So often in our professional lives we find ourselves surrounded by clich?s–such as "no guts, no glory"; "success comes in cans, not can'ts"; and "making mountains out of molehills." And there I was, helpless at the foot of the hill, breaking every rule I had learned in my professional career. I chose my clich?–I became determined to "practice what I preach." I reminded myself I had the foundational skills and capability to make it to the top of the hill or at least climb part way. Indecision suddenly took a backseat to action. Once I took those first steps, the next set of steps seemed easier. Before I knew it, I had reached the top and was greeted by majestic views of the California coastline. Was I embarrassed I had waited so long to make the climb? At first, I was. However, all my indecision was overpowered by the satisfaction and thrill I had made it to the top.

Looking back now, I can reflect on my Torrey Pines experience and compare it to challenges the insurance industry faces. Unfortunately, there are many companies paralyzed by the challenges of today's dramatic shifts in the competitive landscape and the daunting tasks of reengineering the old, brittle, and inefficient business processes that have evolved from yesterday's business requirements. How do we solve the legacy systems replacement challenge? How do we achieve accurate and timely data management and information? How do we get started with predictive analytics when we don't have the data? Will we ever achieve 80 percent straight-through processing, reducing the server farm with virtualization? The list goes on.

Out With the Old

I have learned over the years success is thwarted by manifesting tasks into unrealistic terms. For example, we often are working with old and false data. We look at the tasks with the same old business requirements through the lenses of past years' experiences instead of looking at the current situation and sorting through the new data. Our benefits and returns frequently are blurred, or we go looking for the big bang rather than choosing a path of incremental value. So often we tend to underestimate our abilities and capabilities, again reflecting backward on a flawed track record of project implementation or lack of confidence in our team's and vendors' abilities. Rather than getting stuck in past failures or lack of capabilities, we should look at them as lessons learned and move forward skilled in our many successes and accomplishments. Goals are so often set arbitrarily without a realistic assessment and with an expectation of achieving perfection on the first attempt. And sometimes we think "things are good enough for now; we just can wait until we are ready." We all believe we have time, and in reality, every day should be approached as if it were our last day on the job. In today's competitive insurance environment, we don't have the luxury of time or a wait-and-see attitude.

The keys to escaping the confines of stagnation in the insurance industry come from establishing a clear business and IT road map with the foundation built on a sound, focused strategy; clarity of the business; and making the right technology choices. Without a clear road map, progress and change can seem daunting to even the best-intentioned company. Just as I faced the Torrey Pines hill with uncertainty, many insurance companies face the same challenge in the constantly changing marketplace. Insurance companies must take tactful steps to create a successful road map (see Figure 1).

Step 1: Leverage market intelligence. Look outside your walls; take a look around in the marketplace. Understand what your customers want and what your competitors are doing. Gather, analyze, and compare this intelligence with your strategy to create your plan for increased mind share and market share.

Step 2: Conduct true capability assessment. Look inside your walls and truly understand your people, process, and technology capabilities. Understand your current state and the capabilities needed to implement your strategy effectively. Set a plan to reduce the gap and to create a sustainable evolving organization.

Step 3: Gain incremental value and return. Deliver the balance of quick hits and strategic gains all with the right cost-benefit analysis that ties back to overall financial goals. The key is to deliver incremental and sustainable value while improving capabilities and achieving your goals.

Step 4: Set realistic goals and milestones. Set goals based on current facts of the marketplace, your capabilities, and bringing value and return incrementally. The big bang is not necessary; think in terms of continuous improvement, step by step, project by project, and evolving from a static to a dynamic organization.

Step 5: Be time sensitive. Have a sense of urgency and just start moving forward. Each day the company is not moving forward is another day the company is falling behind the marketplace and not enjoying the benefits of accomplishing your strategy and goals.

So, why take on the challenges of today's dramatic shift in the competitive landscape, aggressive strategies, reengineering business processes, and implementing leading technology? Because the results will be well worth the effort. Begin to think of the new experiences and opportunities you can create in your organization for your customers, your partners, and your employees. The potential benefits offer a magnificent view of profit growth, improved customer service, and operational efficiencies.

For me, all it took was the reassurance I had the entire road map along with the capability and the determination necessary to climb the hill. The satisfaction after reaching the top was worth the mental back flips I completed to get there. For the insurance industry, the challenge and payoffs are the same. Taking the opportunity to create an informed road map is step one, followed with aligning the right people and partnerships to the right tasks, and then just start executing, one step at a time.

Deborah Smallwood is a former CIO and currently the cofounder of Smallwood Maike & Associates. Her practice delivers thought leadership research and provides consulting services to insurance companies and global vendors. Her primary focus is to create linkage between business strategies to process to the right technology decisions with the goals of competitive advantage, value creation, and financial success. Serving various senior leadership roles at Liberty Mutual, ICW Group, KPMG, and TowerGroup, she developed her skills and experiences in business and IT strategies, application road maps, business process optimization, governance, and the delivery of application solutions and software.

"CIO Chronicles" focuses on issues of concern to midmarket insurers. Its content is the responsibility of the author. Views and opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Tech Decisions.