If you stay in business long enough, something will change.
The market. The competition. The way customers buy. The rules you have learned to work within.
Sometimes the shift happens gradually. Other times, you look up and realize the environment around your business is very different from the one you were operating in a year ago. The question is what you do next.
An Industry Thinking About What Comes Next
Construction Inclusion Week takes place October 12-16, 2026, at a time when the construction industry is having important conversations about its future.
This year’s theme “Opening Doors, Building a Workplace for Everyone,” focuses on expanding opportunity, developing people, and creating workplaces where people can grow. The organization’s guiding pillars address areas including economic opportunity, attracting and retaining talent, belonging and workplace culture, community engagement, and accountability.
Those are not conversations that matter for one week and disappear.
They are part of a bigger question facing construction and plenty of other industries: how do we build organizations that are ready for what comes next?
Construction Inclusion Week connects that work to the strength of the construction workforce and the industry’s ability to remain competitive and resilient.
That make inclusion more than a conversation about who enters the industry. It is also about the strength of the industry we are building.
Margo Posey Knows Something About Change
That idea of preparing for what comes next also surfaced in our recent Say Less Unscripted conversation with Margo Posey, President of the Dallas Fort Worth Business Council (formerly Dallas Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council).
Margo has spent decades working with business owners, corporations and public agencies. She has watched programs change, economic conditions shift and businesses adjust to new expectations.
So when we asked where she sees the business landscape going over the next five years, she didn’t pretend to have a crystal ball. She laughed and said she was trying to figure out what would happen in the next six months. It was funny because it was true.
There is a lot businesses cannot predict right now. But Margo was certain about one thing: businesses will have to pivot. She talked about organizations reevaluating how they operate and businesses facing a competitive environment where the rules, options, and expectations are changing.
Then she raised a question every business owner should probably ask: what is going to be the differential?
When several capable companies are competing for the same opportunity, why should someone choose yours?
The Bar Keeps Moving
Experience, reputation, and relationships matter; but none of them replace the need to keep getting better.
One of Margo’s strongest points in our conversation was that successful businesses have always had to perform. They have had to prove themselves, deliver, and compete. That expectation hasn’t disappeared, if anything, she believes the bar is getting higher.
Leaders have to develop people who can meet that higher standard too. A company is much better positioned for change when its strength doesn’t depend on one person knowing what to do. That is what makes a business more capable of handling whatever comes next.
The Economic Impact Is Real
There is also a bigger economic picture behind this conversation. According to the National Minority Supplier Development Council’s 2024 Minority Business Economic Report, NMSDC certified minority business enterprises generated $599.7 billion in total economic output, supported more than 2.2 million jobs, and generated $168 billion in wages.
Those numbers are a reminder that when businesses have the opportunity to compete, grow and create jobs, the impact extends well beyond one company.
Creating opportunity matters. So does being prepared to compete when you find it.
Staying The Course Doesn’t Mean Standing Still
Near the end of our conversation, Margo offered three simple words “stay the course”.
There is something important in the way she meant it. Staying the course isn’t the same as refusing to change. You can stay committed to where you are going and still change how you get there. You can protect the values that built your company while questioning an approach that no longer works.
There is a difference between knowing what you stand for and being unwilling to move. Strong leaders understand that.
Be Prepared To Evolve
Construction Inclusion Week gives the industry reason to think intentionally about the people, businesses and opportunities that will shape its future. Our conversation with Margo Posey raises another question worth considering: Are you prepared to evolve with the environment around you?
The way you have always done business may not be the way you need to do business next. That doesn’t mean chasing every change. It means paying attention. Know what makes your business valuable. Keep developing your people. Recognize when something needs to change and be willing to make the adjustments.
You won’t be able to predict everything that comes next. You don’t need to.
Be prepared to evolve, and stay the course.
Watch Margo Posey’s full conversation on Say Less Unscripted for more on business, leadership, certifications, relationships, and navigating a changing business environment.
For more candid conversations and practical leadership insights, join The Say Less Dispatch.