At the recent BenefitsPRO Broker Expo, I presented “Asking theRight Questions” at the start of the innovation track. One of mythemes was to encourage people to ask questions of customers todiscover insights. Then, I encouraged asking the next question.Never settle for a “good” answer when a much larger opportunity — agreat answer — can be uncovered by asking the next question.

The images in the presentation started with a photo of a redsports car on an open mountain road. I asked, “Do you enjoy theexperience of driving?” I'm sure most said “yes.” Then we shiftedto a photo of a highway in total gridlock, and then to a womantexting in a car. I asked, “Really? Wouldn't most people today, inmost driving situations, rather be able to text than to drive?” Thefact is, most of the time, the freedom of the road is akin to amoving prison. The freedom to text (legally) can entice us to allowUber to do the driving for us. Will this evolve into a tomorrowwith self-driving cars that encourage us to text, watch Netflix, orenjoy the scenery? It could happen.

Before self-driving cars become an everyday option, there aredetails to work out. While many of these challenges are technical,centered on the cars themselves and the systems that drive them,others are broader in nature.