Who thinks the pace of change is slower today than it was yesterday?

Who thinks the pace of change will be slower tomorrow than it is today? 

My guess is that nobody agrees with either of these statements.  Instead, I'll bet everyone can agree that the pace of change is increasing and will only continue to increase.  Yet despite this, we all witness some amazing behaviors everyday in defense of the status quo.

Some of these behaviors are very well documented and highly publicized.  The "establishment's" response to digital media in the newspaper and music industries come immediately to mind.  Yet I also see resistance to change happening elsewhere including within our industry.

Over the past 18 months we've watched our industry go through turmoil that has produced a significant contraction in property transaction volume.  Some people and firms have responded quickly and aggressively to this changing landscape.  Some businesses have been reorganized and refocused so that they can adapt to change more rapidly.  Yet others resisted this until there was no alternative.  It's been shocking at times to watch executives stand by and offer no new plans for growth as their businesses crumble around them.

We're now about 20 months into our CRE recession and are finally starting to see the market expand again.  As this expansion has started, one thing had become amazingly clear to me.  The companies who reorganized, repurposed and recreated themselves over the past two years into more de-layered,customer-centric, fluid, nimble and flexible organizations are benefiting first.  The companies who were slow to adapt are still struggling more and will continue to for some time.

As we head into 2010 and beyond, I believe the qualities that customers, investors, and employers will value the most are responsiveness, flexibility and openness to reinvention.  The skills and strategies that were most successful and valued yesterday will not necessarily be the same skills and strategies required for tomorrow's progress.  This fact is what makes life both exciting and sometimes scary.

Peter Drucker used to talk about "abandonment" quite a bit.  His point was that the most successful companies (and executives) possess the ability to completely abandon what "used to work" in favor or what is most likely to work tomorrow.  There are no sacred cows, only growth, value creation and progress.

"Abandonment" certainly has negative connotations.  For me, it immediately strikes an emotional chord and my mind goes to imagining someone being left alone unfairly.  However, in a business setting, abandonment needs to be embraced more.  Dropping yesterday's behaviors, if they no longer work, is not the same thing as abandoning a person.  In fact, I think the opposite is true.  Abandoning yesterday's approaches in favor of trying a better way actually helps people.  It challenges them to learn new skills, experiment and innovate. 

And in my opinion, that's exactly what will lead us to the next wave of growth across the economy.