Sam Medina

Last week, we discussed the reality that most IT organizations are making well-intentioned investments, but that their investment portfolio may be out of balance. To read last week’s blog,click here.

Sam Medina begins a 3-part series on Transforming the IT Investment Budget in order to fund new programs and initiatives without the necessity of additional capital expense.

Sam Medina describes the wealth of data that should be gleaned from Legacy systems in order to build organizational knowledge back into modern systems during transformation.

Sam Medina discusses how a new era of competition has driven Human Resources departments into a challenging position, where acquiring talented people is vital to achieve organizational advantage. Help can be found with transformational thinking and the creative use of technology.

Sam Medina brainstorms on how the Legal, Compliance and Enterprise Risk Management department in an insurance company can tie its transformation efforts to the services it provides throughout the enterprise.

Sam Medina discusses the challenges and best practices that insurers face when transforming the Sourcing and Procurement Services area.

Sam Medina points out the differences between updating the Finance & Accounting organization functions and truly modernizing and transforming F&A across all functions and geographies.

Insurers know that growth in revenues, profits and market share is dependent on their ability to attract and retain customers. In a highly competitive arena this means taking customers from competitors in the mature markets, and getting on top of the hill first in the emerging markets. They know that consumers are more informed, have access to more powerful devices, are more connected and can make formal and informal comparisons of products and services. They are therefore more demanding than consumers of the past. Insurers also know that customers will pay for value. Leading global insurers know how to create differentiating, lifetime value-adding propositions. In most cases, what separates the leaders from the rest of insurers is that the leaders have already shifted from being inwardly-focused to being customer-focused. They have engaged in some form of transformational thinking. (For a good definition of transformational thinking vs. legacy thinking, see my first blog.)

Insurance claims processing is still categorized by some insurers as “if it’s not broken don’t fix it.” Some have taken steps to make incremental changes to their existing claims processes and systems by applying Lean process methods, and introducing data mining and predictive analytics. Although for the most part the results have been positive, these small enhancements led to small benefits.

Transformational thinking isn’t just about ‘intelligent thoughts’. It is about converting transformational concepts into practical steps that will accomplish real enterprise transformations. (For a good definition of transformational thinking vs. legacy thinking, see my first blog.) This week we focus on how insurance marketing efforts have to transform to add value.

Spring is almost here. It is natural for insurers to focus on growth. In the past, the growth cycle was fueled by new products, an expansion of agencies or reaching new geographies. Today’s growth fuel flows in the opposite direction – from consumer demand, through the product channels and into product development. The technological wave that has fostered channel development is improving insurer response time and promoting growth – if insurers are willing to think transformationally. (For a good definition of transformational thinking vs. legacy thinking, see my first blog.)

The ticker tape, invented by Thomas Edison at the age of 22, should have been a sign to all other industries. Investors would do anything to keep information and money flowing…including keeping their technology up to date. One would think that an insurer’s desire to reduce risk and hold onto reserves would also steer them down the road toward cutting-edge information technologies.

Good underwriting is the key to a profitable book of business for an insurer. Underwriting profitability is an important financial measure, and is flanked by other typical key performance indicators used to measure underwriting effectiveness such as the number of new policies, percentage of revenue from new policies, customers and products, underwriting speed, reduced loss ratio, and the ease of doing business.

Insurance today offers a lesson in economics. Traditional product development (supply) is not meeting modern consumer needs (demand). The result is a loss of potential revenue. What is needed is ‘transformational thinking’. (For a definition of transformational thinking and legacy thinking, see my first blog.see my first blog.)

We have to shed legacy thinking in order to start thinking transformatively. Legacy thinking is not just about legacy systems; it is also about processes and people. (For a good definition of legacy thinking, see last week's blog .) How you think about the roles of people inside and outside your organization can lead you toward or away from organizational transformation.

No matter who you are or what your role is in your organization, you should leverage the power of your thoughts. Thoughts are inception points and transformational thoughts can spark real change in your organization. The power of your thoughts can result in great ideas and can inspire and move others toward collaboration, innovation, and creating the future. It can transform your work, your organization, your company, and even an entire industry.