Leading in Uncertainty
For those of us involved in “innovation” real estate, we have (much like the rest of the world) spent a significant amount of time working through the COVID-19 pandemic via home setups, empty offices, and video conferencing. All the while, our inboxes continue to be filled daily with the declarations of industry experts and oracles with descriptions of just how the future will turn out. And though none of us have a crystal ball to predict such things, we can ensure we’re doing everything in our power to remain proactive and vigilant.
With Collaborative Real Estate as a corporate sponsor, yet again, for AURP’s 2020 International Conference in November, we more than understand this year’s theme of “Changemakers: Leading Communities of Innovation in Uncertainty.” Indeed, it’s important to reflect on the peculiar challenges and opportunities for the innovation places where we all work, especially in these unprecedented and unpredictable times.
While innovation can theoretically occur any time and any place, we believe those of us in the research park business would all consider the connections made among our park communities to be one of our greatest assets – and the degree of collaboration one of the top surrogate metrics of our innovation successes. However, those connections have historically occurred in person. They have been casual or concentrated, brief or ongoing, serendipitous or intentional. But above all, they were personal, with factors of trust borne out of intimacy – and proximity.
In the face of the value of human “collisions” (if not literal, at least physical), the pandemic has clearly elevated isolation to a virtue. The large events stopped happening. The conference rooms went empty. The lobbies and lunchrooms have gone quiet. Encountered strangers, and even our colleagues, cease to be the potential source of new ideas and different ways of thinking. Instead, they have become unknowing and unintentional potential threats to our very wellbeing. The need to stay healthy trumps the need to innovate. Every. Single. Time. And so it seems the virus denies us the benefit of our most important, and typical, offerings our properties have – coming together, in person. And to what extent and for how long seems completely uncertain. With all this working against us, the question arises: How then may we lead?
PLAY THE LONG GAME
The first point is to remind ourselves that, while this scourge may or may not ever be forced into complete retreat, the near-universal desire of billions of humans to return to some manner of living that as closely as possible resembles “how it used to be” does pit an all but irresistible global force against a mindless pathogen incapable of sentient strategy or tactics. In the long term, it’s not even remotely close to a fair fight. Therefore, one way we can combat this, through leadership, is to maintain a long view – AKA, play the long game.
We don’t get keyed up by weekly and monthly events and setbacks. Hopefully, we’ve already made it through the nadir of community separation. If not, we will in the near term, and then each day will get better. And, since our niche group is part of the general population that is closest to the miracles and magic that technological innovation has – and will continue to deliver – we are all obliged to be optimists and therefore we must remind others often of the inexorable upward trend of the human condition.
PROPERTY IS POWER
Secondly, we need to recommit ourselves to the unique power of place in the environments in which we operate. In response to this pandemic, nearly every business in the world was forced by varying degrees to experiment with dramatic changes in their workplace – even down to whether or not there needed to be a workplace.
The results are still being tallied, but it is safe to assume that some businesses will see the surprisingly high rates of remote productivity in their industry and ultimately discover they’d previously spent far too many resources on the places they used to pay for, i.e., offices, to house their workers.
Yet, for others, the demonstrable falloff in productivity when community and collaboration were temporarily prevented will instill an even greater commitment to procure a space which emphasizes these catalysts on innovation. The findings of the first group may cause concern for landlords of “vanilla” commercial properties, but the lessons for the latter should only bolster the value and opportunities for properties like ours, where community is emphasized.
EMBRACE CHANGE
Finally, we as leaders need to remember that the essence of innovation is the dispensation of the past. As professional “string-pushers” of innovation, we often use terms like “disruption” and “mutation” – terms which arguably include both positive and negative changes. In fact, though, “innovation,” as used in common parlance, seems to have settled into a connotation associated with beneficial change. Even so, many discoveries, cures, and breakthroughs come about from experimentation. And the essence of experimentation is setting up a change in circumstances.
So, while others see uncertainty and shrink, we can peer at the unknown and see unintended consequences of discovery. Necessity mothers invention, and pain points prompt inquiry.
Without a doubt, COVID has already caused much suffering. And unfortunately, there is still more to come. But the role of innovation in the betterment of the human condition is still a constant. That constant is one we need to remind ourselves of – and cling to – as we all try to lead through this uncertainty.
HERE TO HELP
And that’s where we come in. As experts in this specialized space, we’ve pushed traditional boundaries; we’ve transformed practices and procedures; we’ve shifted the perception of what “great” looks like. Our work continuously supports collaboration, connection, and innovation at all times – and especially in times of uncertainty. By developing, managing, and growing thriving innovation communities, we create hubs designed to truly inspire, connect, and support ongoing user success. Every day, we are creating spaces, communities, and programs that serve people, their work, and their relationships.
So no matter where you are in your journey to building, managing, and nurturing an innovation community, we can meet you where you are. For every question you have, we’re ready to help.