Nolan Perspectives
As the dust has settled from the initial onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders are reassessing what the new normal will demand of their operations and accelerating focus on digital transformation.
Overview
In 2007 Nassim Taleb published his landmark book, "The Black Swan." He defined a black swan as a rare, unpredictable event that has severe consequences and will later be claimed to be obvious in hindsight.
Some time ago I was interviewing an underwriting officer, and I asked him for his perspective on the Loss Control or Risk Management function. His response has stayed with me for a long time.
It’s 2017 – time for a new round of prognostications from today’s “business thought leaders.” Beware! Whether it’s business school journals, white papers, or trade magazines, new management “philosophies” are everywhere.
Overview
Insurance companies today are all targeting profitable growth. There’s a buzz in today’s marketplace that one can shoot in any direction and hit their target. It’s not that easy because real growth opportunities are not everywhere.
Paul Revere never said, “The British Are Coming.” But if he were here today, he might be yelling, “The InsurTechs are HERE!” Or maybe he’d tweet it. Either way, it would be good news because the InsurTechs are bringing innovative concepts to the insurance world and beyond.
Insurance, at its core, is a service industry. Good customer service has always been an industry imperative. Given that backdrop, what is driving today's hyperfocus on customer experience?
Insurance organizations are pursuing a variety of strategic initiatives – advanced analytics, digital insurance, core system replacement, customer experience, direct distribution, self-service, omni-channel, etc.
We all receive too much junk email. But once in a great while, something hits a nerve and I open it. Last week I received one such article.
One of the more well-worn clichés in the business world is, “The Customer Is King.” I’m sorry to break the news, but that phrase is like Miami Vice and fax machines...it’s so ‘80s. The customer has in fact been promoted to Supreme Intergalactic Commander.
The past few years have made clear that political organizations have become much more sophisticated in terms of leveraging “big data” and executing real-time, data-driven campaigns.
The P&C industry is undergoing significant challenges with increased claim severity in liability and physical damage claims. These increases are outpacing inflation and rate adequacy.
In the National Football League it is often said, “If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any.” In business, sometimes we see companies with 15 or 20 strategic objectives built into an annual plan. How any company can focus on more than three to five critical objectives is beyond me. Tha
As an analytics practitioner, I am struck by the essential practices used by Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. These titans of industry undertook major initiatives, launched from the confines of their 21-acre winter estate in Ft.
Recently I worked with a client to analyze and solve some significant underwriting problems. Initially the company’s CEO was concerned because its loss ratios were higher than its peers’ loss ratios.
Thirty-plus years ago, Steve Jobs introduced the Macintosh at an Apple shareholders meeting by reciting lyrics from the song, The Times They Are A-Changin’. It was great theater, and it turns out he wasn’t exaggerating; personal computers have dramatically changed the world.
I am a fan of legendary college basketball coach John Wooden’s books and his “Pyramid of Success” philosophy. In particular, I have found the book Be Quick—But Don’t Hurry to be an especially handy and useful reference.
Insurers are encountering a new level of sophistication with mobile users and technologies. Much like the rapid maturity of web technologies years ago, mobile technology is rapidly evolving today. Perhaps you are tacking a Mobile 2.0 strategy, or maybe you are just getting started with mobile.
I recently watched the Tom Cruise classic, Jerry Maguire. When Cuba Gooding’s character, Rod Tidwell, had Jerry yelling “Show Me the Money!” he was really talking about results. Jerry had all sorts of promises, but Rod wanted results, and results meant a new, fat, big-dollar contract.
During a recent business trip to New York City, I found myself looking for a Starbucks on a surprisingly peaceful Saturday morning. Of course, I had my choice of four Starbucks within a two-block radius. I chose one at random and found a few patrons there enjoying a quiet morning.
As a CIO, I deliberately avoided multi-year projects. But when a mega-project was inevitable, I worked to make it painless.
Since the dawn of the Information Age, IT leaders have wrestled with where, how, and even why to outsource services. Even today, a wealth of data seems to prove that businesses are still struggling to find balance.
Have you ever walked past one of those airport charging kiosks for phones and thought, “Man, I wish there was one for me”? Well, I have, and in July I decided to recharge by taking a two-week vacation. For the first time in my 30-plus years with The Nolan Company, I stayed home.
While the economy improves and business opportunities abound, it’s easy to forget what we all went through starting in 2008 with the economic meltdown. As we help clients hammer out business, operations, and technology strategies, we are finding many are almost hyper-focused on growth. Why not?
Big data is now ubiquitous in the insurance industry, but most insurers are merely scratching the surface when it comes to effectively harnessing its value. In fact, a recent study revealed that 60% of claims data is still unstructured, and that 16% of high-risk claims are still neglected.
Like other contemporary management models, Lean can be a powerful tool for affecting positive change. And like other theories, it has taken time for Lean to catch on — especially in organizations outside of manufacturing.
In 2008 I had the honor to meet Colin Powell and introduce him as a keynote speaker. In preparation I read Oren Harari’s book, The Powell Principles. It is a no-nonsense guide to leadership.
Recently I was on a Friday flight from Austin to Dallas, and I decided to stand by for an earlier flight. Standbys are usually a hopeless cause on Fridays, but this time it was a delightful service experience.
Each year, The Nolan Company conducts industry surveys to gauge the pulse of a specific industry, be it banking, healthcare, or insurance. Some are comprehensive, others are just flash surveys.
Emerging trends in the insurance industry, combined with an expectation of relatively flat market conditions, are spurring executives to embrace new initiatives to maintain their market share and create new means of growth in trying times.
It's common practice for business leaders to assemble their teams annually to review and renew company strategy. Every company should have a clear strategy that is revised as business conditions and market factors evolve. And every company leader should be able to articulate that strategy.
As trusted advisors to our clients, we must always be at the top of our game particularly when it comes to business, technology, and industry trends.
There is an old saying that everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die.
I recently wrote an article concerning the need to extract business value from Business Analytics. A reader then sent me the following question and comment: “Who should be charged with making sure this happens – is it the responsibility of the CIO, line-of-business heads, data scientist (where t
Comprehensive risk assessment – the accurate selection, assessment and rating of risk – rests at the heart of sustainable profitability. Underwriting involves far more than simply matching premium to coverage consistently.
A recent ComputerWeekly article presents some startling figures concerning the amount of money businesses are investing in business analytics. The article1 reports that business intelligence software and services will reach $143 billion in 2016, with two-thirds of that being on services.
This interview originally appeared in the Spring 2013 Edition of IASA’s Interpreter. It is the 30th in a series of interviews conducted for the publication by Dennis Sullivan.
“Effective use of technology and data can improve the quality of care and make our health-care system more efficient,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
I am an amateur cook. I’ve learned to cook as amateurs do: by watching my father, Boy Scouts, talking with friends who cook, and reading about food and recipes. But, most important, by breaking eggs and giving it a try!
While it may be too early to say mobile technology will be as disruptive as the Web, there are many similarities. Consistent with the early days of the Internet, demand is coming at IT organizations very quickly and requests for deployment have outgrown infrastructure in many organizations.
What opportunities are you leaving on the table with your mobile investments?
At a business breakfast recently, two clients and I had a roundtable discussion sharing our thoughts about the latest and greatest ideas and experiences in insurance industry technologies, organizational constructs, sourcing options, and other topics.
“The last thing IBM needs right now is a vision.”
That now-famous quote was uttered at a press conference when new CEO Lou Gerstner was being pressed for an outline of his plans for the beleaguered company.
The days of marketing and operations co-existing in a contentious relationship have gone the way of payphones and paper applications. This sea change in the industry is occurring because young adults (that is, today's new customers) demand it.
Most of us saw it coming: massive restructuring as the U.S. Postal Service recently announced that it will close one in ten of its 32,000 offices. Efforts are under way to evaluate selling major operating locations across the United States, a move expected to save over $3 billion annually.
There have been countless acquisitions in the insurance and financial services industry already this year. Slow organic growth, unpredictable investment earnings, failed institutions, and attractive acquisition targets are escalating M&A priorities on the executive agenda.
In the third quarter 2008 edition of The Nolan Newsletter, we published part one of a two-part discussion around characteristics of successful mid-size insurers.
If there’s ever been a time when we were all painfully aware of the war over talent, it’s now. Nearly every client we work with faces the same challenge: that of attracting and holding on to their most precious resource—people.
