Want to stay relevant? You need a kick in the pants.

Hire a Chief Millennial Officer

Every company, MLS, brokerage, publisher, mortgage company and even NAR should have a kid with a skull cap and a skateboard in their boardroom. Her title will be Chief Millennial Officer. Let's call her Joplin. The first thing that will change? The boardroom. If you have an old wooden table and a crooked picture hanging on your wall--throw it away. As you do, embrace the fact that the table will be the first of many status quo ideas you may have to trash.

To say that we will never be like these cool tech companies and all we want to be is par is simply not an acceptable way of doing business, nor will it last. The greatest proof I can offer? Huge old line brands have stopped pounding their chests as the reality of the landscape is finally hitting home. The term "level playing field" has become our reality.

Established, antiquated brands have fallen way behind. The inclination to "redo" websites is a good first step, but many are doing this on the same foundation and ideology as the old one. How is it possible that companies are not implementing a responsive cross-platform strategy? One that is mobile first? As you throw out your table, throw out this myopic way of thinking. Joplin would never let you do this on her watch.

A simple way to fix this is to flatten out your organizations and empower younger, more innovative thinking that is embraced at the higher levels of your company. If you proceed down the path of status quo, I assure you you are building trouble on top of trouble and that your work product will fall short.