Incentives aren't broken. They're working exactly as designed. That's the problem. You want people to do more of something. You attach a reward to it. People do more of it. Everyone wins. Except that's not what happens. The Proxy Trap You want to improve customer satisfaction. But satisfaction is hard to measure in real time. So you pick something easier. Call handling time. Shorter calls mean more customers served, which means happier customers. Right? So you incentivise sho

When most insurance operations leaders think about efficiency, their minds turn to claims handling times, call centre productivity, or quote conversion rates. Rarely does the humble payment process get the spotlight it deserves. That's a mistake. In a recent engagement with a UK motor insurer, we conducted a comprehensive diagnostic of their end-to-end payment operations. What we found was striking: fragmented ownership, outdated processes, and a collective blind spot that wa