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From the President
The Joke's On Us
by Gail M. Ross
Question: What is the difference between introverted actuaries and extroverted actuaries?
Answer: Introverted actuaries stare at their own feet during a conversation; extroverted ones stare at the other person's feet!
This is joke number 10 on the Actuarial Joke Web page, www.actuarialjokes.com, created by one of our own, Jerry Tuttle. The last time I checked, there were at least another 140 jokes just like these. Those who know me know that I can take a joke with the best of them! After all, my full adult height is 4 foot 11 inches and I've heard every short joke in the book (and I've laughed good naturedly at them all)! So I've had a few laughs while reading these actuarial jokes. In fact, when speaking to a group of underwriters recently, I actually used joke number 64 to break the ice. (I'll tell it at the end of this article.)
After reading enough of these jokes you'll notice that the general stereotype conveyed is that the actuary is an introverted, personality-less "techie" who speaks an unintelligible language. We all know that other professions have stereotypes and jokes written about them—lawyers are ruthless, doctors are egotistical, and librarians are mousy. The real problem for actuaries (and any profession, for that matter) is if we live up to the stereotypes conveyed by these jokes. In fact, I know a number of actuaries who have risen to senior executive ranks at their companies who no longer use their well-earned FCAS designation on their business cards because of the way the actuary is often perceived.
There's no doubt that ours is a very technical science. It takes many years to get through our qualification process (too many years it seems—but I digress—that could be the subject for a future column). But just because we have technical skills, and as a group we're generally very bright, that shouldn't mean that we are unable to communicate with those outside our "fraternity." In order for the actuaries to be more relevant and recognized in the business world, we need to become better business people.
The CAS Future Education Task Force (FETF) recently conducted a professional skills survey of members. The purpose of the survey was to seek member input on what skills or knowledge they considered important as practicing actuaries. The FETF intends to use this feedback to help decide what the CAS should include in the examination and education system. The survey results indicated that members believe that general business skills (written communication, public speaking, and presentation skills) are very important for the actuary to have. In fact, these particular skills were rated more important (and used more often in daily practice) than topics like retrospective-rating plans, stochastic models for reserves, parameter estimation, and analysis of variance.
So we're faced with a quandary—almost 95 percent of members use general business skills and think it is more important in practice than some technical skills, yet they believe it's not testable and should not be a focus of the CAS basic education process. So how do we develop actuaries with broader business skills? The answer is that each of us needs to take the initiative to expand our individual skill sets since general business skills cannot be taught and tested through an examination process. Here are a few suggestions:
- Think "Big Picture"—Take the time to work with your colleagues in different functional areas such as claims, underwriting, and finance. If you are a senior actuary overseeing your company's actuarial program, try to get actuarial students to rotate into areas beyond the traditional actuarial ratemaking and reserving departments, or plan "lunch and learn" seminars and invite nonactuarial speakers. This will help to provide a perspective of how the actuary's functional responsibilities interface with and affect the overall operations of the company.
- Read the Trade Press—Take the time to read general business and insurance publications to broaden your horizons. The CAS has recently partnered with LexisNexis to deliver property/casualty insurance news through the Web Site, www.casact.org/media/lexisnexis/ (see article, page 13).
- Understand Your Audience—When making presentations, consider to whom you're speaking. If it's another actuary, actuarial terminology and technical jargon are acceptable. But generally, our audiences are nonactuaries and we need to present our technical analyses and findings in more simplified and understandable ways. In fact, it's often the case that the higher the rank of your audience, the more concise the presentation should be. For example, the board of directors generally needs to see high-level findings and conclusions, whereas the senior underwriter might want more details of your analysis.
- Practice Makes Perfect—The best way to get a comfort level with making speeches and presentations is through experience. If your company offers a public speaking course, that might be a good starting place. The CAS General Business Skills Education Committee is charged with delivering educational opportunities on general business skills for CAS members. Through their effort, the CAS has regularly offered limited attendance workshops focused on general business skills at our Spring and Annual Meetings. Last November's workshop was on communication skills. Plan on attending one.
By taking the initiative in these areas, and taking advantage of the numerous tools the CAS provides to its members, you'll broaden your horizons and become a better all-around bus-inessperson.
By the way, Joke Number 64 goes like this: An underwriter takes his two actuaries into a restaurant. The waiter asks the underwriter what he would like to eat and the underwriter says, "I'll have the steak." Then the waiter asks the underwriter, "And for your vegetables?" The underwriter replies, "They'll have the steak too."
It got a good laugh when I told it—and we all know that a joke is a good way to "loosen" the audience. Just make sure you don't live up to the stereotype!