As I was browsing through Facebook last week I realized I’m approaching my anniversary of joining the social network. Granted, I was an early adopter but even so a lot has changed in that time. When I joined there weren’t many people to connect with who had any relevance to my career. Now the population seems endless. With the proliferation of additional social networks geared for business like LinkedIn the ease of finding relevant connections and information has skyrocketed. In fact that relevant information is now finding me. Before social networks we had to spend time looking for information, validating it and acting on it. The process in itself assured a level of credibility to an idea before resources were committed. Now headlines flash on every website and app that I frequent seemingly dangling the answers to any agency problem imaginable.
The Internet has always been the great equalizer. Some bloggers now have credibility and fame that was once reserved for senior reporters at established news agencies. Anyone can create a website that makes them look like a multinational corporation. As a leader you now have more access to this seemingly relevant information that ever before. So how do we validate the actual relevance of this information? How do we separate the wheat from the chaff and assure that we are planning and executing strategy based on facts?
Technology is an exciting topic. When done right it can change business models and create an impenetrable value around your agency that’s hard to replicate. Advances in smartphones, apps and social media are starting to prove their value in the business world. We all read headlines and dream of the advantage these advances can create for our firms. This dreamlike optimism places us firmly in a position of susceptibility to initiatives that cost a lot and rarely pay dividends. Let’s face it, in our industry there are a lot of creative thinkers but very few technology innovators. Disagree? Let’s look at the words:
Creativity is the process of thinking up new ideas
Innovation is the process of executing new ideas
There is no shortage of creative thinkers in agency technology. Everybody wants to put iPads in the hands of producers. Everybody wants to create a social media strategy for your agency. “Build an app” is the answer du jour to nearly every business problem these days. So where do we go with these great ideas? That answer is conspicuously missing from the equation. Without relevant experience and guidance the outcome is predictable:
You hand a producer an iPad who whips it out in a prospect meeting and does what? Walks through the same Powerpoint that they would have shown on their laptop? What’s the payoff for the cost of the iPad? What’s the benefit to the prospect? You setup a Twitter account for you and your top producers and what do you tweet? Even if you devise a clever tweet why do your customers want to read it? What’s the value to them? And don’t get me started on the proliferation of apps that don’t actually do anything because connecting them to relevant data and functionality is a journey nobody anticipated.
Social media and the blogosphere are chock full of articles and advice encouraging you to jump on the bandwagon of every emerging technology trend but while they are heavy on the what these articles are shockingly light on the how and why. These articles make their way through social media circles that appear to add relevance and credibility where it may not exist.
Now don’t get me wrong. Apps can be incredibly valuable. Social media has relevance and mobile device strategy is a critical component of your IT Strategic Roadmap. The ideas are good; however effective execution requires more capability than many of the proponents possess. The ability to execute and navigate through existing agency technologies is critical. This is where false prophets often fall silent.
So how do we wade through this unending sea of thinly-masked opinion? How do we innovate in our agencies while keeping this innovation realistic, relevant and obtainable? Consider the following:
There is No Magic Bullet
Technology can create amazing capabilities for your agency; sometimes achieving an illusion of magic but it’s not. Technology is a complex set of algorithms, automated processes and tools that work in concert. One solution will never trump or solve the inherent problems of an agency. An app that improves customer service can change the world but that app is only an entry point to the systems, processes and service teams that already exist at your firm. If your service process or systems are broken your app will not fix them.
Know Your Source
I read a lot and am always open to new ideas and applications of technology. In my daily consumption of information I’ve learned who approaches a new idea with an understanding of the depth, breadth and gravity of running an agency. Just because an article appears in your Insurance & Risk Management news feed in LinkedIn doesn’t mean it was written by an agency expert. Take a look at the source. Click through to their profile and gauge their experiences in our world before you cement your own opinions on their opinion.
One Size Fits Few
While every agency does the same basic tasks our agencies are all remarkably different. A solution for one agency does not always translate into a solution for all agencies. Does the author demonstrate an understanding and respect for this complexity?
How Creative is this Creativity?
Far too often industry-specific articles that expound innovation and creativity are at their core just a rehash of an existing concept or technology that already exists in the world. This isn’t always a bad thing. An article drawing attention to advances made in the banking industry may have direct application for insurance agencies but be careful. Just because a similar industry has experienced value from a new technology doesn’t mean the groundwork is laid and success is guaranteed.