What 30 Years of Industry Disruption Taught Me About Change

One of the advantages of getting older is that you start to recognize patterns.

Over the course of my career, I’ve had a front-row seat to industries going through significant change:

- Airlines after deregulation;

- Telecommunications during the breakup and rebuilding of the Bell system;

- The emergence of wireless;

- Healthcare’s shift toward a more consumer-driven model.

Today, as I watch many of the conversations taking place in real estate, I find myself recognizing some very familiar themes.

Every industry believed its circumstances were unique and believed the decisions being made would determine who won and who lost for years to come. There were passionate debates, competing interests and no shortage of experts willing to predict exactly how the future would unfold.

Sometimes they were right.

One lesson though that has stayed with me is that the people who thrive during periods of change are rarely the people who spend the most time predicting the future. They are the people who remain valuable regardless of how the future unfolds.

While others debate policy, platforms, regulations and market share, the successful continue building relationships, improving their skills, serving customers, and learning how to use new tools to create more value.

They stay focused on the things they can control.

I’ve seen companies rise and disappear, technologies transform entire industries and consumer expectations change dramatically. Yet the professionals who continued growing were the ones who stayed adaptable, remained curious and kept their attention on helping customers solve problems.

That may be why I find myself relatively calm whenever an industry enters a period of disruption. Change is inevitable and it always has been. The details are different every time, but the process is surprisingly familiar.

The future rarely belongs to the people who spend the most time defending the old model or arguing about the new one. It belongs to the people who continue creating value while everyone else is trying to predict what happens next.