One doesn't hear often about the famous "Murphy" whose law gives employment to folks like insurance adjusters. It said, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the most inconvenient moment." I once described my risk management job as "food services," dealing with pickles and jams. Any and every type of calamity that can strike a corporation will, at some point.
My favorite corollary is: "The more expensive the tie, the sooner you'll get spaghetti on it." There are others: "If it's new, expect something to break before long, but after the warranty has expired."
Murphy's Law is a reality check for optimists like your Iconoclast. He just bought his wife a new car. It's one of those with every possible safety device, and even parks itself. Not being in control is scary — do I really trust all those alarms and flashing lights to tell me when another car is beside me, or when backing out of a blind parking space? It is like they tell airplane pilots: trust your instruments, not your senses.
I believe that 2016 will go down as a most interesting year. What lies ahead in the weather department remains to be seen — hurricane season just ended — but one can expect a continuation of both drought and floods, as discussed in an earlier column. The election is over and we are wondering what changes our new president will bring. Hopefully they will be good things, but there is always Murphy's Law lingering in the background.
Mark Twain said that the only one who likes change is a baby with a wet diaper. Change is fraught with Murphy's Law, for everything new … well, you get the picture. Each winter this Iconoclast and his wife spend a few months in Florida.
This year he hopes to teach a couple of classes at Eckerd College in January and February. Teaching is fun, and generally the teacher learns along with the students, if the job is done right. Writing insurance textbooks is, I suppose, a form of teaching, if anyone will take the time to read them. Basically, they're reference books: three many-thousand-page volumes in Casualty Insurance Claims 4th (updated twice a year) that cover every conceivable aspect of insurance claims. (The two-volume text, Excess Liability, is only updated annually and Checklists only every four years.) But with five new novels about to be published, your Iconoclast is optimistic about 2017.
One of those novels (in a collection called The Cuyahoga Stories) is called "Shoeless George." It's a murder mystery set in Cleveland, London and Greece, but is about a Lloyd's marine insurance claim. My detective is a professor at a small Ohio college, and his nosiness almost gets him killed. When I read the proofs I was surprised how up-to-date it was, even though it is set in 1961, but one should never brag about his own work. Old "Murphy" is lurking.
Setting goals for the New Year
Forty years ago, some business schools invented a process called MBO — Management by Objective. Some corporations may still adhere to the basics, but it all boiled down to the boss setting the primary objectives and everyone else setting theirs to meet the boss's. It all had to be formulated on paper, and each sub-objective approved. Objectives and goals are fine, but business guru Tom Peters said of MBO that he'd rather see companies practice MBWA — Management by Wandering Around, asking employees for their suggestions, asking customers what they really wanted, and seeing what the competitor was doing. MBO plans never worked because they failed to take into consideration Murphy's Law. It is hard to meet any objective when unplanned bad events intervene. Business bubbles always look good until the bubble bursts.
Readers, set some goals for yourselves for 2017. Take some Insurance Institute or CPCU courses, get a new designation from some national claims organization, become an essential asset to your employer. Sure, there will be problems along the way; "Murphy" will guarantee that, but fix it, clean it up, replace it and move on.
Ken Brownlee, CPCU, is a former adjuster and risk manager based in Atlanta, Ga. He now authors and edits claims-adjusting textbooks. Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own.
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