The hyperbolized "lion coming over the hill," as a revolutionary and transforming succession of events, now is seen as far more evolutionary that revolutionary. The technological deterministes have again been proven wrong as biological inertia and cultural factors have remained the prime determinants of the real estate change process. In my opinion, throughout the change process, and since it's inception, Realtor.com has projected a sense of looming crisis that has pervaded the psyches of tuned-in Realtors. I believe that the causes of this sense of crisis are many, including: 1. questionable strategic thinking and policy 2. suspicious synchronicities within the NAR, Realtor.com, HomeStore relationship 3. snug and narrow establishment viewpoints 4. trivialization of critical member discourse 5. cynical detachment 6. selective erroneous perceptions of the change process 7. self-delusion 8. flaws in leadership and process hampering performance Put quite simply NAR leadership appears to be static, not dynamic. The structure of the organization appears to be more suited for Industrial Age performance than Silicon Age performance. It further seems that Realtor membership have advanced in their thinking, skills, and abilities beyond the ability of leadership to perceive, internalize, and lead. Now we have reached a clash of cultures and the will by leadership to address REAL CHANGE still appears timid. A Short Prescriptive: The architecture of the internet is one of decentralization. Power now flows from the center to the edges (agents). Leadership styles must be brought into alignment with the un-centralized nature of the internet. A vanishing of the walls of separation and a leveling of power relationships needs to be implemented between administration, ownership, and agents. Dynamic participation and communications must be established in all directions. A scanning, internalizing, and implementation of quality ideas must move forward matching the accelerating speed of change. We must develop an understanding of the fact that we will never totally understand the evolutionary real estate paradigm at any given moment in time. The ideas and contributions of a diverse agent/broker/administration/owner/trainer population will affect the paradigm and keep it in continuous motion and change, limited only by the evolutionary capacity of the culture. Clearly, the pace of change will increase dramatically by the development and implementation of broadband communications. Broadband technologies will drive the economy and the speed of change for the next five to ten years, just as the productivity increases of the last ten years were driven by the introduction and use of the computer. In conclusion if we are to avoid being overcome by change and avoid gridlock we must take action now, immediately. It's time to stop acting like lemmings and shed the skins of inaction better defined as timidity, ingnorace, fear, and blind conformity. I personally would like to thank Rich Rector of Realty Executives for his knowledge, leadership, and timely call to action.

Back to Previous Post Printer Friendly Version | E-mail This Article to a Friend