Page 48 - November 2020

RLI INDUSTRY INSIGHT

Fortune Favours the Bold!

What keeps you awake at night? Covid-19 amplified
anxiety is a script more for nightmares than dreams. Will
my business survive? Will I still have a job? Will there be
a market for my skills and will they still be relevant for
whatever comes next? Those three questions alone are
enough for a serious case of insomnia explains Bill Kistler,
Founder and Managing Partner of UrbanOvation in
this industry insight!

nyone in real estate, particularly the retail and to investor, it is likely preceded on your Linkedin page
leisure sectors, has ample reason to worry about with a word like ‘retail, leisure, office, hospitality’ etc. The
the survival of their business. Headlines remind combination of sector adjective and discipline noun defines
A us daily of the distress faced by consumers as you, your network, your clients, your personal brand.
well as their changing behaviours and priorities. Whether as The pandemic has turned the battles between the virtual
a result of belt tightening or Covid-19 imposed restrictions, and physical into a full scale war. Those who saw this coming
they are spending their time and money on ‘essentials’ have long embraced technology as a way to create better
and home improvement at the expense of shopping and places that deliver better experience. They were the early
fun. The impact on the businesses that develop, own and Wired Magazine subscribers and have been at the forefront
operate experience based real estate has been predictable of the fusion of virtual and physical, adding a bit of ‘geek’ to
and swift. their brand story.
Business survival in a perfect storm usually means painful There is, however, another kind of equally disruptive
cost cutting. Jobs are the highest expense for most ‘fusion’. We used to call it ‘mixed-use’ (so pre-Covid!). The
companies and the next domino in line. So, even if it’s old sector-silos are not just mixing, they’re mating and
not your business, you might be lying awake wondering having children. It started in the distant BC (before-Covid)
when it will be your turn. You’ve seen the tumbleweeds on past with things like cafes popping up in bookshops. Then it
the high street and in the mall. You’ve watched colleagues was uses like clinics, education and workplaces finding their
clear out their desks. Maybe you’ve already taken a pay way into malls. Now we have to confront what to do with
cut. Tick tock… not just dark stores but cinemas, restaurants and theme
Time then to shine up that dusty resume and add the last parks. How to re-imagine and re-purpose place will require
few years of impressive accomplishments and promotions. organisations and experts to re-think and re-skill.
You look back at earlier jobs and update a few of the Never has the old saying “necessity is the mother of
buzzwords to reflect how the world has moved on. You invention” been more relevant. It may be due for a rewrite
review with pride your degree(s), ‘other’ affiliations and though, with the last word replaced by ‘re-invention’ or
triumphs, you’re ready to hit save. That’s when it hits you, better yet, innovation. Therein is the silver lining to the
“is there still a market for what I have to offer in a world current chaos and uncertainty. Very few organisations are
turned upside down?” Now you’re really awake! simply battening down the hatches to survive the storm.
The division of the built environment into neat silos Most are fundamentally rethinking their missions and
has bred experts whose knowledge and entire careers business models. Admittedly this is no easy task when the
are aligned with the sector they specialised in. Whatever boat is leaking customers, tenants and cashflow! Those with
your discipline, from architect, asset manager, developer the required agility and humility will both survive and thrive.
Sticking with boats and storms…if you, through downsizing
and no fault of your own, find yourself in a lifeboat, there is
hope for salvation. It is not, however, likely to be a job on
another big ship. As we learned a decade ago in the ‘great
recession’, those jobs have disappeared and will not return
for years, or this time, maybe never. What was that about
hope for salvation?
There has never been a better time for talented people
to reinvent themselves as independent innovators and
problem solvers. Organisations have been forced to
shed much of the very talent they need to survive.
Their problems have grown and new opportunities will
emerge. They are more likely to engage the fresh, creative
thinking that they need on an interim or a project basis
than as an employee.
Now is the time to break out of your career silo, to connect
the dots of your experience and expertise in a new way, to
collaborate with passionate, like-minded people and pursue
the dreams and opportunities that beckon. What Virgil said
2,000 years ago still holds true: “Fortune Favours the Bold”!

48 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2020