“World’s Okayest Claims Team” – a spinoff t-shirt sentiment I asked our leadership team to consider and decide if this was the standard we are striving for. Of course it wasn’t, but it gave us an opportunity to calibrate expectations, and more importantly – in the immortal words of Vince Lombardi – decide how we planned to “chase perfection [so] we can catch excellence.” Chasing perfection requires a data-driven culture and intentional actions from leaders anchored to a solid understanding of behaviors and processes. Unfortunately, it is all too common to see leaders and teams stumble on how to drive meaningful and sustainable improvement to their business. Disciplined leaders effectively associate root cause drivers with a deep knowledge of customers’ needs, ensuring actions taken are tailored to address the problem and elicit outcomes. Absent this discipline, many become mired in a recycled playbook or status quo thinking which leads them to fall short of the outcomes they desire or toward addressing the unprecedented problems facing our industry.
Consider these four “A’s” as a framework for such discipline:’
1. Analysis. Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” Great insights feed informed actions and leaders too often make assumptions or jump to solutions without spending time to clearly analyze and define a problem statement targeted at root cause drivers. Those who prioritize their understanding and testing of a hypothesis through data, pinpoint behaviors or process gaps which open the door for more surgical actions to be taken tailored to the problem.
"Being the best at anything requires intentional analysis and disciplined action predicated on solid attribution to root cause drivers."
2. Awareness. No one would argue that clear expectations and a solid understanding of what is expected are fundamental to achieving anything remarkable. Team members must clearly recognize their accountabilities to “chase perfection” and achieve what is desired. All too often however, I see leaders pacify themselves into believing that “telling them again” or “we need another training” is the basis for a meaningful action plan that will get them the result they are after. Spoiler alert…it's not and they won’t. We need to break this cycle and consider why team members may not have had an understanding the first time or if there is perhaps more at play. Once a reasonable degree of confidence in awareness is achieved, it is critical that leaders consider the next steps and what else needs to be done to ensure the impact is realized.
3. Action. This is where the magic happens.
Based on all the preceding work completed – effective action is now rooted in a deep understanding of the desired impact, its relationship to the work, and those responsible. Armed with a solid vision of what is expected, leaders should inspire (and expect) action from a confident team that understands what is needed. Scheduled check-ins and validations are critical to ensure the team's work now matches expectations.
4. Accountability. Reinforcing expectations, ensuring buy-in, and recognizing strong performance are the absolute catalysts toward optimal impact. Failing to maintain accountability not only allows mediocrity to fester but also diminishes the contributions of the larger team. Data insights become a crucial tool for tracking progress and validating initial hypotheses, as well as determining if any adjustments are necessary. While accountability can take many forms, this is arguably the most critical step toward achieving meaningful results.
Our claims leadership team ultimately agreed we wanted to be the “World’s Best Claims Team,” thereby representing our rallying cry for 2024. Being the best at anything requires intentional analysis and disciplined action predicated on solid attribution to root cause drivers. Mix in a bit of accountability from an engaged team and effective leadership, and this becomes a recipe for incredible impact. It’s also key to enhancing efficiency, ensuring accuracy, improving customer satisfaction, and finding financial stability in these turbulent industry waters. While being the “Okayest” may be enough for some, I am grateful for a team continually chasing perfection and setting our sights on being the “Best“!
