I hear a lot about how employee benefits is a boring business. Of course, that's not to imply it's unimportant, just not nearly as engaging as #callmecaitlyn.

It's easy for people to think that benefits are boring. After all, no one really pays attention to them until they're at the pharmacy being told their new plan doesn't cover that prescription like the old one did.

On the pages of this very periodical, you've read about whether Zenefits is necessary or evil. I'm not here to debate that, but I was struck by something Sue Wakamoto-Lee said in that April issue. Sue is a senior benefits advisor at Zenefits and she said, “I think this is one of those industries that needed to be disrupted. We haven't done anything differently in the benefits world for decades.”

That caught my attention because I wrote in my book, “One year from today things will be exactly the same as they are today, unless you do something different today.” So here's my question: What are you doing to disrupt things today?

Every day I see payroll slots disappearing faster than the dignity of a contestant on the first episode of “The Bachelor.” Every day I enter the ring with underwriters who still want to apply old rules to new ways of collecting premium. Every day I have to convince agents and brokers that “with great power comes great responsibility,” and they must learn to use Piedmont like Luke Skywalker learned to wield the Force. And every day I mix pop culture references.

It's hard work. It's exhausting. It's disruptive to the status quo, and that produces conflict. Conflict, we all know, produces drama. And drama is not boring.

In all my 26 years, it's never been boring. There's nothing boring about lighting someone's way through the dark. There's nothing boring about blazing new trails that challenge outdated conventions and opening doors that were presumed to be closed forever. There's nothing boring about simply helping people get the right plan to fit their needs. Carriers are already warning that open enrollment will be tough this year. Rate increases will require you to get more creative than ever.

It won't be boring, I promise. Let's determine today that we will seek out ways to shake things up so when 4Q rolls around we'll have answers for our clients that make them say, “The force is strong with this one.”

Instant Insights /

Benefits are boring (except when they&rsquo;re not)

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Benefits are boring (except when they’re not)