The Industry’s Echo Chamber (and the Emperor Still Has No Clothes)
The people doing the work aren’t the ones being heard. It’s time to stop pretending otherwise.
Every year, themes are chosen.
Topics selected. Panels approved. Buzzwords rolled out.
It all looks polished from the outside—well-curated, expertly sourced, a reflection of “what the industry needs right now.” But scratch the surface, and you quickly realize: it’s not a mirror. It’s a projection. One designed to protect the image, not the people.
Let’s talk about how these so-called “themes” are chosen.
Typically, the process involves three things:
An advisory board made up of speakers from the year before
Independent research conducted by the organizers themselves
Input from industry associations and governing bodies
Sounds credible. Even democratic.
But in practice?
It’s smoke and mirrors.
The “advisory boards” often serve as decorum—assembled not to listen but to nod. There’s no real discussion. No tension. No truth-telling. Just a tightly managed show to suggest there’s consensus—when in fact, there’s simply compliance.
The independent research? Let’s be honest—most of it is a Google search and a glance at a few trend reports written by people who haven’t set foot on a job site in years (if ever). When your understanding of the industry’s challenges comes from LinkedIn carousels and white papers designed for investor optics, you’re not researching—you’re recycling.
And then there’s the third tier: the associations.
The ones who “represent the industry.”
Let’s call this what it is: the real gatekeepers.
These groups often speak on behalf of large corporations and major unions. They have the funding, the influence, and the access to policymakers. They do not speak for the small to mid-sized businesses that make up the majority of the workforce.
They do not speak for the boots-on-the-ground tradespeople, site supers, or project managers who carry the mental, emotional, and physical load of this industry every day.
In fact, if you want to know what doesn’t get a seat at the table, just look at what gets consistently left off the agenda:
Mental health
Leadership failure
Burnout
Human-centered redesign
SME realities
Transparent, bottom-up reform
Why? Because those things don’t fit the image.
They’re not profitable soundbites.
They don’t serve the hierarchy.
It’s The Emperor Has No Clothes in steel-toed boots and safety vests.
We all see it.
We all feel it.
But too many people still pretend the illusion is real because it keeps them comfortable, relevant, or funded.
The truth?
The industry’s biggest problems won’t be solved by its loudest institutions.
They’ll be solved by the ones who aren’t being heard right now.
And they’re not asking for permission anymore.
If you're tired of pretending the emperor is dressed, say something.
The industry won’t change from the top down—it’ll change when enough of us on the ground stop playing along.
Share this. Talk about it. Or better yet, show up differently in your next meeting, on your next site, in your next decision.
The illusion only lasts if we keep feeding it.