There’s a medical term called hypervigilance. The definition is a state of heightened alertness accompanied by behavior that aims to prevent danger. It’s a condition that is of concern to one’s mental health if it progresses. 

A common model of hypervigilance suggests a linear progression; alertness, alarm, and panic. 

As an entrepreneur, this fight-or-flight state of hypervigilance is usually the difference between success and failure. Leading a team of people, whose lives depend upon the financial success of the company, isn’t for wimps. It just is what it is - and it’s not for everyone. 

Being a business that supports the CRE industry has been interesting, to say the least. We’ve worked with startups, middle market companies, and enterprises in so many ways, exposing us to so many different workplace cultures and styles. We’ve consulted and delivered on activity-based design, ergonomics, A/V integration, LAN/WAN, evaporative cooling, Kiva bots, you name it. We’ve worked for municipalities, hospitals, and universities - each giving us a glimpse into how different one is from the next. 

There’s always been a common thread. We’ve always done whatever we were hired to do for the end user. No matter what, we deliver ‘to the seat’. UI/UX. In search of a constant state of continuous improvement, we even did a marketing campaign once called Create.Refine.Repeat. That leads us to a deeper understanding of the informed model and RPA (Robotic Process Automation). 

Over the last two years, we’ve seen a progression of anxious behavior in the seat. Workplace hypervigilance is common in emergency services, financial trading floors, and high-tech jobs requiring constant multitasking and high concentration. It’s pervasive throughout the construction and delivery side of the industry - in a harmful way - and it is reaching into traditional knowledge work. Why? 

Dunno. 

Maybe because we sense something? Maybe because there’s something INSIDE of us that feels like we are on the edge? 

It can also be a useful tool for identifying opportunities in certain contexts. Hypervigilance is a key attribute in sales and entrepreneurship where being attuned to opportunities can be the difference between recognizing market trends or dying because you didn’t. 

The CRE industry is changing in monumental ways. Lines are being drawn, cells are dividing, and new ecosystems are being built. The future of work happens inside these new ecosystems….and that’s changing too. Remote work is now a product. Distributed teams and the global workforce are now a reality. Awareness of this shift has turned mainstream. This does not undo - it only progresses forward. The delineation is real, and people have a choice. 

Be aware of your surroundings. 

Be aware of your choices. 

Be aware of you. 

#WAGMI #TotalTenancy™ #OrionGrowth 

Photo by Dion Tavenier on Unsplash