Lisa Bodell Bodell: “You can influence change in the early stages. What holds you back is complexity and complacency.”

SAN DIEGO—Creating more space for change and growth within a company often means killing the status quo and asking the tough questions, futurethink’s CEO Lisa Bodell told attendees at SIOR’s Spring Conference here on April 14. Bodell headlined the opening general session of the conference by talking about change and what prevents companies—commercial real estate brokerage firms, in this case—from growing and improving.

Her goal of the session, Bodell said, was to “create more space for change and innovation in your organization.” But why is this so hard? “The people who say they want change stop it from happening.”

Part of the problem is getting lost in the process of work—the day-to-day email checking and meetings—she said. But change starts with good ideas, and the best ideas come not from meetings but when one is by oneself, perhaps otherwise engaged in mundane tasks like driving or exercising. Then, change is effected when people come together to collaborate on their ideas.

Change also requires being truly open to new ideas and being able to spot a great one in its infancy—and how it will transform commercial real estate. For example, driverless cars may have seemed like a pie-in-the-sky concept not long ago, but it has gained momentum and is likely to be a widespread reality within just a few years. This impacts everything from where buildings are located to how much parking is really needed. The concept of 4D printing could be applied to self-assembling buildings, which could cut construction time and costs dramatically.

“In the next 10 years, what are you going to be doing that you’re not doing now?” Bodell asked. Forward thinking is a huge part of allowing change, but most people are focusing on the day-to-day or not thinking far enough ahead to effect real change. Bodell advocates “killing a stupid rule” if it doesn’t serve the company’s purpose and is just “the way we’ve always done it.” She also recommends asking “killer questions”—the ones that may make people uncomfortable but really get them thinking.

Bodell’s ultimate recommendations include thinking on one’s feet, not giving up on one’s beliefs, looking forward five to 10 years, seeking to do things better than what’s been done before, hiring people with diverse backgrounds to introduce diverse ideas and learning from things unrelated to your business. “In the future, asking the right questions will become more valuable than finding answers.”

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