Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

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.

1. How being thankful can boost your well-being and success, according to science

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, most of us are saving our expressions of gratitude for the holiday. But according to scientists, counting your blessings year-round can be good for your mental health and well-being, ultimately boosting your chances of success.

In positive psychology research, gratitude is most often defined as the appreciation of things that are valuable or meaningful to you, according to Harvard Medical School.

Taking the time to be thankful and appreciative for things you have received, tangible or intangible, makes you feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improves your health, helps you deal with adversity and builds strong relationships — all crucial traits both in and out of the workplace.

Numerous studies back up these claims. A 2012 study examined the effects of Thanksgiving on well-being over a three-week period with a sample of 172 undergraduate students. Research participants reported higher levels of positive emotions on the Thanksgiving holiday than on other days of the study.

2. The Unexpected Benefits of Pursuing a Passion Outside of Work

It seems like we’re constantly told to pursue work that we’re passionate about. At least in the United States, this advice follows people from school and into their careers. As billionaire investor Ray Dalio advises in his book Principles, “make your passion and your work the same thing.” Doing so is said to be the path to success.

This is perhaps why a recent study found that young people rank achieving their career passion as their highest priority — above making money or getting married. Finding a fulfilling job was deemed nearly three times more important than having a family by the teenage respondents.

But, for many people, this simply isn’t feasible. Not every job affords the possibility of pursuing a passion. And most people care deeply about many different things — not all of which will be how they want to earn a living. A growing body of research suggests that pursuing your passion does indeed improve your well-being but that where you do it is far less critical. In fact, several studies show that doing something you are passionate about outside of work rather than in it benefits both your career and your personal life.

3. E-tailers turning to mall space as former mall merchants die

While brick-and-mortar mall merchants such as Payless, Sears and Family Dollar are dying at a record pace, more online brands are rushing to sell their wares in the glare of floodlights and the hum of cash registers. More than 1,700 physical US stores started off as digital merchants, according to Fifth Wall and Thinknum Alternative Data.

The group includes New York’s UNTUCKit, which metamorphosed from an online men’s apparel retailer into a global brand, with its 86th store opening soon in Milwaukee.

“Opening in a mall is great for our brand because the customer gets a much stickier experience, and your long-term value grows,” UNTUCKit founder Chris Riccobono told The Post. “Malls are going to become more exciting as some of the old retail guard clears out, and the new guard moves in.”

In another nod to old-fashioned shopping, Taft, the upscale online men’s footwear brand — boasting a following of over 500,000 on Instagram — last week announced the opening of its first flagship store on Prince Street in Soho.

4. Why Constraints Are Good for Innovation

Recent surveys show that managers tend to consider compliance restrictions and a lack of resources as the main obstacles to innovation. This common wisdom suggests eradicating all constraints: by getting rid of rules and boundaries, creativity, and innovative thinking will thrive. Our research, however, challenges this wisdom and suggests that managers can innovate better by embracing constraints.

We reviewed 145 empirical studies on the effects of constraints on creativity and innovation, and found that individuals, teams, and organizations alike benefit from a healthy dose of constraints. It is only when the constraints become too high that they stifle creativity and innovation.

As a simple illustration of the principle, consider GE Healthcare’s MAC 400 Electrocardiograph (ECG), which revolutionized rural access to medical care. The product was the outcome of a formidable set of constraints imposed on GE engineers: develop an ECG device that boasts the latest technology, costs no more than $1 per scan, is ultra portable to reach rural communities (i.e, should be lightweight and fit into a backpack), and is battery operated. The engineers were given just 18 months and a budget of $500,000 – a very modest budget by GE’s standards, given that development of its predecessor cost $5.4 million. Our research suggests that GE engineers were not successful despite these constraints, but because of them. Constraints can foster innovation when they represent a motivating challenge and focus efforts on a more narrowly defined way forward.

5. Is Automation Out To Get Your CRE Job?

Technology and automation have inexorably advanced over the last few decades. They have seemingly altered everything, say some observers, but commercial real estate.

That is now rapidly changing. Dramatic tech disruption threatens the field of commercial real estate, an industry that has until now avoided that fate. Advanced technologies are being embraced by CRE companies, though at a comparatively slower pace than in other industries, according to technology and CRE observers. Change will come via the blockchain, 3D printers, AI and machine learning, robotics and automation.

In its 2019 Commercial Real Estate Outlook, Deloitte suggests technology adoption is a critical premise for the industry. It reported “many surveyed investors expect to prioritize their investments in existing and potential investee companies that respond rapidly to changes in business models and adopt a variety of technologies to make buildings future ready.” More than half (approximately 53%) of respondents feel technology gains will have the biggest effect on legacy properties within the next three years, Deloitte noted.

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

Ken Ashley