Here’s a daily dose of Peter Drucker for you to consider: In some knowledge work – and especially in some work requiring a high degree of knowledge – we already measure quality. Surgeons, for instance, are routinely measured, by their success rates in difficult and dangerous procedures, for example, by the survival rates of their open-heart surgical patients. But by and large we have, so far, mainly judgments rather than measures regarding the quality of a great deal of knowledge. The main trouble is, however, not the difficulty of measuring quality. It is the difficulty in defining what the task is and what it should be. – Peter Drucker, Management Challenges for the 21st Century Now, let’s apply Drucker’s sagacity to the real estate industry as it is today – and how it might evolve in the future. How should we be measuring the knowledge work of today’s REALTOR?

I thought it would be appropriate to start with a quote: The greatest wisdom, not applied to behavior or action, is useless data. — Peter Drucker (1909 – 2005) No better summation of the challenges facing the real estate industry deserves our attention, especially in the wake of endless media accounts that the housing market continues to slump (of course NAR”s reports aren’t so chipper either). But what does this quote mean, really? Well, in my mind, it means that its time to stop nodding our heads and saying, “I know, I know” about all the things we “know” we’re “supposed” to be doing and to actually start doing them! And most importantly, this means focusing on technology – especially the stuff you already have – and getting more out of it. Rather than seeking the next quick-fix, snake-oil solution to our woes, why don’t we just focus on all the tools, training and techniques so many of us have been building for the last few years and start putting it to work. Especially on critical issues such as capturing leads, pricing homes more competitively and promoting listings with enhanced multimedia instead of bullet points and still photos. That’s the [...]