“Once you have tasted the taste of sky, you will forever look up.”
-- Leonardo da Vinci
Is it time to recast our vision for where Insurtech 2.0 should be headed?
People say that the worst thing you can do is start off with an apology. I still must begin with one; not for the headline on this article, but for living in central Florida. While most of the country has been bombarded with freezing cold, we’re living with the windows open, wearing shorts and playing golf. My apologies.
The apology is important because it is involved in how I came to ask the question as to whether it’s time to “flip the bird” on insurtech.
As we were working on our flower garden, five Florida sandhill cranes walked by. These magnificent birds are almost four feet tall and have a six-foot wingspan. They have a most graceful gait as they strut by, bobbing their heads to and fro.
Sandhill cranes are always looking for food. They do not have a meal plan with the Golden Corral or any other buffet restaurant. Because they eat insects, seeds and other small pieces of anything edible, being so tall means they are always looking down at the ground right in front of them. Sandhill cranes plod slowly, heads down as they wander back and forth without any discernible path or plan.
As these five walked by, they passed right beside our cherry tomato plants. The plants were full of ripe fruit and located at the same height as their eyes, but the cranes walked by without giving them a second notice. With their focus down on the ground in front of them, they had no idea that luscious, delicious and nutritious cherry tomatoes were there for the taking. All they had to do was look up. But with their habitual downward gaze, they were oblivious to what was right there in front of them.
See also: Insurtech 2020: Trends That Offer Growth
As I watched the sandhill cranes miss their golden opportunity, I wondered if the same might be said about insurance organizations and their use of technology. Are they forever missing insurtech opportunities for greater customer engagement/protection, enhancing distribution channel effectiveness, eliminating unneeded tasks/data and driving down costs? Are there significant openings to leverage technology all around the insurance industry that we are missing because we are only looking down right in front of us?
I believe that the answer is a resounding “yes”—it’s time for insurance organizations to stop emulating sandhill cranes. Insurance organizations need to lift up their heads and stop looking just at their feet.
There are many reasons that insurance organizations only gaze downward:
- We’ve been doing things this way for as long as we can remember.
- Once upon a time, one of our executives designed the way we’re doing things, and we don’t want to risk his/her wrath if we question one of the “children.”
- Even though revenue streams are in retreat, doing things the same way is predictable.
- Our core system only does things one way, and the road to replacing it is very long and expensive with no guarantees.
- We’re too busy to try anything different.
