Last month, I started the series on the impact of artificial intelligence on appraisal.

It seemed it would be an easy topic, one which would expand to challenge and forecast the future.  And the deeper I went, the easier it went, and the deeper it went.  How deep?

I quickly realized that much of our interest in the topic depended on context and personal motivation!  And personal motivation came not only from inside (psychologically), but externally depending on our organizational connection.  And we have many.

Many.

Immediately, I was smacked by the fact that we often talk right past each other!  Why?

We are each motivated by different things.

So how to approach this?  How do we tackle the clear problems around the essential human needs of shelter and industry?

The answer became obvious.  We need to take inventory.

Inventory can take many levels and intents.  It can be personal, or organizational.  It can be narrow, or extremely broad.  The motive can be narrow, to fit your individual goal or habit.  Or it can be as broad as the “public trust.”  (How ever you wish to define it.)

Immediately, I ran into another issue – why we talk past each other . . .

Words.

Words have power.  Words cause wars.  Words are how we communicate to understand each other – and to influence each other – and maybe to mislead each other – and may even mislead ourselves!

My mind smashed into the fact that whatever we do, we must start with words.  Which led into the need for inventory.  An inventory of words.  An inventory of motives.  And inventories of ourselves, our organization(s), and the very purpose of our complex governance.

Fortunately, there is a lot of help in taking inventory.  Such as “Scope of Work” in the appraisal problem.  The instructions in the scope of work part of the profession sets a pattern for all inventories, whether for self, or for group.  We have help from law, from recovery programs, from religion, from psychology, and even from appraisal.

We have a path.  All we need is awareness, a belief of hope, a decision, and action.  Action.

Inventory should be easy.  It is not.  The first block is self.  The desire to protect self.  Self invokes automatically.  It does not need to think.  It only needs to claim to be thinking.  It only needs to find an accomplice:  a “like-thinker,” an authority figure, a childhood parent, even just self — defending its past beliefs.  The self can be selfish.  It is afraid.  It can be lazy.  It knows how to avoid.

It may be that our problems are of our own making.

My hope is that the rest of this year, this “Analogue blog” will challenge you to see reality through inventory.  Will challenge you to growth through shrinking – not shirking.  A shrinking of ego, of unchallenged habit, and unacknowledged self.

Your comments are encouraged.  Be involved.  Respond.

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