Top 3 Health Insurance Marketplace Myths (Part 3 of 3)

Myth #3: Average team players are good enough and consensus is key to progress.

 

Each challenge transitioning to a state-based marketplace can be broken down into eight steps for effective decision making.

 

  1. Define the issue that needs to be addressed
  2. Describe the objective or criteria on how you’ll make that decision
  3. Identify the names and roles of each person involved in making the decision
  4. Explore alternatives
  5. Explain the final decision and what that means to stakeholders
  6. Construct the implementation plan and timeline
  7. Recognize those who participated
  8. Gather feedback on what worked and what did not work for next time.

 

Let us assume you have a B player, and they are assessing the issue and they define the issue and they define the issue wrong.  As a result for the next day, week or month your team is solving the ‘wrong problem.’  Time has been sucked from real problems while they solve a symptom of the root problem.  From the start it’s critical to have leadership that has applicable experience.  This doesn’t mean ‘worked in state government’ or ‘have led large programs’ it means experience that is specifically applicable and relevant. 

 

It’s not good enough to have players that ‘mostly’ understand the issue or who can generally or vaguely define the problem statement, of which there will be many, the team must solve.  There is not enough time.

 

There is not enough time for B players and there is not enough time for consensus.  Nothing great was ever build by consensus, transiting your exchange from a partnership or federal model to a state-based marketplace will not be any different.

 

Normally, I hire for attitude and train for skill.  This model hasn’t failed me yet.  However, when developing your state-based leadership team and establishing your core technology leaders – that is not enough.  You must hire for attitude AND skill. It’s not good enough to have average players making average decisions, your customers are more valuable than that and they deserve better.

 

Engage leaders who bring with them experience that is directly applicable and immediately relevant.

 

Previous articleTop 3 Health Insurance Marketplace Myths (Part 2 of 3)
Next article“Have health plans improved their Exchange narrow network offerings and issues for 2015?”
Peter is a technology executive with over 20 years of experience, dedicated to driving innovation, digital transformation, leadership, and data in business. He helps organizations connect strategy to execution to maximize company performance. He has been recognized for Digital Innovation by CIO 100, MIT Sloan, Computerworld, and the Project Management Institute. As Managing Director at OROCA Innovations, Peter leads the CXO advisory services practice, driving digital strategies. Peter was honored as an MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award Finalist in 2015 and is a regular contributor to CIO.com on innovation. Peter has led businesses through complex changes, including the adoption of data-first approaches for portfolio management, lean six sigma for operational excellence, departmental transformations, process improvements, maximizing team performance, designing new IT operating models, digitizing platforms, leading large-scale mission-critical technology deployments, product management, agile methodologies, and building high-performance teams. As Chief Information Officer, Peter was responsible for Connecticut’s Health Insurance Exchange’s (HIX) industry-leading digital platform transforming consumerism and retail-oriented services for the health insurance industry. Peter championed the Connecticut marketplace digital implementation with a transformational cloud-based SaaS platform and mobile application recognized as a 2014 PMI Project of the Year Award finalist, CIO 100, and awards for best digital services, API, and platform. He also received a lifetime achievement award for leadership and digital transformation, honored as a 2016 Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader. Peter is the author of Learning Intelligence: Expand Thinking. Absorb Alternative. Unlock Possibilities (2017), which Marshall Goldsmith, author of the New York Times No. 1 bestseller Triggers, calls "a must-read for any leader wanting to compete in the innovation-powered landscape of today." Peter also authored The Power of Blockchain for Healthcare: How Blockchain Will Ignite The Future of Healthcare (2017), the first book to explore the vast opportunities for blockchain to transform the patient experience. Peter has a B.S. in C.I.S from Bentley University and an MBA from Quinnipiac University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He earned his PMP® in 2001 and is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Masters in Business Relationship Management (MBRM) and Certified Scrum Master. As a Commercial Rated Aviation Pilot and Master Scuba Diver, Peter understands first hand, how to anticipate change and lead boldly.