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Two Books That Every Insurance Employee Should Read

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Two Books That Will Help Any Person In The Insurance Industry

The two books that any insurance employee should read contains serious dialogue with Drucker and lighter fare by Heller.  Many times over the years, I have been asked what book that I would recommend for people working in insurance companies or TPA’s.   Many employers have asked the same question.

Graphics of Two Books Principles Of Management
(c) 123RF

The first book that I would recommend is for anyone working in a corporate environment.  The book is recommended for many MBA curricula.   Peter Drucker’s book simply called Principles Of Management is one that every new hire should read as soon as they land the job.  A great article on Peter Drucker is here.   There are hundreds of copies of this book on sale on Ebay on the cheap.

I had to read the book three times in my collegiate career.  Interestingly, it was like watching an old Hollywood movie  again, I found different things in the book each time I read it.   Even if you are not or will never be an insurance company worker, the book still applies in almost every business situation.

Apple was one of the main followers of his book.  Treating employees as assets still rings true today.  I recommend  to at least look at the article I linked to in the second paragraph.  Drucker was not kind to HR departments.  You may want to prep yourself if you have HR  responsibilities.

Young Woman Reading Two Books At Library
StockUnlimited

The second book  is Catch-22.  It is one of the most confusing books to read on the first pass.   The movie was even more head-spinning.   Joseph Heller is/was a master at showing how two conflicting interests can paralyze or diminish the output of an employee.  Ebay once again has the book for $4.

Insurance workers seem to constantly have two differing/conflicting forces competing in their decisions.   Every decision has Catch-22 involved in some way or another.  All insurance carriers do push for as much production as possible.  The time constraints are well known especially in the Workers Comp industry.

For instance:

  • Adjusters have employers, TPA/Carriers, claimants all competing for their attention.   They are in a Catch-22 situation as the employer and TPA/carriers want the file settled for the lowest amount possible while the employee/claimant wants to be paid as much as possible.

    Woman Sitting With Two Books Thinking
    StockUnlimited
  • Underwriters wan to help obtain or renew the insured without giving away the farm
  • Agents want to provide service for their clients while being constantly pushed for more volume
  • Premium auditors are pushed to cover as many audits in the week as possible which can sometimes make a thorough review next to impossible
  • Loss Control faces the same time pressures as premium auditors – having to cover many clients in a short amount of time while providing great safety recommendations

There are many other in-the-trenches insurance positions that I have not mentioned overall.   The following is a synopsis of Catch-22.   Does it sound familiar or am I just dangerously sane?

Graphic Of Two Books Catch - 22
Wikipedia – Goszei

Catch-22 is like no other novel. It is one of the funniest books ever written, a keystone work in American literature, and even added a new term to the dictionary. At the heart of Catch-22 resides the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero endlessly inventive in his schemes to save his skin from the horrible chances of war.

His efforts are perfectly understandable because as he furiously scrambles, thousands of people he hasn’t even met are trying to kill him. His problem is Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service.

Yet if Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from the perilous missions that he is committed to flying, he is trapped by the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade, the hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule from which the book takes its title: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes the necessary formal request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of making the request proves that he is sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to some one dangerously sane — a masterpiece of our time.

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

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James J Moore - Workers Comp Expert

Raleigh, NC, United States

About The Author...

James founded a Workers’ Compensation consulting firm, J&L Risk Management Consultants, Inc. in 1996. J&L’s mission is to reduce our clients’ Workers Compensation premiums by using time-tested techniques. J&L’s claims, premium, reserve and Experience Mod reviews have saved employers over $9.8 million in earned premiums over the last three years. J&L has saved numerous companies from bankruptcy proceedings as a result of insurance overpayments.

James has over 27 years of experience in insurance claims, audit, and underwriting, specializing in Workers’ Compensation. He has supervised, and managed the administration of Workers’ Compensation claims, and underwriting in over 45 states. His professional experience includes being the Director of Risk Management for the North Carolina School Boards Association. He created a very successful Workers’ Compensation Injury Rehabilitation Unit for school personnel.

James’s educational background, which centered on computer technology, culminated in earning a Masters of Business Administration (MBA); an Associate in Claims designation (AIC); and an Associate in Risk Management designation (ARM). He is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and a licensed financial advisor. The NC Department of Insurance has certified him as an insurance instructor. He also possesses a Bachelors’ Degree in Actuarial Science.

LexisNexis has twice recognized his blog as one of the Top 25 Blogs on Workers’ Compensation. J&L has been listed in AM Best’s Preferred Providers Directory for Insurance Experts – Workers Compensation for over eight years. He recently won the prestigious Baucom Shine Lifetime Achievement Award for his volunteer contributions to the area of risk management and safety. James was recently named as an instructor for the prestigious Insurance Academy.

James is on the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the North Carolina Mid-State Safety Council. He has published two manuals on Workers’ Compensation and three different claims processing manuals. He has also written and has been quoted in numerous articles on reducing Workers’ Compensation costs for public and private employers. James publishes a weekly newsletter with 7,000 readers.

He currently possess press credentials and am invited to various national Workers Compensation conferences as a reporter.

James’s articles or interviews on Workers’ Compensation have appeared in the following publications or websites:

  • Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS)
  • Entrepreneur Magazine
  • Bloomberg Business News
  • WorkCompCentral.com
  • Claims Magazine
  • Risk & Insurance Magazine
  • Insurance Journal
  • Workers Compensation.com
  • LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites
  • Various trade publications

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