When we speak about “change,” we often talk about the pace ofchange or the challenge of change. Dr. Clint Sprott, emeritusprofessor of physics at the University of Wisconsin, wrote “… howgreat it is to be part of the first generation of humans for whichthe world will be a radically different place toward the end of ourlife than toward the beginning. The time-scale for change hassuddenly become short compared to a human lifespan, which makes itan interesting (and in some ways fearful) time to live.”

Are you fearful of change? Think about it. How much has yourlife changed in the last 25 years? And I'm not even talking abouthow differently you conduct business today than you did yesterdayor even the change of technology, which Moore's Law tells us, andwe know first hand, is incredibly fast.

No, I'm talking about everyday life, from the first thing in themorning to the last thing at night. Do you have to remember to windyour alarm clock the night before so that it will have the power towake you in the morning? What about that first cup of coffee: Is itbrewed hot and waiting for you when you get to the kitchen? Itwasn't always that way.

This past holiday season showed us lots of changes. “BlackFriday,” the busiest shopping day of the year, is slowly beingovertaken by “Cyber Monday,” the busiest online shopping day of theyear, in the eyes of the retail market; and the fact that mostpeople are doing this online shopping from work. Maybe that's nottoo different from using the office phone to call up Macy's toorder that special gift for your spouse, but the scale of shoppingdoesn't compare, nor does the ease, reach or options.

One pundit called last holiday season “America's First TwitterChristmas,” and I couldn't agree more. But what we are seeing isjust the outline of the tip of the iceberg. Tracking sales on“Cyber Monday” will become a thing of the past as online shoppingand finding discount and free coupons are an everydayoccurrence.

What about information and correspondence? Not too long ago,people actually took pride in their handwritten letters. Businessand personal correspondence was a craft, honed over years ofpractice, although few people looked at it that way. If you lookback at American history as an example, a large percentage of theinformation we have today from our Founding Fathers was handed downthrough the correspondence and diaries they kept. Who keeps a diaryanymore?

Don't get me wrong; we are certainly not short on information.In fact, some say we have too much information, much of itquestionable. How much can you believe online? My 10-year-old sonoften asks me if what was said in the TV commercial is true; hedoesn't ask so much about the veracity of online sites, althoughhis mother and I make sure he understands the Internet can be awondrous and sometimes dangerous place.

The greatest change

From my perspective, the greatest change we face is not theshift in behavior or technology, but the change ininformation–where it comes from and how quickly it affects ourlives. Every decision we make, is based on information from family,friends, publications, television, radio and the Internet. Andlet's not forget the random gossip we pick up at the salons orgrocery and hardware stores.

How we filter, prioritize and disseminate that information ispart of what I describe as the “responsibilities of change.” Let'sface it, change happens. Unless you live in a cave somewhere in aremote part of an unpopulated continent of the globe, you will beconfronted by change. How you handle change in your personal lifeis your business; how you handle it in your business life may bemore problematic and not completely in your control.

As independent agents, how you manage your agency often has lessto do with what you want and more to do with what your clients,prospects and markets expect. But that shouldn't surprise you. Whatabout your expectations? Do you expect more from the people andbusinesses with whom you interact? Do they expect more from you?The likely answer to both is “yes.”

For decades the insurance industry has been trying to achievesingle entry, multiple company interface or SEMCI, the supposedHoly Grail for independent agents and their markets. But like a lotof goals we set, SEMCI morphed and took on a whole new persona thatbetter fits the time and needs of the industry. It changed.

Real time

I won't begin to detail all the aspects of real time or theenormous amount of work that the Agents Council on Technology (ACT)and the ACORD User Groups Information Exchange (AUGIE) has doneover the past few years; I just recommend that you visit www.getrealtime.org to learn allabout it if you haven't already.

One point I will draw your attention to is their newestprogram–the Real Time 21-Day Challenge. As the Web site states,“Conventional wisdom says it takes 21 days to form a new habit–andbreak old ones. The Real Time/Download Campaign agrees. And we'rehere to help. By adopting new workflows that leverage real-timetools, you can boost sales and deliver better customerservice.”

AUGIE and ACT are not only giving you reasons to change yourworkflows, they are helping you take responsibility for thosechanges. The tools and case studies are all elements of thatassistance, making the change and logic of it easier to adopt.

Some change is simple and a no-brainer because you're not thefirst one making it. You're following in the footsteps of otherswho have changed and succeeded. Other change is harder because itmight require an investment or a change in thinking, which for mostof us is the greatest difficulty. And then there's change that maybe a pain to implement but, in reality, is a no-brainer. Each ofthese changes requires different degrees of responsibility.

As an example, keeping up with technology, loading the latestversion of your management system, regularly upgrading yourhardware or making sure you have the most secure servers are allpretty basic, but not all of us take the time to do it. Loading thelatest version of the software requires implementation on numerousstations and training of all the appropriate staff. You know itshould be done, but you don't have the resources right now; theversion you're using is fine, so why bother? I'll tell you why:because it's one of the responsibilities of change.

Taking on that 21-Day Challenge is all about changing mindsetand exploring the change of roles that various staffers play withinthe agency.

You can lead by example, and numerous books have been written onmanaging change from the top down, but that can't be the onlyapproach. Change agents have to exist at all levels of anorganization. Finding those people and giving them theresponsibility to help manage change is, for the most part, moreimportant for you to do than just managing change yourself.

It's your responsibility

I have found in the 20-plus years of listening to agents andCSRs that the biggest barrier to adopting technology is the changeit represents.

Changes in technology often bring changes in workflow andbehavior. For years, various industry groups have designed andlaunched programs to help agents manage change: People andComputers, the Power of Change and now, the Real Time 21-DayChallenge are just a few. I hope this latest one from AUGIE and ACTis as successful as the previous two.

Next month I'll look at the question of when is the right timeto adopt a new technology. Timing, as they say, is everything and,like change, you can't stop time from happening. But you can choosewhen to step into the stream.