Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch was a very popular political figure (and remains so) for many reasons, but not the least of these were his warmth and openness. Nowhere was this more clearly demonstrated than in what became his defining catchphrase: “How am I doing?”
Koch didn’t just ask this of a few people on a few occasions. It seemed that he would use any excuse to publicly ask about his status, then listen to people praise or revile his performance as New York’s CEO. As a result, he built a lot of good will and—at least in the opinion of some (including me)—was a most effective leader.
Speaking of asking for input on performance,
CAC Chair and SVP and GM of the Mitchell International SmartAdvisor Solutions division, Nina Smith, said, “The Customer Advisory Council will enable us to understand what is required to continue to bring value and innovation to our customers' operations. Through close interaction and partnership, the CAC will facilitate discussions about industry trends, business challenges, and business requirements, turning the most influential ideas into recommendations for strategies and actions by Mitchell.”
This got me to thinking about the whole idea of asking for customer feedback—and wondering why the insurance/financial services IT community doesn’t do it more often. Of course, I’m talking here about our internal customers—the folks who try to use the applications and technology we give them within the parameters we set forth. Like it or not, these everyday Joes and Janes are the people we need to serve and cater to if we have any notion of calling our IT operation successful.
Having an internal customer advisory council for IT seems like common sense, yet I rarely see this happening. There are several reasons, but perhaps the most potent one is that many IT shops just don’t respect their end users. Having spoken with a lot of IT people over too many years, I can assure you that very few of them speak in respectful tones about users. In fact, it is not at all uncommon for IT practitioners to view business users as the “enemy.”
Another factor may be that IT folks, for the most part, tend to live in their own world. Being an IT professional is a lot like belonging to a cult that possesses arcane knowledge and does not relish the idea of sharing the goods. It’s a kind of “one-up” game that could easily give one a sense of superiority. Those “Luddite” users may be viewed as a lower form of life that only continues to flourish through the benevolence of their IT benefactors. Sometimes we make ourselves feel good by making someone else out to look bad—sad to say.
This kind of pathology remains rampant in our companies and our enterprises despite the efforts of many to bring the groups together, and pleas to “just get along.” It grows virally, in part because both of the parties have fear and disdain for each other—based on nothing, really. But if those of us on the IT side can at least admit that our in-house customers may have some valuable feedback for us, there is hope for us yet.
It seems to me that an IT advisory council that meets regularly, includes decision-makers from both sides of the technology divide, and seriously considers implementing the suggestions of its members will go a long way toward solving this problem. The impetus, however, must come from the top. If we require this kind of constructive interaction as part of our corporate cultures, something helpful is bound to emerge. At the very least, group members on both sides may realize that the “enemy” really isn’t so awful after all.
None of us is perfect. It really is okay to ask, “How am I doing?” So, uh, how am I doing?
Ara C. Trembly (
Readers are encouraged to respond to Ara using the “Add Your Comments” box below. He can also be reached at ara@aratremblytechnology.com.
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