Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

February 12th, 2018

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! 

The Amazon-ification of Whole Foods"In the broader context of Amazon’s ambitions—to build an operating system for the home, to expand into pharmacies and health care, to become a hit-making television production studio—this is the logical next step in turning Prime into the ultimate “life bundle,” a single membership program to bind consumers to every possible commercial need. As Amazon extends into more product areas, it can own both the search platform and the product, so that when a dad says to the smart speaker on his counter, “Alexa, I need brown rice and pork,” the product that arrives is an Amazon-branded box containing Amazon–Whole Foods–branded rice and pork." www.theatlantic.com

How WeWork Has Perfectly Captured the Millennial Id"WeWork is the world’s leading co-working company and the sixth-most-valuable start-up, according to VentureSource. Last year it was valued at $20 billion, a staggering sum for a company renting out short-term office space, mostly to small businesses and freelancers. But like Uber and Airbnb, WeWork positions itself grandly, as a disruptive revolutionary. It promises to “humanize” work, making the office a more creative place, with the right lighting, the right snacks, and, crucially, the right people." www.theatlantic.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]#WeWork promises to “humanize” #work, making the #office a more creative place, with the right lighting, the right snacks, and, crucially, the right people #cre[/tweet_box]

If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?"Long hours are most common in managerial and professional occupations. This is something of a recent trend. In the old days, if you were a white-collar worker, the deal was that you worked as hard as you could at the start of your career to earn the right to be rewarded later on, with security of tenure and a series of increasingly senior positions. In professional organizations, such as law firms, accountancy firms, management consultancies, and investment banks, the prize was partnership. The competition was relentless, but once you won the prize, it was yours for keeps. Partners had autonomy to choose how and when to work and what to work on. Of course, some senior partners spent a surprising amount of their “business development time” on the golf course, but that was OK because they had already paid their dues to the organization." www.hbr.org

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]Long hours are most common in managerial and professional occupations. This is something of a recent trend #cre[/tweet_box]

The False Choice Between Automation and Jobs“The catch is that adopting these technologies will disrupt the world of work. No less significant than the jobs that will be displaced are the jobs that will change—and those that will be created. New research by the McKinsey Global institute suggests that roughly 15% of the global workforce could be displaced by 2030 in a midpoint scenario, but that the jobs likely created will make up for those lost. There is an important proviso: that economies sustain high economic growth and dynamism, coupled with strong trends that will drive demand for work. Even so, between 75 million to 375 million people globally may need to switch occupational categories by 2030, depending on how quickly automation is adopted." www.hbr.com

Workplace Changes Are Accelerating: Why And What Millennials Should Do About It"Change is to be expected, unfolding at a constant rate as new generations replace old generations, and as old ideas become obsolete. But here’s the thing; in today’s world, change isn’t unfolding at a constant rate—it’s unfolding at a faster and faster rate. The rate of change in today’s workplace is accelerating, and if you aren’t prepared, it could dramatically impact your career." www.forbes.com

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!Ken