If you haven’t noticed, the world is changing. And it’s changing more rapidly than it ever has before.
Think about Y2K — not just the fact that people were convinced the entire world would shut down at midnight (even after a bunch of other timezones had hit the year 2000 without incident), but where we were technology-wise. No one in my family had a cell phone, I was just being introduced to dial up internet, and plane tickets were still physical things (and we could carry liquids and wear shoes). That was only 20 years ago. The difference between 1900s tech and 1920s tech, or even 1960s and 1980s tech, was not nearly as vast. It was a question of degrees: incremental improvements to engines, calculators suddenly able to graph things, a computer instead of a typewriter for word processing, and even if you didn’t keep up with times you still basically understood the world and what was going on. But now those who aren’t well-versed in technological advances run the risk of misunderstanding entire industries, not seeing impending threats, and making the wrong choices with the wrong information.
In our government we have people who do not understand the systems they are supposed to legislate (most shockingly evidenced by the questions asked of Zuckerburg when he testified before congress). We had a whole wave of doctors retire when they were no longer able to write prescriptions and had to use an online system. And in real estate we have....most companies. Half the agents at Compass don’t even realize how far ahead we are with AI and what that means for the future of both our company and the industry. But you know who gets it? Those of us who grew up with this pace of life and “progress.”
There are a lot of people in real estate who don’t want things to change, but change is inevitable. For example, Australia will never fully recover from the months of fires and then flash flooding that have destroyed so much of their natural beauty and habitat for their iconic species. They’re considering getting rid of summer vacation because what’s the point of taking off school if it isn’t safe to travel and air quality is keeping you inside? Attempts to go back to “an old way of life,” with more racism and fewer computers, are completely pointless. So it’s frustrating that about a third of the country seems to want to try that.
The companies that will succeed in the future are the ones who can understand these inevitable changes, and the companies that I support are those that use this opportunity for good, not for unnecessary endless profit. This is a big reason I hate Zillow; the company has no actual vision other than “let’s make more money for our shareholders.” Do that, but do it by having a specific view of where the industry is going, like Compass has (high tech and high touch, with agents involved) rather than this slash and burn upheaval with no idea where it will lead (price-gouging agents and spending millions on ads that straight up lie to consumers). Zillow is also an example of why going with the MOST technology-forward option (the one that tries to eliminate all people) isn’t always good. Not only are they unable to analyze data at the level Compass is, they’re more likely to be part of the next big bubble burst (the ’20s’ answer to the housing crisis).
Also in the failing column will be companies that “adapt” by tweaking their existing systems, but don’t think big enough or make actual changes. In real estate some examples are rebranding and getting a new marketing team (but not investing in ) or adjusting your agent agreements to include “clawbacks,” penalties for switching your license aimed to keep agents from coming to Compass, specifically. These clawbacks are being challenged in court because in the case of the company asking for 3 years of marketing budget back, PLUS a huge chunk of the past three years’ commissions, that seems to constitute an employee/employer relationship. And we are not employees; we are 1099 independent contractors who don’t get a salary and pay our companies for the luxury of working there. Outside of real estate we have parallel situations, like the car companies lobbying to keep our dependence on fossil fuels (failing) versus companies like Polestar that are completely reinventing what a car can be (winning).
This is also why I get so mad about this whole old-white-male as default, the kind of person who runs for office claiming they know best because they’ve lived the longest. I’m sorry, but you have NO IDEA what you’re talking about. Biden, for example, is great and I respect him, but he is too clueless about the state of the world to be in charge of its future. And everyone knows a Trump in their life, the older drunk guy (or, in his case, on “legal meth” i.e. adderall) at the barbecue burning meat on the grill while lecturing everyone else and talking loudly over people with a story that’s vaguely inappropriate and no one asked to hear. We all know these guys, and they are fine, but they should not be in charge of anything (especially the grill). To tackle the new problems we will face as a society, the answer can’t be to go back and make something the way it WAS. It’s not going to happen. These people can go bury their heads in the sand and get out of the way.
We can’t have an electoral college system when it means Cambridge Analytica can target 70,000 people in a handful of counties and turn the election (please watch The Great Hack). We can’t worry about what corporate losses will be when talking about the switch from fossil fuels. We can’t address actual issues around poverty when our government just keeps pointing to numbers saying everything is great (when people on the ground know that isn’t true). And we can’t deal with the coronavirus or future outbreaks if our government is more worried about the news’ effect on the stock market than what the CDC advises to protect our citizens. Those in charge right now could fix so much with the stroke of a pen, but they refuse, because they are either small-minded, selfish, or both. The older I get the more I really think it’s a lack of understanding for most, while a select few are legit evil (lookin at you, Mitch McConnell).
I didn’t vote for Bernie in the primary this year (I did in 2016), but I will happily vote for him in the general and would love to hear your answer why you wouldn’t, if you’re a Bloomberg/Biden or bust Democrat right now. We are in a place where we need to think outside the “status quo,” because the world is moving too quickly for us to pretend everything can stay the same. It honestly can’t, and won’t, and we can either acknowledge that and move on or die trying to dam the tide.
When I was in Cuba with GCAS for a graduate program on the Philosophy of Revolution, I was asked what my generation’s revolution would look like, and I didn’t have an answer. Ironically, even these people asking me had a limited understanding, though, because they criticized us for not protesting the way they did when hey were young. But now even protesting is different. Standing on the street will only do so much good, but thankfully there are so many new options (yes, I’m counting my writing as a form of dissent). But we still need a government that actually listens to us when we do protest, and I think electing someone like Bernie would be a revolution of sorts, ignoring the “experts” (who also predicted Hilary would win and worked on her completely out of touch campaign) who say it’s impossible, and ignoring the “establishment” (who are too worried about their cushy positions and how any major changes would affect them).
It’s amazing to be reminded that before 1974 women weren’t even allowed to have credit cards or apply for loans, and to look back at my childhood and how I will always be fucked up about my body because of the portrayals of women in the media then compared to now. Oh, and I feel like if I were sexually assaulted these days I could maybe do something about it, which is cool, even if I’m still waiting on an equal rights amendment. We have made a lot of progress, for sure. And this progress makes it frustrating as hell to watch people tank companies, industries, and countries in an attempt to undo this progress, and refuse to relinquish control even when they are no longer able to understand the world and their roles in it.
As my boy Walter would say, “Shut the fuck up, Donnie. You’re out of your element.”
xo
Anna