The Evolution of a ‘New’ Idea
People ask me how I determine what I write about in my blog. I can confidently say I have never had an original idea, but I am inspired by everything around me. I am kind of like Taylor Swift. If something happens to me, I am likely to write about it. And that ends our similarity.
I am inspired by good things and bad things. It might be an article, a quote, something someone says to me, or something I observe. It triggers a thought process that spirals into other thoughts. I don’t go looking for ideas, they come looking for me. I’ve written over 190 blog posts to date and regularly have at least five rough-form ideas in the queue. The ideas often come from the desire to solve pain points. I see and feel your pain as someone who has worked in this industry for a long time. I learned from trial and error while navigating challenges. The most obvious pain point right now is the NAR Settlement and how it will affect not only agent compensation but also the mobility industry as a whole.
We did what we had to do.
People always say there are no original ideas left. I agree with that to a certain extent. One idea leads to another, which is an original idea that is improved upon. When the landline telephone was invented, I am pretty sure the bulk of the population thought, “Cool, we have telephones. It’s never going to get any better than that.” Who knew we would be walking around with a phone, TV, computer, camera, calculator, etc., in our pockets only a century later?
Our unique perspectives and experiences lead to the evolution of ideas. As I think about our industry and look at the evolution of services provided, a person or group of people came up with those ideas: the first corporate buyout, the first lump sum benefits package, the first rental assistance program, the first license holding company, the first affinity program, etc. When the real estate market tanked, we sold foreclosures. In the '90s, the brokerage I worked for was getting sued a lot because our agents were giving out unqualified vendors’ names that were doing shoddy work on homes. We created the first Concierge Services program in the country to control the quality of the vendors recommended by our agents and company. It’s not like a big lightbulb went off over our heads. We talked and talked about what was happening, and through those discussions, we kept revisiting the pain point, and the solutions began to reveal themselves. Evolution, based on necessity.
You can’t force ideas.
Years ago, when I worked for a national brokerage, the regional Relocation Directors were brought together to discuss how to increase the outgoing referrals demanded by our sister relocation network. It was a huge part of their bottom line. I remember we all just sat there staring. We had literally turned over every stone throughout the years to attempt to meet their demands. But the root problem was that the goals were unrealistically high and unattainable. There was no legitimate way to meet their demands. Our supervisor was so mad that we couldn’t solve the problem. But it wasn’t our problem to solve. The inability to solve their ‘problem’ had already led some brokers to resort to cheating and very creative record-keeping. Thankfully, it was all put to a stop over time. Think about who will benefit from solving a problem. One-sided problem-solving is hard to get behind.
It may take a while for us to settle into how we evolve throughout the NAR settlement compensation changes. We’ve mastered the old ways. We have lived them, and each person or company may have put a slight spin on them. The evolution we are facing is not self-imposed; it’s being forced by people who have very little understanding of how our business actually works. So, it won’t be a natural evolution based on an industry need, which is arguably the most satisfying of creations.
It means rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty to ensure we protect all stakeholders. That’s what's hard about ‘new’ ideas; the idea can’t only benefit the originator. Some of the most simplistic ideas are not from academia. They are from people who are backed into a corner. It doesn’t mean thinking of something no one ever has before; it means retooling and looking at the old ways differently, possibly through trial and error. Think Airbnb and Uber. Just a twist on an existing concept.
Don’t get swept up in the tornado.
As an industry, we are facing fewer relocations, low inventory, high interest rates, exorbitant property prices, compensation chaos, and repercussions from lawsuits, etc. We aren’t dealing with one challenge right now; it is a perfect storm applying pressure from many directions. And we don’t have the ability to solve any of the above problems alone. Many of the issues will work themselves out over time by others with the power to do so. But that doesn’t mean that we should wait for that to happen because working themselves out may mean that the business fundamentally changes. And it is likely to not be to our benefit.
Relocation may never return to its previous numbers, and interest rates may stay stubbornly high for a while, which will continue to affect inventory and prices. The commission pay norms and lawsuits could take a year or more to create standard practices. And the standards may vary from market to market. If we sit back and wait, we will likely see many players in all sectors fail or be forced to sell or merge. That means layoffs and lost jobs.
It's not about solving the above issues. It’s about coming up with ‘new’ ideas to create new opportunities. There is opportunity in chaos. Those who complain and wring their hanky about the issues are going nowhere. Think about the pain points, not the actual problems and who they affect. The guys who started Airbnb needed rent money, and they had air mattresses and an empty room and lived in a city with sold-out hotels during conference season. How can you and your company set yourself apart by finding your unique value proposition to address the issues?
Open your mind to wander into territory you may have never explored before. It will likely feel uncomfortable, possibly even silly. And maybe the end user doesn’t even realize that there may be an option for an easier way. After all, we thought the telephone was fine as it was. Looking at the obvious and not-so-obvious pain points will give you the creative license to find unique solutions. Let me know how I can help.
“If, at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” ~Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist
