When all else fails, do something different

An old “Seinfeld” episode portends George Costanza fed up with his string of bad luck. He figures that the things he normally chooses to do end up with something bad happening. George decides that in order for things to change he must do everything in a fashion opposite to what he would normally do.

As a result of this behavioral change he experiences good luck. He moves out of his parents’ house, lands a job with the New York Yankees, and finds a girlfriend.

There is really some beauty and wisdom in George’s logic. After all, one definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Perhaps, if one is experiencing an undesirable, it might be time to try something different.

Think of the salesperson who is not meeting goals. He or she decides that they need to work harder and put in more hours. Yet, their results are still lackluster. Or, there could be the manager who notices performance is slipping despite the firms’s tight controls. The manager might choose to put in more controls, which could then result in even worse performance.

It’s not me
Humans very often tend to ignore the natural feedback provided by the world. Somehow, our string of bad luck or poor results is a function of something other than the input we put into the system. “It is not us,” we tell ourselves, “it is a coincidence or someone or something else.”

It is time we become more aware of what we put into “the system,” the feedback we get and what we get out of “the system.” Salespersons with poor sales results need to do some core evaluations in what they are doing and what might be their true intent.

Perhaps their sales technique does not match their personality. They might use a pushy, high-pressure technique while they tend to be more consultative in personality. Maybe they are going after accounts that deep down inside they feel they are not qualified to handle.

In a similar fashion, managers need to look at recurring problems in the agency and assess what is making them come back time and time again. A firm that has high employee turnover can easily justify it by pointing out “the poor quality of applicants there are out there.”

However, an unbiased analysis might discover some other source generating this repetitive problem. George Costanza’s “opposite” technique is a funny reminder for us to do something different. Albert Einstein once said “we can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Change the way you think
Instead of looking at why employees leave, the agency with the large employee turnover should first look at why those employees were hired. What did management see in them? What did they see in management and the agency? What was the intent both parties had when they agreed to do business together?

We have noticed that managers will often develop a reasonable set of criteria for new employees based on the agency’s needs. The ideal candidate will have strengths where the agency has weaknesses. However, managers unconsciously give the edge to candidates with personalities that are more in line with their own, or some other reason at the expense of the needed qualifications for the job.

In this hypothetical example, the manager’s input into “the system” is that qualifications are secondary and personality or some other factor is more important. At the conscious level, the manager believes the opposite. So, the belief is perpetuated that there are few qualified candidates out there.

New Year, new beginning
In order for us to move from the undesired present condition toward a desired goal, we must first realize that the current undesired outcome is communication that is coming back to us. “The system” is telling us that some subconscious motivation keeps us doing the same thing and thus getting the same results.

The beginning of the year is a great time to incorporate this approach in the agency business plan. First, list the agency’s weaknesses or things that did not work as planned in the past year. Next explore what, if anything, was done to correct or ameliorate the situation. Then try to notice the pattern. Finally, break free of the rut the agency re-visits by using a totally new approach.

Imagine an agency that has been flat in personal lines sales for a few years. Last year the intended solution was a series of radio ads and Yellow Page ads. The year before a direct mail campaign was used to pump up sales as well as a telemarketer.

The pattern in this example seems to be that sales are flat despite the agency’s attempt to reach out and connect with potential new clients. George Costanza would try to figure out a way to make potential clients reach out to the agency instead. Maybe the agency needs better branding. Better still is to get existing clients to bring the agency leads!

There is no such thing as failure, there are only experiences that help us stay on the path to success. So, when something does not work, do something different!

Bill Schoeffler and Catherine Oak are partners at Oak & Associates. The firm specializes in financial and management consulting for independent insurance agents and brokers. They can be reached at 707-935-6565, by e-mail at bill@oakandassociates.com, or visit: www.oakandassociates.com.