Page 13 - Final QVM 27 PDF_Neat
P. 13
Private Draft QVM - Quality, Value, and Metrics
You have to be here to understand it. … It's not like going to an insurance conference or some other
industry event where you meet people, ask them where they're from and talk about the weather or the
local sports team. This week, I've heard people say "I've found my people," "I've found my tribe," or
"I feel like this event was made for me." It's just different.
At my first meeting with the members of this group a few years ago, I felt an immediate bond with
them. And over this week, I've had the chance to meet many more of you, and I felt that same instant
connection. How many times did you hear "Omigosh, me too!" this week? Or "I'm so happy to meet
you, let's please stay connected after this!"?
I think the connections in this group are so strong, and so special, because of the long road we took to
get here. For so long, we were all off own being solo warriors on these isolated journeys. Each of us
paving our own way, figuring it out alone, and trying to define the future one company at a time, one
problem at a time. And now, everywhere I look, there's someone I can go up to and say, "Hey! You
totally get it too!" There is an instant connection.
This is a challenging role … Think about the event that we just completed. We had over 70 sessions
… each of them distinctive, focused on a separate and important problem. No one can master all of
these areas, all of these disciplines. It's also why this role is so hard to hire for … finding someone
who is a master of all the core competencies is near impossible. I love that the people here aren't
afraid to admit what they don't know. None of us have all of this figured out. We can admit to each
other that our departments are way behind where we should be in some areas. And just this week, we
had speakers on stage admitting that they don't have all the answers. And it's that vulnerability, that
open honesty with each other that breaks our own walls down fast and connects us.
This job is hard, and we are met with resistance every step of the way. But we aren't on our own
anymore. Now we have each other, we have the energy and ideas of the community. And that makes
all the difference.
Coming off the high of this tremendous event, many of you probably feel like you could achieve
anything right now… I know I do! But the reality is that when we fly home and get back to our own
departments, we all have those obstacles that we keep smacking into. Our industry throws up a lot of
unique barriers to change. It's an industry that has been quite successful and quite profitable for
decades or longer.
We often describe our roles as being the intersection of people, process and technology. It can be easy
to get lost in the complexities of technology, of process. At the end of the day, it comes down to
people. Getting someone to change their mind … that can be the biggest wall of them all.
Think about the ride sharing companies like Lyft Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. They are so often
talked about as disruptive technologies … but really, the technology is fairly simple. The process
improvement is brilliant, but also not that complex. The real breakthrough for them was probably
more subtle … It was figuring out the human element. They had to find the answer to: "How do we
persuade people to get into the cars of complete strangers? Without thinking that they are going to be
robbed, kidnapped or murdered?!"
It turned out that mindset, which felt so entrenched, could be changed. There's a wall there and once
you push on it, you can break through. And once broken, there's no turning back. You realize those
walls are paper thin and no one is trying to put them back up. Once you get people to think it's safe
and convenient to get into the car of a total stranger, then you are golden … and it becomes the new
normal faster than you know it.
12
You have to be here to understand it. … It's not like going to an insurance conference or some other
industry event where you meet people, ask them where they're from and talk about the weather or the
local sports team. This week, I've heard people say "I've found my people," "I've found my tribe," or
"I feel like this event was made for me." It's just different.
At my first meeting with the members of this group a few years ago, I felt an immediate bond with
them. And over this week, I've had the chance to meet many more of you, and I felt that same instant
connection. How many times did you hear "Omigosh, me too!" this week? Or "I'm so happy to meet
you, let's please stay connected after this!"?
I think the connections in this group are so strong, and so special, because of the long road we took to
get here. For so long, we were all off own being solo warriors on these isolated journeys. Each of us
paving our own way, figuring it out alone, and trying to define the future one company at a time, one
problem at a time. And now, everywhere I look, there's someone I can go up to and say, "Hey! You
totally get it too!" There is an instant connection.
This is a challenging role … Think about the event that we just completed. We had over 70 sessions
… each of them distinctive, focused on a separate and important problem. No one can master all of
these areas, all of these disciplines. It's also why this role is so hard to hire for … finding someone
who is a master of all the core competencies is near impossible. I love that the people here aren't
afraid to admit what they don't know. None of us have all of this figured out. We can admit to each
other that our departments are way behind where we should be in some areas. And just this week, we
had speakers on stage admitting that they don't have all the answers. And it's that vulnerability, that
open honesty with each other that breaks our own walls down fast and connects us.
This job is hard, and we are met with resistance every step of the way. But we aren't on our own
anymore. Now we have each other, we have the energy and ideas of the community. And that makes
all the difference.
Coming off the high of this tremendous event, many of you probably feel like you could achieve
anything right now… I know I do! But the reality is that when we fly home and get back to our own
departments, we all have those obstacles that we keep smacking into. Our industry throws up a lot of
unique barriers to change. It's an industry that has been quite successful and quite profitable for
decades or longer.
We often describe our roles as being the intersection of people, process and technology. It can be easy
to get lost in the complexities of technology, of process. At the end of the day, it comes down to
people. Getting someone to change their mind … that can be the biggest wall of them all.
Think about the ride sharing companies like Lyft Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. They are so often
talked about as disruptive technologies … but really, the technology is fairly simple. The process
improvement is brilliant, but also not that complex. The real breakthrough for them was probably
more subtle … It was figuring out the human element. They had to find the answer to: "How do we
persuade people to get into the cars of complete strangers? Without thinking that they are going to be
robbed, kidnapped or murdered?!"
It turned out that mindset, which felt so entrenched, could be changed. There's a wall there and once
you push on it, you can break through. And once broken, there's no turning back. You realize those
walls are paper thin and no one is trying to put them back up. Once you get people to think it's safe
and convenient to get into the car of a total stranger, then you are golden … and it becomes the new
normal faster than you know it.
12
