Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles to Help You This Week

October 2nd, 2017

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners:" corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles and the submissions of others (with credit to you if I post them). I wish you a terrific week!

The Cozy, Overcrowded, Keg-Filled Future of Work"The United Nations projects that, by the year 2030, roughly 1 billion more people will be living in cities than do now. As of last year there were 31 cities with more than 10 million residents, and in about a decade, there will be 41.

These demographic trends are a source of fascination for urban planners and theorists around the world. Those who study what these shifts will mean view the coming era of urban mega-density with both excitement and fear. Others, however, see a clear business opportunity. Adam Neumann, the CEO of WeWork, a firm that rents out office space and apartments, puts it this way: “We don’t have enough room.”" www.theatlantic.com

Here's How WeWork Pinpoints the Perfect Locations for Its Co-Working Spaces in Neighborhoods"Workspace provider WeWork has skyrocketed to become the leader of its industry in a matter of just seven years. The company, which rents office and desk space to teams and individuals, has 218 office locations in 53 cities worldwide, and it’s not planning to slow down anytime soon. After a $4.4 billion investment from SoftBank’s Vision Fund earlier this year, WeWork reportedly is one of the top five most valuable startups, worth $20 billion.

To keep up with demand and ensure it continues along its growth trajectory, the company is quietly building a trove of data about how its members work in order to better serve them. But to attract those members, it first has to be strategic about where its offices are. Decisions come down to more than lease length and building aesthetic, because what lies directly outside a WeWork’s motivational-poster-adorned walls is just as important as the walls themselves. WeWork members inherently value flexibility and options -- after all, they choose to rent space tailored to their needs rather than commit to a lease of their own. They want certain types of amenities in close proximity -- from coffee shops where they can take clients for meetings to fitness studios where they can blow off steam during their lunch break." www.entrepreneur.com

Work and the Loneliness Epidemic"There is good reason to be concerned about social connection in our current world. Loneliness is a growing health epidemic. We live in the most technologically connected age in the history of civilization, yet rates of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s. Today, over 40% of adults in America report feeling lonely, and research suggests that the real number may well be higher. Additionally, the number of people who report having a close confidante in their lives has been declining over the past few decades. In the workplace, many employees — and half of CEOs — report feeling lonely in their roles." www.hbr.org

How Grunt Work Can Benefit Millennials In The Long Run"If you have aspirations to lead a team, be responsible for other employees or grow into a C suite position, then it pays to develop the ability to relate to people in order to effectively manage them. One of the best ways to relate to people is to have empathy. And that comes from knowing the context of the hurdles they face and having first hand knowledge of what they are working on. This provides insight into their pain points and the techniques needed to solve them.

In fact, some of the most innovative leaders and best technical managers are the ones that still carve time out of their day to tinker. And while is it true that they may not have the time to engage in in a full coding set or build something complex from scratch, they still understand the language enough to know what they are looking for when they critique others’ work." www.forbes.com

What You’re Truly Saying With Your Out-of-Office Reply"Even better: If you want to truly unplug, own it and don’t apologize. And you should unplug! Studies have shown unplugging can improve your job performance and overall life satisfaction.

Mallory Ortberg, former editor of the beloved but now defunct website The Toast and current Dear Prudence columnist, went this route:

“I am currently on vacation and not accepting any emails about anything,” Ms. Ortberg wrote in one out-of-office autoreply, as Ms. Gould reported in her story. “I’m not planning on reading any old emails when I get back, either, because that feels antithetical to the vacation experience.”

What do you usually write in your out-of-office messages? Tell me at tim@nytimes.com or on Twitter at @timherrera.

Have a great week (or vacation)!"  www.nytimes.com

[tweet_box design="box_09" float="none"]I am currently on vacation and not accepting any emails about anything. I’m not planning on reading any old emails when I get back, either, because that feels antithetical to the vacation experience.[/tweet_box]Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!Ken