Earlier this fall in Orlando, Florida, at the annual convention and meetings of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), a proposal for business practice standards to be adopted by the real estate profession was unveiled at a meeting of representatives from large real estate associations. The proposal came from a self-described grass roots coalition that can be referred to as the Standards Initiative. The Standards Initiative grew out of a February, 2004, conference, "Touchstone for Excellence", sponsored by the Chicago, Houston, and Orlando Associations of Realtors®. Subsequent to that conference, proposals and input came forward from hundreds of participants around the country.

The focus of the Standards Initiative is not on ethics, but, rather, professionalism. Not that this is a precise designation. Depending both on the context and on who is using the term, "professionalism" may cover everything from common courtesies and customs to issues of competence and skill. Certainly, this fact is reflected in the particular standards that were recommended to the Realtors.

Some of the recommended practices would fall within the category of common courtesies: practices such as answering communications promptly, dressing in "an appropriate professional manner", and acting in "a polite, professional, respectful, and ethical manner at all times…"

Others referred to specific competencies and proficiencies with respect to technology: for example, being proficient on word processing and contact management software, and maintaining daily "a comprehensive, complete, accurate, and up-to-date electronic file on every transaction…"

Other proposed standards were simply gratuitous, reiterating practices already required by law: e.g. complying with Fair Housing Laws, and insuring that "all deposits, escrow accounts, etc. are treated with care."

Certainly, the detailed set of standards – 86 items, spread over seven categories – proposed by the Standards Initiative provides food for thought for brokers and agents alike. Just about any office could benefit from an on-going discussion of these practices. For that, the contributors and organizers deserve a vote of thanks.

However, insofar as their work constitutes a proposal for industry-wide acceptance and application, it is worth noting that the project is flawed by a confusion of purpose.

There are at least two senses of "standards". One denotes behavior that is to be expected of everyone. The other refers to behavior that is expected of the best.

Were the Standards Initiative to be focused on the former, then much of its work would have plausibility. Indeed, a good bit of the rationale underlying the proposals is that, in the eyes of the proponents, there is a deplorable lack of uniformity of customer experience throughout the universe of real estate brokerages. The standards are proposed as a means to correct that situation.

On the other hand, though, many of the Initiative proposals are based on "best practices" – things that the best (i.e. most professional) agents do. Now, it would be nice to think that everyone might be taught or persuaded to do what the best do; but such thinking would certainly be unrealistic. Proposing that the practices of the best become standard practices – in the sense of "what everyone does" – is something like suggesting that all the C students become A students. Unlikely, and perhaps even impossible.

The Standards Initiative seems to aim at both targets: describing practices that should be expected of everyone, and describing practices that characterize the very best. These are two different undertakings.

Finally, only a cynic would dwell on the fact that the Standards Initiative proposals also devote approximately as much time and space to recommending establishment of a standards bureaucracy (The Real Estate Standards Institute) and corresponding certification industry as is devoted to the subject of standards themselves. So, I'm not going there.