enjoyed bumping into fellow WeWorkers (I say that with some pride) and hearing their stories too. Plus the community doesn’t stop at your local location either. WeWorkers can sit down at any location worldwide on their travels. Same for the WeWork app -- that expert you seek might sit in Seoul or Mexico City.Everyday I would get a message through my WeWork telling me of the networking event occurring that afternoon or evening at my location. These ranged from “build your own parfait” sessions to Yappy Hour to which many brings his or her dog. WeWork told me their dog policy is simple: they are friendly to dogs that are friendly to them.On a side note, I’ve wanted to bring my dog to work for many years. I did it. And I found out that, at least in my case, having
another dependent at the office was far more work than it was worth. It was a fun one-time experiment though. Plus Max loved all the attention.Another SurpriseNot everyone working at my location was just off the turnip truck. In fact, I saw workers and folks touring of all ages. One of our clients has a 40 person office located in a pod with adjacent offices.This is consistent with recent 
Well, I'm not quite a millenial yet, but at least I can tell you that I've given it a spin. Plus I made alot of new friends at WeWork Atlanta.I have to give Adam and his team credit. They looked at a very old mousetrap and created a new approach - and the world is noticing.I worked at WeWork and I'd do it again. 
I have a confession to make. For more than 17 years, I have been connected to the grid. Except for sleep, I was always tuned on. Yes, even on vacation, at night and certainly on weekends.I bet I’m not alone in this admission, but at least I can publically declare my addiction to connectivity. I was like a real estate Waffle House; always on and available. Some will say I was like their hash browns as well; scattered, smothered, covered and chopped – but that’s another story.But for 12 days in June, I had no iPhone, no computer, heck, not even a tin-can with a string. I accompanied my 15-year-old son Jonathan and his Boy Scout crew for a hiking expedition in the beautiful 
After reflecting on this experience for almost two weeks, I learned that you can, that you must, unplug occasionally. Just a few weeks ago I would have (and did) scoff at the very idea. I am now a full on convert to strategic digital vacations. They clear the mind, cleanse the soul, and allow one to have rich and meaningful conversations with those close to you.
