July 15, 2019

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

July 15, 2019/ Ken Ashley

1. Duke Long’s Updated 2019 Top 150 Commercial Real Estate People You Must Connect With On LinkedIn and Duke Long’s Updated: 2019 Top 100 Commercial Real Estate People You Must Follow On Twitter

I am humbled to be named No. 38 on Duke’s list of the top people to connect with on LinkedIn and No. 4 on his list of the top commercial real estate people you must follow on Twitter.

2. The Power of One Push-Up

The numbers used to assess health are, for the most part, not helpful.

There are the vital signs: heart and respiratory rates and body temperature. Sometimes blood pressure. These are critical in emergencies. If you’ve been stabbed in the chest, paramedics want to know no numbers more than these.

But in day-to-day life, the normalcy of those numbers is expected. It doesn’t so much grant you a clean bill of health as indicate that you are not in acute danger. What if you just generally want to know whether you’re on pace to live an average life or longer?

Except in extreme cases, no single number gives a good idea of whether a person is functionally healthy or not. The common numbers are not directly or easily changeable. As these numbers continue to dominate health care, however, an emerging body of evidence is finding useful and cheap numbers that anyone can track. If these new numbers aren’t being taken seriously, it may be because they seem too obvious.

3. The Wrong Ways to Strengthen Culture

Compared with some other activities of business leaders, such as hiring the right talent and setting strategy, changing corporate culture can be especially challenging. Culture is amorphous; there are no direct levers for shifting it in one direction or another. Indications are that CEOs are putting a higher priority on this aspect of leadership than in the past.

According to a study by the research and advisory firm Gartner, CEOs mentioned culture 7% more often during earnings conference calls in 2016 than in 2010. In surveys both CEOs and CHROs say that “managing and improving the culture” is the top priority for talent management.

But the data suggests that there’s lots of room for improvement: Each year companies spend $2,200 per employee, on average, on efforts to improve the culture (much of the money goes to consultants, surveys, and workshops)—but only 30% of CHROs report a good return on that investment.

When trying to spearhead culture change, many leaders use the wrong tools. Having surveyed more than 7,500 employees and nearly 200 HR leaders at global companies and conducted in-depth interviews with 100 HR leaders, Gartner has written a report identifying the most- (and the least-) effective ways leaders try to transform culture. To increase their odds of success, the report advises, they should avoid three mistakes.

4. What Startup Employees Can Teach the Rest of Us About Work

In the 1950s, the average age of a company on the S&P 500 index was 60. Today, that number is 20. This means that the most successful corporations are growing three times faster than they have in the past. To succeed at this rate of rapid change, employees and business leaders have had to adapt by adopting growth mindsets, learning new skills, and embracing flexibility. Where stability and long-term planning were once the mark of a sound strategy, adaptability is the new competitive advantage.

This need for adaptability is not new, though it doesn’t come easy to everyone. Over the past two decades, many large companies have failed to evolve and seen their business margins, market share, and profitability suffer — sometimes leading to devastating results.

So why are some companies able to evolve while others struggle? I argue that it comes down to who you hire. Fundamentally, leaders with a growth mindset believe intelligence and success can be learned, while those with a fixed mindset believe that these are static traits over which they have little control.

In the context of a large company that is seeing increasingly volatile business results, leaders with a growth mindset are far more likely to adapt, push for change, and encourage others do the same — a skill that is needed to succeed in today’s workforce.

5. How Hot-Desking Will Kill Your Company

(Photo by Photofusion/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Photo credit: Universal Images Group via Getty Images

If you hate your company, its employees and the shareholders then go ahead and introduce the latest management fad: Hot-desking.

It's a better way to destroy the firm than inviting Russian hackers to rob you blind. The bigger the company, the faster the damage will occur with hot-desking.

Hot-desking is a working arrangement where employees have no assigned desk. Each morning you get a workstation based on that old standby, first-come-first-served. If you show up at 5:30 a.m. then you'll likely have your pick. Later than 9 a.m., then probably you'll get what’s left even if that means working apart from your colleagues.

The theory behind this idea is that it provides companies with increased flexibility in managing office space.

With some exceptions, the drawbacks vastly outweigh any benefits. I know this having witnessed decades in corporate jobs, including a role at one employer that implemented such idiocy.

Here’s what you need to know.

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

March 25, 2019

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

March 25, 2019/ kenashley

March 25th, 2019

Who Still Buys Wite-Out, and Why?

“Christmastime is when the pens in my house get their biggest workout of the year. Like many Americans above grammar-school age, I seldom write by hand anymore, outside of barely legible grocery lists. But the end of the year brings out a slew of opportunities for penmanship: adding notes to holiday cards to old friends, addressing them, and then doing the same with thank-you notes after Christmas. And given how little I write in the other 11 months of the year, that means there are a lot of errors, which in turn spur a new connection with another old friend: Wite-Out.The sticky, white fluid and its chief rival, Liquid Paper, are peculiar anachronisms, throwbacks to the era of big hair, big cars, and big office stationery budgets. They were designed to help workers correct errors they made on typewriters without having to retype documents from the start. But typewriters have disappeared from the modern office, relegated to attics and museums. Even paper is disappearing from the modern office, as more and more functions are digitized. But correction fluids are not only surviving—they appear to be thriving, with Wite-Out sales climbing nearly 10 percent in 2017, according to the most recent public numbers. It’s a mystery of the digital age."

www.theatlantic.com Correction fluids are not only surviving—they appear to be thriving, with Wite-Out sales climbing nearly 10 percent in 2017, according to the most recent public numbers. It’s a mystery of the digital age.

DAVID PLATER UK / GETTY

No One Asks the Top CEOs Where They Went to College

Of the CEOs of the top 20 companies in last year’s Fortune 500, exactly one — Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos — went to an Ivy League school (Princeton). And that’s not all. We tend to think of the founders of technology companies as having all gone to Stanford University (or dropping out of Harvard University). And yes, many of them did. But Michael Dell went to the University of Texas. Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Marc Andreessen went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. So did Larry Ellison, though he never graduated.

www.crainschicago.com Of the CEOs of the top 20 companies in last year’s Fortune 500, exactly one — Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos — went to an Ivy League school (Princeton)

The Worlds Most Successful People Don't Actually Start Work at 4 a.m. They Wake and Work Whenever the (Heck) They Decide

"Apple CEO Tim Cook starts his morning routine -- not just his morning, his morning routine -- at 3:45. General Motors CEO Mary Barra gets to the office by 6 a.m. Best-selling author Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code, etc.) gets up at 4 a.m., has a smoothie and a cup of bulletproof coffee, and then grinds away.

Clearly, waking up early works for them.

But not for everyone.

As Adam Grant says, "The world's most successful people aren't worried about what time others wake up. They wake and work on the schedule that works for them."

What seems right for early birds may not be right for you, because what time you start your day has nothing to do with your level of success.

Success is all about what you accomplish -- and, just as important, how you choose to accomplish it.”

www.inc.com

The Hottest Chat App for Teens Is … Google Docs

"When the kids in Skyler’s school want to tell a friend something in class, they don’t scrawl a note down on a tiny piece of paper and toss it across the room. They use Google Docs.

“We don’t really pass physical notes anymore,” said Skyler, 15, who, like all the other students in this story, is identified by a pseudonym.

SHUTTERSTOCK

As more and more laptops find their way into middle and high schools, educators are using Google Docs to do collaborative exercises and help students follow along with the lesson plan. The students, however, are using it to organize running conversations behind teachers’ backs." www.theatlantic.com

How to Make Your Open Office Less Annoying

"You know you’re in an open-plan office when you click on an article that will allow you to hate-read about open offices, then kind of hide your computer screen with the top half of your torso so that your colleagues don’t realize just how much you’re not a team player.You know you’re in an open office because you’re trying to write a sensitive email while wedged between one coworker making a gynecologist appointment and another picking tuna-fish salad out of his Invisalign.The office’s openness is never more real to you than when you try to have a private conversation with the intern about the office dress code, only to further expose the entire office—to a lesson in micro-generational social norms and the definition of a “cold-shoulder top.”

Around 70 percent of offices in the United States are open-concept, according to the BBC, even though these paper-pushing panopticons make us more likely to get sick, and make us less likely to be ... uh, what was I saying ... productive. Because of all the distractions.

www.theatlantic.com

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

March 11, 2019

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

March 11, 2019/ kenashley

March 11th, 2019

There's Only One Blockbuster Store Left in the Entire World

“Blockbuster was once one of the largest retailers in the world. It helped move the consumers' ability to watch movies from the theater to the home, via stores that offered videotapes of mainline films for rent. Eventually, it was buried by Netflix and other companies that offered DVDs via mail, and then the emergence of streaming. Two Blockbuster stores survived as of this week. One will close later this month, and that leaves only one left in the world.

Blockbuster was founded in 1985. At its peak, in 2004, it had over 9,000 stores. About half of those were in the United States. Blockbuster's employee count in the same year was 84,000, which is nearly triple what Google parent Alphabet has today. www.usatoday.com

The exterior of a Blockbuster video rental store is seen February 10, 2004 in San Francisco. Soon there will be only one Blockbuster location left in the world, a store in Bend, Oregon.

(Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)

Heads Up, Real Estate World, Driverless Cars Are Coming

"...to get these vehicles fully driverless will take longer to develop than the low-speed autonomous shuttles. These cars would be an advantage for suburban areas, helping to increase real estate values further away from urban centers with faster travel time and more options.

However, the transportation information entrepreneur warns planning ahead for this technology is critical. Within dense urban areas, it could increase traffic, congestion and parking problems. This would require appropriate charges for driving and parking within the city.“Very strong leadership would need to be ahead of this,” warns Matt Caywood. “People don’t worry about things until it becomes a problem. At that point it becomes a really big problem.” www.globest.com Matt Caywood, CEO of TransitScreen

Elon Musk Had a Great Week

“Elon Musk can exhale.

The entrepreneur has been on edge since SpaceX launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station last weekend. The launch went smoothly, the Falcon 9 rocket lighting up the night sky like a flare in the darkness. And SpaceX spacecraft have visited the space station more than a dozen times before, to deliver supplies and science instruments to the astronauts on board. But this mission was unlike the others. The spacecraft that launched on Saturday was designed to carry humans." www.theatlantic.com

Parachutes soften the descent of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft on its return to Earth.

NASA

1B SF Of New Industrial Deliveries Not Enough To Satisfy Demand

"Industrial tenants want more space and they want it now."

Industrial supply nationwide is through the roof — with nearly 1B SF of new space coming online during the last three years — but it isn't enough, according to a report.

Despite the surge in supply, there was positive net absorption in 43 of the 47 markets that were tracked during 2018. During the fourth quarter, 40 markets enjoyed positive net absorption. www.bisnow.com

The People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

Two pieces of bread—one spread with peanut butter and one spread with jelly

YURIY GOLUB / SHUTTERSTOCK

"So there is nothing wrong with this habit. In fact, there are many things right with it. I spoke with about half a dozen people who, at one time or another, have eaten the same thing for lunch every day. Together, their stories form a defense of a practice that is often written off as uninspired.Many of the people I talked with emphasized the stress-reducing benefits of eating the same thing each day. Amanda Respers, a 32-year-old software developer in Newport News, Virginia, once ate a variation on the same home-brought salad (a lettuce, a protein, and a dressing) at work for about a year. She liked the simplicity of the formula, but the streak ended when she and her now-husband, who has more of an appetite for variety, moved in together six years ago. Would she still be eating the salad every day if she hadn’t met him? “Oh heck yeah,” she told me. “It would’ve saved so much time.

"www.theatlantic.com

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

March 04, 2019

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

March 04, 2019/ kenashley

March 4th, 2019

Stressed at Work? Mentoring a Colleague Could Help

“Our experiment results showed that people who served as mentors experienced lower levels of anxiety, and described their job as more meaningful, than those who did not mentor. We learned from our interviews that mentoring afforded senior (officials) a venue for discussing and reflecting on concerns. Mentors heard their mentees’ accounts of anxiety and realized these feelings — which they also shared — were commonplace. By acknowledging that these anxieties were common, both mentees and mentors grew more comfortable in discussing them and in sharing different coping mechanisms. Mentors often found their interactions with junior colleagues therapeutic."

www.bisnow.com By acknowledging that these anxieties were common, both mentees and mentors grew more comfortable in discussing them and in sharing different coping mechanisms.

ZHAO HUI/GETTY IMAGES

Real Estate Giants Try to be More Like WeWork

"...at Dock 72, an innovative new building in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard where WeWork’s custom co-working offices and Rise by We fitness studio will soon fill a third of the square footage, landlords are claiming a small victory. The building, co-owned by Boston Properties and Rudin Management, has its own tech. Rudin’s technology subsidiary, Prescriptive Data, has developed a mobile app to serve as tenants’ main portal for interacting with the building.

For Dock 72, Rudin developed a mobile app to serve as tenants’ main portal for interacting with the building. [Image: courtesy of Boston Properties]The Dock 72 app will allow tenants and their employees to enter the building, register guests, book fitness classes at the in-house studio, order and pay for food at the cafeteria, book shared conference rooms, and submit work orders for maintenance issues. Data from the app will also provide the property’s operators and managers with real-time insights into the patterns of users, helping to improve building services and performance. With the app, Michael Rudin, senior vice president of Rudin Management Company, says he wants the building to be cashless.” www.fastcompany.com

With the app…Rudin Management Company, wants the building to be cashless

Canyon Ranch to Bring Its Trailblazing Wellness Model to Senior Living

"Canyon Ranch is entering senior living at a time when many operators are reconfiguring their operations to focus on wellness. Based on what he has seen in the resort industry, Milner is confident that Canyon Ranch will provide a more robust and time-tested offering than potential competitors, however.

Photo credit CanyonRanch and Leisuremanagement.co

“Resorts would claim to have spas or wellness programs and when you really looked under the marketing and looked at substance, there [was] not much there,” he said. “So, I’m not educated enough yet on senior housing as a segment [to know] how serious these wellness programs are, and I hope there are some really serious players in it, but I certainly know there’s not anybody with our wellness background and skill set in the market." www.seniorhousingnews.com

A Historic Rocket Launch Lights Up the Night; SpaceX is one step closer to returning human spaceflight to U.S. soil.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—The stars were out over the marshlands near the launchpad. Crickets trilled a steady melody, interrupted by the occasional squawk of a bird flying low over the water. Except for a few pops of lightning, the sky was a very deep blue, almost black. It was, by all appearances, nighttime.

Then came a burst of blinding light.

A SpaceX rocket ignited its engines just before 3 a.m. ET on Saturday and rose like a ball of fire against the sky. A gold-colored glow spread across the horizon, like a racing sunrise in the middle of the night.

For the first time, a commercially built spacecraft designed to carry humans has launched to the International Space Station. www.theatlantic.com

The American flag stands upright on the surface of the moon.

NASA Is Rushing to the Moon

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER / NASA" The Trump administration wants to put humans on the moon by 2028. Unlike the Apollo program, this won’t be an in-house effort. NASA has asked American aerospace companies to submit designs for transportation systems that could be launched and tested, without a crew, as early as 2024. Applications are due in late March, and the winners stand to receive contracts worth from $300,000 to $9 million. Potential participants include longtime NASA contractors such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman; the quirky-billionaire-owned SpaceX and Blue Origin; and smaller, more obscure companies." www.theatlantic.com

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

February 25, 2019

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

February 25, 2019/ kenashley

February 24th, 2019

Amazon Real Estate Head Holly Sullivan Has No Regrets About The HQ2 Search

“The primary factor that we really looked at was the labor market,” Sullivan told Bisnow Thursday in an interview. “If you look at the RFP, it was fairly concise, but direct on what we were looking for. And that was a location where we could have the talent on day one, but also an opportunity to build that talent pipeline. We specifically referenced a tech talent pipeline.”The company found that talent hub in Arlington. Amazon will build a 4M SF campus in the newly christened “National Landing” headquarters, and, as part of the deal with Virginia, Virginia Tech has committed to open a $1B satellite campus for innovation 2 miles away.The public process naturally led to a trial in the court of public opinion, where Amazon has taken its lumps. After months of dealing with staunch opposition in New York City, the company decided to pull out of its agreement to open half of HQ2 in Queens. Amazon wanted a good, long-term partner, Sullivan said, and it lost confidence that it could find one in New York."

www.bisnow.com The primary factor that we really looked at was the labor market

Strong Start to 2019 for Architecture Billings

"Starting the year on a strong note, architecture firm billings growth strengthened in January to a level not seen in the previous twelve months according to a new report released today from The American Institute of Architects (AIA).AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score for January was 55.3 compared to 51.0* in December. Indicators of work in the pipeline, including inquiries into new projects and the value of new design contracts, also strengthened in January.“The government shutdown affected architecture firms but doesn’t appear to have created a slowdown in the profession,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “While AIA did hear from a few firms that were experiencing significant cash flow issues due to the shutdown, the data suggests that the majority of firms had no long-term impact.”

www.aia.org

Starting the year on a strong note, architecture firm billings growth strengthened in January to a level not seen in the previous twelve months

Five Industrial Trends for 2019

"Now that we're a month in to 2019, everyone has recovered from the holiday season and is eagerly looking ahead to the rest of the year. If your company is considering moving to a new industrial building or renting industrial space for the first time, there are some predicted trends that are important for you to know." www.reoptimizer.com

Renters No More? Millennials Look to Ownership

Could Millennials, long regarded as the renting generation, represent the long-term bedrock of single-family home construction? A special report from Wells Fargo Securities and L.E.K. Consulting says yes.

“Millennials’ delayed household formation has led to a 2.2-million household gap relative to what the historical headship rate levels of their Gen X counterparts would imply,” according to the Wells/L.E.K. report.That late start in forming households can be attributed to the weak labor market following the 2008 recession, and a student debt overhang, the report says. “However, aging Millennials are set to close the headship rate gap with prior generations—likely driving steady long-term growth in residential new construction.”

www.connect.media

The FAA Is Finding New Tricks to Cut Delays

The Federal Aviation Administration is taking steps to reduce air-traffic congestion that has spread beyond crowded New York.

ILLUSTRATION: HARRY CAMPBELL

As the skies get more crowded, the Federal Aviation Administration is making changes to air-traffic control in hopes of avoiding the kind of widespread delays that travelers experienced routinely 20 years ago.The total number of minutes that flights were delayed by air-traffic control slowdowns—most of it attributable to weather—soared 69% to 21.7 million in 2017 from 12.8 million in 2012. Twenty-seventeen was a particularly bad year for ATC delays because of storm-related slowdowns, triggering the efforts to find new ways to minimize weather impact. It started working in 2018. Delay minutes actually dropped 4% compared with 2017 because of a new effort to speed flights out of New York airports.

But the number of flights keeps growing—up 2% last year—as airlines add more service, and congestion concerns have spread beyond crowded New York. The FAA is under pressure to find ways to handle storms without as many delays to avoid a return to the quagmire that air travel became in 1999 and 2000, when talk of gridlock abounded.On April 1, the FAA will change how it handles flights into and out of Chicago and Denver, replicating the changes in New York airspace that reduced delays even as traffic increased. On the same day, it will also launch a major push to reduce slowdowns nationwide when bad weather hits.”[WSJ paywall]

www.wsj.com

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

February 18, 2019

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

February 18, 2019/ kenashley

February 18th, 2019

Google to Spend $13 Billion on Data Centers, Offices Across U.S.

"Alphabet Inc.’s Google plans to spend $13 billion on data centers and offices across the U.S. in 2019, saying the investment will create thousands of new construction jobs in states outside its traditional base of California.The new spending builds on $9 billion the company put into expanding across the country last year. By the end of 2019, Google will have a presence in 24 states, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said in a blog post on Wednesday. As many as 10,000 new construction jobs could be created in Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia, Pichai said.Doubling down on hiring people across the country could help spread Google’s political influence at a time when lawmakers and regulators are asking tougher questions about the internet giant’s data-driven business model and approach to privacy. At Congressional hearings in 2018, conservative politicians repeatedly accused the company of having a left-wing bias because most of its employees were based in stereotypically liberal CaliforniaThe spending also underlines how much money Google is pouring into data centers, which are key for its growing cloud-services business as well as supporting its core search and ad products. Though the company’s revenue continues marching steadily upward, costs are growing too, weighing down margins." www.bloomberg.com

Pedestrians walk past the Google Inc. offices in New York, U.S.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]Search this | Google plans to spend $13 billion on data centers and offices across the U.S. in 2019 #cre[/tweet_box]

Import Wave Jams California Warehouses

A steady wave of imports into Southern California’s ports has the region’s shipping terminals overstuffed.

"A steady wave of imports into Southern California’s ports, driven by a robust U.S. economy and companies trying to get goods moving ahead of potential tariffs, has the region’s warehouses and shipping terminals overstuffed and distribution networks jammed.

U.S. businesses have been pulling shipments forward ahead of expected tariff increases and China’s Lunar New Year holiday, when the nation’s factories shut down for several weeks. That stacked-up inventory is straining logistics capacity around the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together comprise the biggest U.S. trans-Pacific gateway.

“In 30 years I’ve never seen anything like this,” said BJ Patterson, chief executive of warehouse operator Pacific Mountain Logistics in San Bernardino, Calif." [WSJ paywall] www.wsj.com

Retail's Woes Aren't Over -- Consumer Trends Signal They May Be Starting Again

"As a group, the affluents are the most highly educated in our society and also the best read. They follow the news, especially the business news, more religiously than the lesser-educated, lower-income masses. As a result, they see dark clouds on the economy’s horizon sooner than the rest.

To assess the affluents’ perspective on the state of the economy, we need to look at another survey, this one conducted by Ipsos at the end of 2018. With a consumer base of individuals with incomes $125k and above, Ipsos found that the affluents currently are far less optimistic about the U.S. economy than they were the same time last year ." www.forbes.com The Biggest Impediment To Growth In CREtech

The latest splashy headlines in CREtech tout

total funding

and the

extraordinary proliferation of startups

—both wonderful things that benefit the entire sector. A reality check is in order though. Before the hasty celebrations kick off, let’s talk about the biggest impediment to growth facing CREtech.

Adoption.Scaling issues trouble many CREtech startups unless their customers fully adopt and engage with their product/solution. Nascent startups overlook the fact that many target customers simply do not have the human resources or physical infrastructure in the first place.“Tech products and services present a learning curve, as they require people to change the way they currently operate and implement new processes. It’s no longer good enough to simply deliver a valuable product or service; the most successful companies are the ones who recognize this fact and dedicate resources to assisting people in implementing change,” says Shannon Shaw of

WiredScore

www.cretech.com

Amazon’s Pullout From Queens, N.Y., Stuns Real-Estate Industry

The Citigroup Building, at center right, which was previously scheduled to house new Amazon employees, stands in the Long Island City neighborhood in Queens.PHOTO: DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES

“Amazon.comInc.’s announcement that it is ditching plans for a corporate headquarters in New York City stunned real-estate speculators, developers and renters who had rushed into the Long Island City neighborhood to be near the new HQ2.

Only three months ago, the prospect that the giant retailer would locate a headquarters in New York City and create 25,000 new jobs set off a real-estate frenzy that the borough of Queens had never experienced.Open houses for Long Island City condos were overflowing. Brokers said customers made offers via text messages on units, site unseen. Developers with office space in Long Island jockeyed to attract the thousands of workers that were expected, and local residents cheered the promise that new restaurants, fashion boutiques and other new stores would flood the retail-starved neighborhood.”[WSJ paywall]

www.wsj.com

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

February 11, 2019

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

February 11, 2019/ kenashley

February 11th, 2019

Why People Still Don’t Buy Groceries Online

"However they get customers to sign up, supermarkets are likely going to have to spend a lot of money in promotions and deals as they try to make delivery more popular among consumers. This, of course, advantages Amazon, which has deep pockets and has long been able to convince shareholders that spending up front on getting customers in the door has long-term dividends. This has never been Peapod’s strategy—it outlasted competitors like Webvan because it never spent a lot of money it didn’t have, Parkinson told me." www.theatlantic.com

A Peapod employee fulfills an online order (Alana Semuels / The Atlantic)[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]However they get customers to sign up, supermarkets are likely going to have to spend a lot of money in promotions and deals as they try to make delivery more popular among consumers[/tweet_box]

Research Explores How “Fresh Starts” Affect Our Motivation at Work

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACQUELINE FOSS/FLICKR/GETTY IMAGES

"The beginning of the year is often a time for fresh starts. It marks a new period — a distinct point between the past and the future — which motivates people to set new goals and strive for self-improvement.

But what if you were already doing pretty well? Would a fresh start still be motivating? Or might it actually set you back?I explored these questions in the context of work performance. Across one field study and three laboratory experiments, I found that a fresh start on people’s performance records — what I call a “performance reset” — affected their motivation and future performance differently, depending on their past performance." www.hbr.org Remembering Herb Kelleher: The Power of Authentically Engaging Employees"He was the best listener I've ever met in my life,” Parker said. “You tell people that and they're kind of surprised (because) he always talks so much.”His attention was always focused on the conversation. It didn't matter who else was in the room or walked into the room, Parker said.“He was intently listening,” Parker said. “That was really helpful to me. What I realized is that's how he learned so much. And he really cared about what people had to say and their thoughts and where they came from. … I think that's how he go so well in touch with his people (at Southwest). That's how he got to know what was going on at his airline.”

"Kelleher was a legendary character and an upstart maverick who disrupted an industry." www.leanblog.com

How To Remember Names

“A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”-Dale CarnegieOne of the best ways to make a favorable first impression — and to get ahead socially or in business — is to remember people’s names. You can improve your ability to remember names if you will follow these four steps" www.witt.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language[/tweet_box]

Workplace Theft Is on the Rise

“Your office is a den of thieves. Don’t take my word for it: When a forensic-accounting firm surveyed workers in 2013, 52 percent admitted to stealing company property. And the thievery is getting worse. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners reports that theft of “non-cash” property—ranging from a single pencil in the supply closet to a pallet of them on the company loading dock—jumped from 10.6 percent of corporate-theft losses in 2002 to 21 percent in 2018. Managers routinely order up to 20 percent more product than is necessary, just to account for sticky-fingered employees.

JAMES GRAHAM

Some items—scissors, notebooks, staplers—are pilfered perennially; others vanish on a seasonal basis: The burn rate on tape spikes when holiday gifts need wrapping, and parents ransack the supply closet in August, to avoid the back-to-school rush at Target. After a new Apple gadget is released, some workers report that their company-issued iPhone is broken—knowing that IT will furnish a replacement, no questions asked.” www.theatlantic.comYour success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

February 04, 2019

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

February 04, 2019/ kenashley

February 4th, 2019

15 Years Ago, Google's CEO Had a Brilliant Response to a Tricky Interview Question – and it Helped Him Get Hired

"When it comes to job interviews, we all want to give answers that make us stand out from the rest of the candidates. That means knowing how to answer each question, including the tricky ones designed to stump you.

But what if you don't know the answer to a question?" www.cnbc.com

Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Google CEO Sundar Pichai

Make Way for Generation Z in the Workplace

They are risk-averse and more diverse, says Inc. magazine. Forbessays they “want to work on their own and be judged on their own merits rather than those of their team.”Generation Z is arriving, and they are different than previous generations – or at least that’s how this young cohort is being portrayed as it begins to enter the workforce. After the traditionalists, baby boomers, Generation X and Generation Y/millennials, we have Generation Z – that group born after 1995 now starting to graduate college.But is Generation Z really different, and if so, how? When it comes to ascribing characteristics and accepting advice about a particular generation, caveat emptor. Over-generalizing about any group is a slippery business." www.knowledge,wharton,edu[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]#GenZ: "As a group, they are “sober, industrious and driven by money,” reports the Wall Street Journal, but also “socially awkward and timid about taking the reins.”[/tweet_box]2019 Workplace Trend Predictions

The Fox Architects office just received the Fitwel 3 Star Rating – Image by Ron Blunt Photography

"Happy New Year, WDM readers! Work Design publisher, Bob Fox has again spent the month of January picking the brains of industry experts, clients, and peers while reviewing patterns in the market to round up his predictions for the biggest workplace trends in 2019. His list of five major trends include some new and some continuations that he expects will make an impact on the workplace this year.." www.workdesign.com

Modern Office Design: The One Thing Employees Want Most

“In the war for top talent, many employers assume the way to win is to offer employees unique and trendy perks—arcade games in the breakroom, fully-stocked beer fridges and on-site dry cleaning services, to name a few. It’s a reasonable assumption since those are the kinds of fringe benefits mega-successful corporate giants like Google and Amazon provide.However, there’s one simple element of modern office design that has a much greater effect on employee productivity and well-being: abundant natural light." www.iofficecorp.com

A Beginner’s Guide to Getting Into Podcasts

"As a content-obsessed millennial, I have made podcasts part of my daily routine for years. I listen while commuting, cooking, running errands, putting away laundry, washing dishes or during any relatively mindless activity that can be done while wearing wireless headphones.

My bond with podcasts is so cemented that it comes as a shock when someone I meet at a party — or someone in my family, or a friend I thought I knew — tells me that they, in the year 2019, do not listen to podcasts. And never have. And don’t really get what it’s all about. And, worse, don’t quite know how to start." www.NYTimes.com

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

January 28, 2019

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

January 28, 2019/ kenashley

January 28th, 2019

Amazon Pushing Hard Into Ocean Shipping, Making it Easier for Chinese Goods to Get to You

"Quietly and below the radar, Amazon has been ramping up its ocean shipping service, sending close to 4.7 million cartons of consumers goods from China to the United States over the past year, records show.

This marks a significant move into what many believe is the company’s overall strategy of eventually controlling much of its transportation network, from trucks to airplanes and now to ships." www.usatoday.com

A cargo ship carrying shipping containers (Photo: Getty Images)[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]Quietly and below the radar, Amazon has been ramping up its ocean shipping service, sending close to 4.7 million cartons of consumers goods from China to the United States over the past year[/tweet_box]

Future and Growth of Transportation Market by 2020

"The business world is facing a complete overturn, and so does every industry vertical. The spending on IoT (Internet of Things) in the digital age is going to increase multifold with a net worth crossing $581 billion by 2020, as per McKinsey. Transportation and logistics are the backbones of the economy and an integral part of almost every business are also going to spend over $40 billion on IoT platforms, systems, and services by 2020, as per Statista. These facts clearly signify the new opportunities that the Transportation market is expecting in near future." www.entrepreneur.com

The Next Frontier in Office Space? The Outdoors

The 512W22 office building in Manhattan has 16,920 square feet of terraces and a common roof, all planted with native grasses and trees. CreditCreditCookFox Architects

"For years, office architects and designers have been bringing nature into the workplace, incorporating materials like wood and stone and strategically deploying plants and botanical artwork.

Now, companies are inviting employees to step outside for a taste of the real thing.

Employers with suburban campuses have long turned swaths of blank lawn into furnished outdoor areas where workers can meet with colleagues, work alone or simply take a break from their computer screens.

Now, developers and owners of urban office buildings are adding terraces and transforming once-barren rooftops into parklike settings, where workers can plant vegetables, unfurl yoga mats or swing in a hammock." www.nytimes.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]Now, developers and owners of urban office buildings are adding terraces and transforming once-barren rooftops into parklike settings, where workers can plant vegetables, unfurl yoga mats or swing in a hammock[/tweet_box]

Biggest Multistory Warehouse In The U.S. Planned For Brooklyn

A rendering of Sunset Industrial Park, a four-story, 1.3M SF warehouse planned in Brooklyn

“This will be a groundbreaking project for the U.S. industrial market, not only because of the building’s unprecedented design — essentially, four separate, stacked distribution centers — but also because of the enormous benefit it will have from a ‘last mile’ standpoint,” Bridge Northeast Region partner Jeff Milanaik said in a press release. " www.bisnow.com

Upward Momentum: Charting a Year of Skyscraper Construction

Ever since the first towering spires broke through the clouds in New York and Chicago, skyscrapers have remained a potent symbol of economic might.The tallest buildings require vast amounts of materials, expertise, and capital to make them a reality, but the cities that add these landmarks to their skylines gain prestige and send a powerful message to competing economic centers. www.visualcapitalist.com

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

January 14, 2019

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

January 14, 2019/ kenashley

January 14th, 2019

Construction Costs Complicating Developer Pricing, Tenant Decisions

"At North American Properties' Colony Square redevelopment project, the prolific developer secured an agreement with its general contractor that will cap any construction cost increases.That was something that the developer rarely ever considered before the Great Recession of 2008, Managing Partner Mark Toro said.“Pre-recession, we did not see the kind of run-up [on construction pricing] that we have seen this time in this cycle,” Toro said. “The level of activity is not unprecedented by any means ... but it's by far the most activity we've seen in our careers. And that's what's leading to the pricing pressure." www.bisnow.com[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]"Pre-recession, we did not see the kind of run-up [on construction pricing] that we have seen this time in this cycle...The level of activity is not unprecedented by any means ... but it's by far the most activity we've seen in our careers. And that's..leading to the pricing pressure."[/tweet_box]

The Legacy of Herb Kelleher, Cofounder of Southwest Airlines

"After a morning of tedious three-ring-binder presentations from executives, and stuffy lectures by professors, it was time for the keynote speaker. Herb walked to the podium, lit a cigarette, poured a glass of Wild Turkey bourbon, and delivered what remains the most hilarious, baudy, utterly brilliant CEO speech I have ever heard. When I spent a little time with him after the talk, I realized immediately that I was in the presence of leadership greatness — an entrepreneur who was as smart as he was sassy, as competitive as he was human, as consequential as he was approachable." www.hbr.org

DAVID WOO/GETTY IMAGES

How Google Will Destroy Uber

"Google’s Waymo has officially launched the world’s first self-driving, ride-sharing service! Residents in four Phoenix suburbs can now ride around in its robo-taxis for a small fee.

In RiskHedge, I recently explained why self-driving cars are going to gut the auto industry like a fish. And Phoenix is only the first step in Waymo’s domination of American roads.

Here’s why....." www.forbes.com

This Book List Will Almost Earn You A Ph.D. In Leadership

"Some books stick with you, long after you’ve closed the cover. The best books linger for decades, changing the way you look at the world. Those were the sorts of books we requested when we asked 20 world-class scholars to recommend titles for our 2018 list of the best leadership books available.You can’t actually earn a Ph.D. in leadership from reading these books. (If you really do want to earn your doctorate, we hope you’ll check out this Ph.D. program in leadership, for senior executives.) What the books will do for you, however, is provide mind-stretching insights that help you think deeper and lead stronger.We assembled this list of readings from some of the smartest people we know: top scholars with extensive practitioner experience. We asked them to tell us about the books that changed the way they think and lead.The remarkable list ranges in year of publication from 1958 to 2018, and the topics are almost as diverse. Below we share the insights of the experts who recommended each title. We also suggest who on your holiday list might enjoy reading each book" www.forbes.com

Here’s What the Big Tech Companies Know About You

“The novelty of the internet platform boom has mostly worn off.

Now that companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Alphabet are among the world’s most valued companies, people are starting to hold them more accountable for the impact of their actions on the real world.

From the Cambridge Analytica scandal to the transparency of Apple’s supply chain, it’s clear that big tech companies are under higher scrutiny. Unsurprisingly, much of this concern stems around one key currency that tech companies leverage for their own profitability: personal data.” www.visualcapitalist.com

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

January 06, 2019

We Interrupt The Normal Bookmarks Blog Post to Bring You Some POSITIVE Economic News

January 06, 2019/ kenashley

January 7th, 2019

For a number of years I've curated updates in this space on the CRE world. Today, we take a short break to focus on a different topic - the economy. I'm frustrated that some media outlets harp only on the negative news at every turn. This is one of the best economies of our lifetime - please read beyond the trending and check out the good news out there. #factsmatter #don'tjustreadtheheadlines

The Labor Market Would Like You All To Stop Panicking Now Please

"Job gains were led by the healthcare industry, which added 50,000 jobs in December, as well as construction, which added 38,000 jobs. Construction employment increased by 280,000 jobs over the year." www.bisnow.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]The labor market would like you all to stop panicking now please #cre[/tweet_box]

Fed Chair in Atlanta Boasts About Economy

"...Powell said he remains upbeat and has not made up his mind about further rate hikes this year.

“There is no preset path for policy,” he said. “We are always prepared to shift economic policy and to shift it significantly.”

The Fed is “listening carefully to the message that the market is sending,” he said.

Powell spoke Friday after release of the monthly government report that showed a gain of 312,000 jobs in December – about twice as many as had been expected. The report also showed wages rising. While the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9 percent, that increase was caused by a surge of new workers, he said.

That report was evidence that the economy is chugging along steadily and can probably more easily handle more rate hikes." www.ajc.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"](The)..."report was evidence that the economy is chugging along steadily and can probably more easily handle more rate hikes."[/tweet_box]

Strong U.S. Job and Wage Growth Provides Assurance on Economy

"All the while, the economy kept cranking out jobs. U.S. employers added a net 2.64 million jobs to their payrolls in 2018, the best year since 2015. Payrolls have grown for 99 straight months, by far the longest stretch of steady hiring on record.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% in December from 3.7% but remains low by historical standards. The increase owed in part to more people entering the workforce, some of whom get counted as unemployed while they’re looking for work.

Stock prices, already moving up on the economic news, jumped even higher after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed would be patient about further increases in rates this year."[WSJ Paywall] www.wsj.com

Businesses across many sectors have been searching for workers as the labor market has tightened.

U.S. Stocks Surge on Powell Remarks, Jobs Report

"U.S. stocks bounced back from their worst two-day start to a year since 2000, soaring Friday after fresh signs of economic strength eased fears that slowing growth around the world could drag on the U.S. expansion.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 750 points as better-than-expected hiring in December suggested a healthy labor market. Stocks rose further after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said economic data suggest good momentum heading into the new year, but that the central bank is “prepared to adjust policy quickly and flexibly” if necessary.

The combination mitigated investors’ worries about an economic slowdown. Those fears sent waves of volatility sweeping through stock and bond markets in recent weeks..." [WSJ Paywall] www.wsj.com

Q and A on the Big December Jobs Report

"The big news is that the jobs market apparently didn’t get the memo that the U.S. economy was barreling toward a recession. In fact, the jobs numbers came in a lot stronger than expected. Payrolls were up 312,000 in December, compared with expectations for about 180,000, and bringing the full count of jobs added for 2018 up to 2.6 million jobs, the strongest year for job gains since 2015. Wage growth accelerated slightly and, at 3.3 percent (before inflation) for mid-level workers, tied an earlier cyclical high. Weekly hours edged up slightly, jobs gains for the prior two months were revised up, and 70 percent of private industries added jobs on net, a high share for that metric.” www.washingtonpost.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]The big news is that the jobs market apparently didn’t get the memo that the U.S. economy was barreling toward a recession. In fact, the jobs numbers came in a lot stronger than expected.[/tweet_box]

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

November 26, 2018

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

November 26, 2018/ kenashley

November 26th, 2018

The Benefits of a Short Attention Span

I'll make this a quick read | "..yet blaming smartphones for our distractibility feels too easy—human attention has always been fleeting. A study conducted several years before the first iPhone was unveiled found that workers spent an average of just two minutes using a particular tool or document before switching to another. Moreover, interruptions may have a silver lining. Many workers who were insulated from distraction by website-blocking software became more aware of time’s passage and were able to work for longer stretches—but also reported higher stress levels as a result of their sustained focus.For those seeking to exercise greater control over their attention span, science has some suggestions. A 2016 study found that mindfulness meditation led to short-term improvements in attention and focus, and that the benefits were disproportionately large among heavy multimedia multitaskers. And research published earlier this year suggests that the long-term attentional benefits of regular mindfulness practice may be even more substantial than previously thought. . www.theatlantic.com[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]interruptions may have a silver lining. Many workers who were insulated from distraction by website-blocking software became more aware of time’s passage and were able to work for longer stretches[/tweet_box]

The Fax Is Not Yet Obsolete

"Doctors rely heavily on faxes in both routine and high-stakes situations. According to Vox, one industry analyst estimates that 75 percent all of all medical communications still happen by fax. Occasionally, news outlets describe this phenomenon, mostly as human-interest stories: “Medical Students Flummoxed by Fax Machines” or “Med Students Are Puzzled When Forced to Use This Ancient Technology.” Despite confusion and frustration, though, the business of faxing continues on. Part of this has to do with an interpretation of a clause in hipaa, a U.S. health-privacy law, which requires health providers to take reasonable steps to safeguard patient information. Because this rule explicitly mentions fax and not email, some providers interpret the law to mean that records must go by fax.

That habit dies hard. A start-up called PatientBank, which allowed users to share and receive medical records digitally, shut down in January, partly because weaning hospitals from fax proved too difficult. Paul Fletcher-Hill, a PatientBank co-founder, told me that one reason hospitals cited for their continued dependency was security: Many believed that hacking computer systems were easier to hack than fax machines—and that computer hacks were more damaging.“There’s a perception that digital systems are easily hackable, and it’s true that many hospitals have struggled with ransomware attacks recently,” he said. There’s some truth to the claim that fax is more secure, in the sense that even if a signal is intercepted—which is very possible—compromising a single transmission would be less severe than hacking an entire system of digital records. So while fax may be more vulnerable in individual instances, in the aggregate, it may be more secure.." www.theatlantic.com[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]Fax Machines Live on! | There’s a perception that digital systems are easily hackable, and it’s true that many hospitals have struggled with ransomware attacks recently,” he said. There’s some truth to the claim that fax is more secure, in the sense that even if a signal is intercepted[/tweet_box]

There Are Better Ways to Get Around Town

"When American engineers started adding bike lanes to American streets about a decade ago, they changed the model, creating a “protected” bicycle lane once misleadingly called “the Copenhagen lane.”

CreditCreditTop: Photo by John Massengale; Bottom: Rendering by Gabrielle Stroik Johnson; Design by Massengale & Co LLC

In Copenhagen, wide cycle lanes on both sides of the street buffer equally wide sidewalks from traffic.

Credit

Francis Dean/Corbis, via Getty Images

We see examples on many Manhattan avenues, with parked cars sitting awkwardly between moving traffic and grossly striped bike lanes. Every planner and urban designer I’ve talked to in Denmark and the Netherlands says their countries would never build such ugly, over-engineered streets, which diminish the pedestrian experience and give high priority to traffic flow at 35 m.p.h. and above." www.NYTimes.com

HQ2 Is Only Part of the Story of Big-Tech Expansion

"When word got out that Amazon is going to split its HQ2 between New York City and greater Washington, D.C., as the company made official today, many saw it as evidence of the widening gap between America’s coastal superstar cities and the heartland. Amazon is expanding from Seattle, a successful tech hub on the West Coast, to the world’s leading global city (New York) and the capital of the most powerful nation on Earth (Washington), both of which sit on the East Coast Acela corridor, equivalent to one of the world’s largest economies. With Google planning yet another expansion in New York, here is another example of winner-take-all urbanism.While it is true that the geography of big tech reflects a winner-take-all pattern, not everything follows the shift of Amazon and Google to East Coast superstar cities. Indeed, tech in San Francisco may be reaching a saturation point as many of its big firms appear to be heading elsewhere, including some smaller, “rise-of-the-rest”locations." www.citylab.com

World's Biggest Companies Plan to Get Down With WeWork Effect

“The biggest employers on the planet see a future filled with free beer and new age motivational posters. Their offices will need to catch up.

WeWork co-working space in LondonPhotographer: Luke MacGregor/BloombergAfter WeWork Cos reinvented the office experience for freelancers and start-ups, large businesses see their use of flexible space rocketing over the next three years. More than half of them expect the non-traditional space to account for at least a fifth of the total compared with about 5 percent now.

“WeWork has changed the narrative around corporate real estate,” said Lee Elliot, a CRE trends researcher. "As well as seeking more flexibility, big businesses will increasingly look for “amenity-rich environments that help their employees with the challenges of modern work.”

The shift presents a major challenge to the world’s biggest landlords, which have traditionally focused on securing long-term leases to maximize the value of buildings and reduce the risk of vacancies. In London, landlords including British Land Co., Great Portland Estates Plc and the Crown Estate Ltd. have begun using some of their buildings as flexible spaces in response to changing demand.” www.bloomberg.comYour success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

October 29, 2018

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

October 29, 2018/ kenashley

October 29th, 2018

How to Mitigate Rising Construction Materials Costs

"Construction costs are increasing rapidly. Some developers have said that total construction costs are up 30% over last year. A lot is contributing to the rising construction price tag, but a labor shortage and rising materials prices are among the biggest drivers. Now, trade tariffs on steel and lumber are putting more pressure on construction costs. While there is little developers can do to curb these increases, implementing materials management technology is one way to offset it.." www.globest.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]Some developers have said that total construction costs are up 30% over last year[/tweet_box]

The Amazon Selling Machine

A computer screen showing Amazon's Australia homepage

QUINNROONEY / GETTY"What if there were a company that knew what you wanted to buy before you did? What if it made shopping recommendations that tapped into your deepest desires? Better yet, what if it then made buying completely seamless? Would you ever stop shopping?

Amazon shareholders may like the answers to those questions. The company that revolutionized the way we buy has now gotten serious about selling the ads that tell us what to buy in the first place. It is selling advertising on Amazon.com, encouraging brands to create Alexa “skills” so they can market to people when they’re at home, and putting targeted ads on the main screens of its Amazon Kindles, tablets, and televisions. And it’s attracting money that brands used to spend on Facebook and Google." www.theatlantic.com

Jeff Bezos's Morning Routine Is the Opposite of Most Productivity Advice. Maybe Yours Should Be Too

Jeff Bezos

CREDIT: Getty Images

"Elon Musk seems to get most of his sleep under his desk. Richard Branson recommends getting up at 5 a.m. Apple's Tim Cook takes being an early riser even further, getting up at the ungodly hour of 3:45 a.m. And once these and other titans of industry are up, they're usually busy with productivity-boosting activities like exercise, journaling, and meditation, reports time-use expert Laura Vanderkam.

Not Jeff Bezos.

As you can see in the interview below (hat tip to Signal v. Noise), he insists on a full night's sleep and spends his leisurely mornings ... puttering? Yes, that's right. The world's richest man skips heroic productivity rituals for breakfast with his kids and a slow morning warm up. He doesn't get fully up to speed mentally until 10 a.m.' www.inc.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]The world's richest man skips heroic productivity rituals for breakfast with his kids and a slow morning warm up. He doesn't get fully up to speed mentally until 10 a.m[/tweet_box]

What I Learned About Life at My 30th College Reunion

Though we all went to the same school, and Harvard’s name likely opened doors for many of us, at the end of the day—or at the end of 30 years since graduation, in this case—what was so fascinating about meeting up with my own richly diverse class during reunion was that no matter our original background, no matter our current income or skin color or struggles or religion or health or career path or family structure, the common threads running through our lives had less to do with Harvard and more with the pressing issues of being human.Life does this. To everyone. No matter if or where they go to college. At a certain point midway on the timeline of one’s finite existence, the differences between people that stood out in youth take a backseat to similarities, with that mother of all universal themes—a sudden coming to grips with mortality—being the most salient. Not that this is an exhaustive list, but here are 30 simple shared truths I discovered at my 30th reunion of Harvard’s class of 1988." www.theatlantic.com

Should You Tip Your Uber Driver? If So, How Much?

Credit Lars Leetaru

“With fares, tips, and bonuses factored in, I average around $20 an hour and give around 75 rides per week,” said Jon Sycamore, a driver in Salt Lake City who also runs a real estate business. “If you remove tips, it drops to around $15 an hour.” By comparison, Salt Lake City’s living wage is $11.48 an hour for a single adult and $24.12 an hour for a single adult with a child. www.NYTimes.com

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

October 21, 2018

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

October 21, 2018/ kenashley

October 22nd, 2018

How This Millennial Came To Realize The Value Of Old-School Management

"I’ve worked in some pretty challenging environments in the past, ranging from mind-numbingly boring to outright hostile. Back then, I promised myself that if I ever had my own company, it would be different.I kept that promise to myself once I started BodeTree, working hard to create a progressive, modern workplace for my team. My goal was to foster an environment where people were free from micromanagement and encouraged to find creative solutions to difficult problems.The hope was that my Laissez-Faire management style would bring out the best in my team and enable them to thrive. I was arrogant enough to scoff at the ideas of “old-school” managers, content with my morally-superior approach.

My progressive approach ended up causing more problems than I ever expected. Work didn’t get done, conflicts arose between team members, and frustration grew on all sides.In dealing with these challenges, I came to a startling conclusion: “old-school” management techniques not only work; they’re vital to the success of an organization.Trust, but verifyOne of my favorite quotes comes from President Reagan, in response to dealing with the Soviets. “Trust but verify,” was his mantra. In the past, I’ve been heavy on the trust, but far too light on the “verify” aspect of that equation. www.forbes.com[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]One of my favorite quotes comes from President Reagan, in response to dealing with the Soviets. “Trust but verify,” was his mantra. In the past, I’ve been heavy on the trust, but far too light on the “verify” aspect of that equation.[/tweet_box]

What Is the Future of Getting Kids to Soccer Practice?

"Each company in the industry tends to pursue a similar group of people: well-off families with two time-starved working parents and multiple overbooked children. “Kids can make it on time to the very best rowing practice, math tutoring, and fencing class,” says Kate Soskil, the marketing manager of the Massachusetts-based Sheprd, as she described the company’s target customers, “and Mom/Dad can stay late at the office for that important meeting that’s running over.” Juliette Kayyem, the CEO of Zemcar, told me that “divorced dads are actually a big customer base for us.”

If only children were allowed to drive, they could get from home to school to piano lessons and back home again without their parents’ help. Alas, they are not.

These companies are effectively trying to replace carpools and school buses, and the majority of them were launched in the past two to five years. Arun Sundararajan, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and the author of The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism, says he attributes the boomlet to the rapid rise of Uber and Lyft during that time: Those two companies proved the viability of on-demand rides, but since their terms of service prohibited minors from riding unaccompanied, there was room for kid-specific firms to claim some of the market. In carving out this niche, these companies have been decidedly less cutthroat in their business practices, and because so many of them seek drivers with professional caregiving experience, many of those drivers are women." www.theatlantic.com

Should You Tip Your Uber Driver? If So, How Much?

"..it makes sense to tip your driver because they are providing a personal service which involves safety and comfort, and our cultural norm is to tip those who provide this kind of service. She pointed out that this norm will vary in overseas markets. “In Europe the tipping expectations would be lower, and many passengers would simply ’round up’ the bill. And don’t even think about tipping any driver in Japan — that would be considered rude,” she said.

Both Uber and Lyft limit their tip amount to 200 percent. So you wouldn’t be able to leave a $15 tip for your $5 Uber ride if you were feeling extra generous — at least not on the app. The companies put a ceiling on this to keep passengers from accidentally adding an extra zero and overtipping.

Whether you give your driver cash or just tip through the app, they receive 100 percent of the tip; Uber, Lyft, Gett and Via don’t take a cut. Generally, drivers are just happy to get a tip, Mr. Helling said, and many don’t have a preference for cash versus tipping directly in the app. Still, if you have the cash on hand, it can’t hurt to ask." www.nytimes.com

How To Invest Your $1.6 Billion Mega Millions Winnings

"You still couldn’t buy an NFL team or an NBA franchise. Those are reserved for the multi-billionaires, not somebody who has a mere $687 million. Nonetheless, you could still afford most of life’s extravagances. Once you have shared the wealth with family members and your favorite charities, you would eventually have to get down to the business of investing your windfall. Don’t worry; there would be plenty advisors knocking at your door with all sorts of ideas. Help is only a 1% fee away, after all. But if you are more of DIY investor (which most likely would change with $687 million to your name), here are a few suggestions to get you started." www.forbes.com This is the Easiest Way to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out"There’s a simple solution to this–customize your headline. Instead of meekly recording your title and company, try following the tried-and-true strategy of describing what you do and who you help. This is your elevator pitch in 120 characters." www.fastcompany.comYour success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

October 15, 2018

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

October 15, 2018/ kenashley

October 15th, 2018

Three Behaviors That Can Help You Mature From Boss To Leader

Become a leader.PHOTO BY ROB WALSH ON UNSPLASH

"One of the most embarrassing mistakes I made early on at BodeTree was believing that the title of CEO automatically made me a leader. It didn’t

I had power, but had yet to earn my authority. Thought I fancied myself a leader, I was just a boss. It took years of mistakes, struggles, and hard realizations for that to change.You see, anyone can be a boss, but relatively few have the drive, patience, or stamina to become a true leader. Leadership does not require a title, and titles do not make leaders. There is no such thing as a born leader. There are, however, people who possess the self-awareness necessary to mature into one." www.forbes.com[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]"#Leadership does not require a title, and titles do not make leaders." #cre[/tweet_box]

I Took A Rare Look Inside One of Amazon's Giant Warehouses - Here's What I Saw

"The looming, beige facility feels removed from the shiny, glamorous headquarters that Amazon is still building in the center of the city to house its corporate employees. Large open fields stretch in one direction, and suburban houses are in the other. In the distance, you can catch a glimpse of Mount Rainier.

The setting is almost picturesque — until you remember that before you is an Amazon fulfillment center that spans nearly 1 million square feet. Inside, Amazon workers spend 10 hours a day, four days a week, ensuring your order gets to you on time." www.businessinsider.com

9 Phrases Smart People Never Use In Conversation

We’ve all said things that people interpreted much differently than we thought they would. These seemingly benign comments lead to the awful feeling that only comes when you’ve planted your foot firmly into your mouth.

Verbal slip-ups often occur because we say things without knowledge of the subtle implications they carry. Understanding these implications requires social awareness—the ability to pick up on the emotions and experiences of other people.TalentSmart has tested the emotional intelligence (EQ) of more than a million people and discovered that social awareness is a skill in which many of us are lacking.We lack social awareness because we’re so focused on what we’re going to say next—and how what other people are saying affects us—that we completely lose sight of other people." www.forbes.com

Sears Exit Would Leave Big Holes in Malls. Some Landlords Welcome That. [WSJ Paywall]

"The rent Sears pays in some malls is as low as $4 a square foot. New tenants in the same space could bring in as much as six times that amount." www.forbes.com

The Boring Path to Greatness

"In our work, we must endure the unglamorous. We must put in the time. We must attend the meetings we really don’t feel like attending. We must do the market research. We must take the red-eye. And we must do it over and over again.There is a certain boredom to it. And everyone struggles with it. But the wonderful paradox is this: greatness emerges from boredom. It comes from doing the boring, tedious things required of us, day in and day out.Perseverance is not a new concept. But it’s one that I need to keep priming myself on. I need to remind myself that my true potential will be reached only through overcoming obstacles, and continuing on the path." www.linkedin.comYour success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

October 08, 2018

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

October 08, 2018/ kenashley

October 8th, 2018

How Winning Organizations Last 100 Years

"The average lifespan of a U.S. S&P 500 company has fallen by 80% in the last 80 years (from 67 to 15 years), and 76% of UK FTSE 100 companies have disappeared in the last 30 years. In stark contrast, organizations in other sectors celebrate their 100th birthday and look like they’ll be here forever. How do they do it? And what can business learn from them?" www.hbr.org

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]"The average lifespan of a U.S. S&P 500 company has fallen by 80% in the last 80 years - In stark contrast, organizations in other sectors celebrate their 100th birthday and look like they’ll be here forever. How do they do it? [/tweet_box]

With 8 Years of Job Gains, Unemployment Is Lowest Since 1969

"The unemployment rate fell to a nearly five-decade low in September, punctuating a remarkable rebound in the 10 years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers set off a global financial crisis.

By almost any measure, the American economy is humming. Gross domestic product is on pace for its best year since the housing bubble of the mid-2000s. Consumers and businesses are the most confident they have been in years, if not decades. Stock market indexes are near record highs." www.nytimes.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]By almost any measure, the American economy is humming.[/tweet_box]

Research: Career Hot Streaks Can Happen at Any Age

"What do our findings mean for professionals and the ecosystems they inhabit? In the scientific community, for example, projected impact is critical for hiring, advancement, grant-making, and other decisions. But the same is true of most domains, including business. Our research suggests that decision-makers should consider incorporating the notion of hot streaks into their calculus, if polices are to identify and nurture individuals more likely to have lasting impact." www.hbr.org

PropTech: What the Fuss Is All About

“PropTech is a collective term used to define startups offering technologically innovative products or new business models for the real estate markets. The real estate industry will without a doubt be the next sector to experience a tsunami sized technological overhaul. Hell, it's already begun." www.thelawyerspost.com

Important Commercial Real Estate Terms You Should Know

"Commercial real estate is far more complex than residential real estate. The contracts are longer, often the price tags are higher, and included in the process are many complex terms that an ordinary person does not understand. Make sure before entering into a commercial real estate deal you are aware of these terms." www.forbes.comYour success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

October 01, 2018

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

October 01, 2018/ kenashley

October 1st, 2018

Why Companies Are Creating Their Own Coworking Spaces

"It’s typically assumed these companies are seeking a jolt of hipness. But our research and reporting show this isn’t the case. We’ve separately toured and interviewed principals in more than a dozen corporate coworking spaces in the U.S., South America, and Europe over the last three years. We’ve found that these companies and their employees are searching for the same qualities freelancers and entrepreneurs report from their experiences in shared workspaces — learning skills faster, making more connections, and feeling inspired and in control." www.hbr.org[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]We’ve found that these companies and their employees are searching for the same qualities freelancers and entrepreneurs report from their experiences in shared workspaces — learning skills faster, making more connections, and feeling inspired and in control[/tweet_box]

The Economics Of The Office: Why Do We Still Commute?

"Part of the story, Glaeser says, is that "Macrae didn't foresee the rise of the consumer city, the fact that millions of people would actually want to locate in London or New York—not just because there are jobs there—but because it was fun." The other part of the story is that, far from killing the urban office, computers invigorated it with new forms of work that made it even more profitable." www.psmag.com

The Next Industrial Revolution: How A Tech Unicorn’s 3-D Metal Printers Could Remake Manufacturing

“The way we make things is about to fundamentally change,” says Desktop Metal’s Ric Fulop. MICHAEL PRINCE

"Only a few years ago, proponents envisioned a world in which hobbyists would buy little 3-D printers for their homes. That never really panned out. The $3,000 machines spit out cheap-looking, clunky plastic objects that no one wanted or needed. Instead, it’s now clear that the real value of 3-D printing isn’t in making keychains and other doodads, but in the $12.8 trillion global manufacturing industry. Putting 3-D printers on the assembly line will usher in a new era in which smaller factories, located closer to consumers and tied together by software, can print parts on demand with no minimum order size. Better yet, it’s possible to design parts that are lighter, cheaper and more efficient than what could have been fabricated in the past." www.forbes.com

How To Build A Floating Bridge in 12 Minutes

“In ideal conditions, a trained crew can build a 100-foot bridge (that’s with two ramp bays and three interior bays) in about 12 minutes. “Ideal” here means calm water that’s at least 2 feet deep, with a shallow bank and plenty of room to maneuver. But war zones and natural disaster areas are not what you’d call ideal conditions, so the 132nd Multirole Bridge Company trains for as many situations as possible. Not that they can prepare for everything.” www.wired.com

An Oral History of Apple's Infinite LoopLast month, Apple became the first company valued at a trillion dollars. With its new ring-shaped campus, all glass and curvy lines, it looks the part of a company bestriding an industry. But its dominance wasn’t always assured.Twenty-five years ago, the computer revolution’s marquee company was in decline. Back then, it was just settling into shiny new headquarters, a campus of six buildings that formed a different kind of ring. Called Infinite Loop, the name is a reference to a well-known programming error—code that gets stuck in an endless repetition—though no one seems to know who applied it. Infinite Loop was the place where Apple’s leaders and engineers pulled off a historic turnaround, and it will always be the source of stories and legends—many of them untold. Until now." www.wired.comYour success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

September 17, 2018

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

September 17, 2018/ kenashley

September 17th, 2018

How to Protect Your Cellphone (and Your Data) When You Travel

"Many travelers consider their cellphones essential when they’re on the road and rely on it for taking pictures and texting to using it to find their way around.

So what do you do if your phone gets lost, stolen or breaks when you’re abroad? How can you prevent it from happening in the first place? Brandon Bogle, a cellphone expert for Asurion, a company that provides insurance for consumer electronics, has plenty of advice on the subject and shares his tips below." www.nytimes.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]So what do you do if your phone gets lost, stolen or breaks when you’re abroad? How can you prevent it from happening in the first place? [/tweet_box]

I Made One Simple Financial Change and It Lowered My Spending: After reporting on personal finance, I used behavioral economics on myself

"A few years ago, when I was reporting a story on personal finance, I became fascinated by a concept that behavioral economists call the “pain of paying.” The phrase refers to the psychological discomfort experienced when parting with one’s money, and it varies by medium: At one extreme would be painstakingly counting out each penny at the register (a high pain of paying, because of how tactile the transaction is), and near the other would be credit cards (which, by postponing payment and offering rewards programs, ease the agony of depleting funds)." www.theatlantic.com

The New Rolodex: Your Web Of Support Is Critical To Success

"Regardless of what you call this support system – your Rolodex, personal board of directors, your network – quality mentoring relationships have powerful, positive effects on young people across personal, academic, and professional situations. According to MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, mentoring can create important personal growth and development, as well as social and economic opportunity." www.forbes.com

The Open Office Concept: Science Still Can't Decide If It's Good For Us

“The open office concept, it seems, is still open to debate.

A study published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine this month found that workers in open offices are less stressed and more active than cubicle workers, perhaps because they move around more to interact with colleagues.

At the same time, past research, like that published by Harvard researchers in July, has found that people who work in open offices are less likely than cubicle dwellers to collaborate or interact with their colleagues.

Though the studies didn’t examine the exact same factors, their outcomes seem to send mixed messages, proving—if nothing else—that science has yet to give us a clear-cut verdict on open office plans.” www.fortune.com

After 17 Years, Memories Of 9/11 Still Fresh For Atlanta's CRE IndustryPleased to be included in this article: "At the same time, Cushman & Wakefield Executive Director Ken Ashley was working at One Atlantic Center, one of Atlanta's tallest skyscrapers. Ashley said he heard murmurs of a plane hitting the Twin Towers on the way up the elevator, but the details were unclear and confusing. When he got to his office, he immediately fired up his web browser to CNN.com. “And it wouldn't load,” Ashley said. "That's when I began to realize that there was something bigger than just your average everyday problem."Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

September 10, 2018

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

September 10, 2018/ kenashley

September 9th, 2018

Habits Of Mentally Strong People, And How They Can Help You Succeed

"The first productive thing that mentally tough people do is wake up in the morning and get out of bed. They go to bed and wake up early so that they are clearheaded to accomplish the jobs at hand. They don't hit the snooze button 10 times because they have been out late at night partying. Nor do they hide under the covers ruminating about past failures, things that have gone wrong in their lives or obsessively mull over past slights and humiliations. They summon up the strength to block out any negativity and get out of bed at an early hour. Mentally strong people already have a game plan prepared for what they will do that day. They already know the tasks at hand and get started right away. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are happy about everything they need to do, but they attack it anyway.Mentally strong people face the day unafraid of failure. They understand that failing is part of the process. It is a learning experience for them. They take notes and learn lessons of what not to do in the future. Even if they fail, usually they will have learned some new skills to use in future plans. These folks will brush themselves off, get up and start all over again. Of course, they are not giddy with enjoyment that things didn't turn out the way they wanted, but it doesn't ruin them emotionally." www.forbes.com[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]Mentally strong people have a game plan prepared for what they will do that day. They already know the tasks at hand.... It doesn't necessarily mean that they are happy about everything they need to do, but they attack it anyway.[/tweet_box]

The Open Office Concept: Science Still Can't Decide If It's Good For US

"The open office concept, it seems, is still open to debate.

The #1 Office Perk? Natural Light

"...a new survey by my HR advisory firm Future Workplace called “The Employee Experience” reveals the reality is that employees crave something far more fundamental and essential to human needs. In a research poll of 1,614 North American employees, we found that access to natural light and views of the outdoors are the number one attribute of the workplace environment, outranking stalwarts like onsite cafeterias, fitness centers, and premium perks including on-site childcare (only 4-8% of FORTUNE 100 companies offer on-site child care).The study also found that the absence of natural light and outdoor views hurts the employee experience. Over a third of employees feel that they don’t get enough natural light in their workspace. 47% of employees admit they feel tired or very tired from the absence of natural light or a window at their office, and 43% report feeling gloomy because of the lack of light." www.hbr.org

[WSJ paywall] Walmart Tries Out Own Home-Delivery Service

"Walmart Inc. is testing its own network of independent delivery drivers as it aims to offer home grocery delivery to 100 metro areas by the end of the year. The retail giant said Wednesday it will begin using Spark Delivery, a crowd-sources delivery drivers network named after Walmart's yellow star logo, to accomplish its grocery delivery goals." www.wsj.com

Facebook Is Bingeing on Bay Area Real Estate

“Since Facebook Inc. arrived in Menlo Park, California, seven years ago, the town has been overrun by construction cranes, orange safety cones and truckloads of building materials to transform a former industrial area into a sprawling campus that can support a $500 billion tech giant.

So big are the ambitions that the company plans to redevelop whole swaths of the land it holds in the Silicon Valley city, potentially doubling its workforce there over the next decade to 35,000 people—more than Menlo Park’s current population.

Even that won’t be enough for its expansion plans.

“We continue to grow,” John Tenanes, the company’s head of facilities, said in a conference room overlooking a salt marsh in Facebook’s newest Menlo Park office, a Frank Gehry-designed building called MPK 21 that opened last week. “We’re at a point where we needed more space, and this area couldn’t keep up.” www.bloomberg.com

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

September 04, 2018

Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

September 04, 2018/ kenashley

September 4th, 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.WeShip? | UPS Launches On-Demand Warehouse and Fulfillment PlatformAs online shoppers become more insistent on fast, free shipping, the pressure is on shippers to store and fulfill orders closer to their ultimate destination. At the same time, available warehouse space has been dropping steadily for years. And for smaller shippers, multiple warehouse contracts, if they can be found, can be too much to afford and manage.Furthermore, even medium to large companies with seasonal spikes in business often struggle to find seasonal space or own space that is underused most of the year.New sharing-economy services seek to solve this problem by matching warehouses and merchants based on the products, order volume, space requirements and delivery needs. www.supplychaindive.com[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]WeShip? | New sharing-economy services seek to..(match) warehouses and merchants based on the products, order volume, space requirements and delivery needs.[/tweet_box]

The 14 Most Active VC Investors in US Real Estate Tech

"The US real estate market is booming—and so is the real estate tech industry.

In 2008, businesses in the real estate tech space in the US brought in a total of $41 million across just seven deals, according to the PitchBook Platform. Contrast those numbers with what's happening a decade later: So far in 2018, companies in the category have raised a total of $1.3 billion across 73 deals—and there are still four months left in the year." www.pitchbook.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]So far in 2018, companies in the category have raised a total of $1.3 billion across 73 deals—and there are still four months left in the year.[/tweet_box]

8 Ways Generation Z Will Differ From Millennials In The Workplace

"Generation Z is composed of those born between 1995 and 2010, which means that the oldest are about 22 and are just entering the workforce. The media has focused a lot on millennials in recent years, but it’s time to turn some of the attention to the millennials’ future co-workers. Gen Zers have a lot in common with millennials, but there are also many ways in which the two generations differ." www.forbes.com

Solopreneurs Swear By These Tech Tools To Streamline And Get More Done

"One of the keys to success is to surround yourself with people whose strengths are your weaknesses. You don’t have to be great at everything to be a successful entrepreneur, you simply have to recognize the things that aren’t your strengths and then find people who possess those skills and work with them to achieve your goals.

This is why freelancers are a great asset to any business. Without the budgets to hire a team in-house it can be tough to achieve the goals you have set for your business. But apps like Upwork allow you to tap into a whole world of skilled freelancers who are ready to work for you." www.forbes.com

San Francisco is Bringing Back Banned Electric Scooters - With Limits

“The scooters are back in town.

Three months after ejecting the networks of shared, sidewalk-cluttering vehicles from the city, officials with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency announced today the two winners of its e-scooter pilot sweepstakes: Scoot and Skip.

The city chose the companies from a crowded field of 12, which submitted a collective 800 pages in proposals on their operations, safety, and plans to extend the scooter bounty to San Francisco's neighborhoods. Skip and Scoot now have the right to operate at least 625 scooters each in the city—a number that could eventually double. Scooter lovers, mark your calendars: The agency says it will finalize the companies’ permits by October 15 at the latest. They'll be good for a year.” www.wired.com

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

Ken Ashley

1. Duke Long’s Updated 2019 Top 150 Commercial Real Estate People You Must Connect With On LinkedIn and Duke Long’s Updated: 2019 Top 100 Commercial Real Estate People You Must Follow On Twitter

2. The Power of One Push-Up

3. The Wrong Ways to Strengthen Culture

4. What Startup Employees Can Teach the Rest of Us About Work

5. How Hot-Desking Will Kill Your Company

March 25th, 2019

March 11th, 2019

March 4th, 2019

February 24th, 2019

February 18th, 2019

February 11th, 2019

February 4th, 2019

January 28th, 2019

January 14th, 2019

January 7th, 2019

November 26th, 2018

October 29th, 2018

October 22nd, 2018

October 15th, 2018

October 8th, 2018

October 1st, 2018

September 17th, 2018

September 9th, 2018

September 4th, 2018

Ken Ashley CRE

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