The 6 Most Offensive Words in Business
“We’ve always done it this way.” I’m very chill, but that sentence makes me instantly mad. In my brain, it’s like saying, “I don’t feel like thinking today.” Ridiculous, right? Yet that’s what I hear when someone says the six most offensive words in business. This sentence sounds harmless, but it greatly impacts your appraisal […]
Matter Requiring Attention
Compliance can feel like all stick and no carrot. Like a referee ready to throw a yellow card if your appraisal department doesn’t have standardized processes. Compliance demands “repeatable proof,” not just “professional judgment.” Reasons compliance feels annoying: the goalposts keep shifting, anything less than perfect gets punished and it often feels like a spotlight […]
What Are You Building?
If the answer is “nothing,” you’ve stopped writing your story. Blank pages don’t inspire anyone. You probably still love appraising, reviewing and leading your firm or department. But something is off. A feeling of “meh” workdays lacking inspiration. It’s not age, it’s indifference. Whether you’re a fee appraiser refining your valuation process or a chief […]
The Future Belongs to Creators
AI isn’t the big change. You are. AI is a mirror. It shows a level of curiosity and who’s ready to put in the productivity reps. AI in and of itself isn’t the point. Rather, the hype and FOMO is so high, it’s hard to escape the gravitational pull of productivity expectations. “Playing around” with […]
The 50% Problem
Half of all commercial bank appraisal reviews require revisions. That’s not a quality problem. It’s an alignment problem. Bank reviewers are frustrated. “Did they even read the engagement letter?” Appraisers are annoyed. “Why are they nitpicking?” Both sides are right. And both sides are wrong. Because both are losing time, trust and alignment. How We […]
Appraisers Have the Best Stories
When appraisers get together, there’s an inclination to talk about past inspection stories that were funny, weird, or just interesting. Here’s a couple of mine. A bank from New York asked me to appraise a golf course that was in default. During the inspection, I was driving around the property and realized something. Then I […]