Parkinson’s law states that work expands to fill the time that you give it.
As actuaries there's a certain level of rigor that's needed for a piece of analysis to be credible and accurate. So how do we know how much effort to put into a task or project?
So many times in my career I've seen actuaries spin their wheels on a problem. I've even been guilty of it myself. As technical experts we really want to understand the whole problem and solve it perfectly.
In practice, this is not what makes you stand out in an actuarial role.
Our job is to improve the decision making of the company that we’re working for. We are hired to solve hard problems and often there is not a clear solution.
Imagine you were given a task to complete that should take a week. Now imagine the extra work you could do if you spent two weeks on the task instead.
It’s typically quite easy to think about how you could add extra analysis, complete more model runs, or pull in new assumptions.
The question to ask yourself should be: by spending 2x the time on a problem, are you driving 2x the value? In most cases the answer is no.
Put yourself in a senior leader’s shoes. You want work that is accurate, done quickly and which helps the business make better decisions.
Here's some advice to help make sure you're focusing your time and energy in the right places:
1) Think about process vs assumptions.
It's easy to focus on improving a process and hoping that will increase the value of the output.
Often it's the quality of the inputs that going to drive a better output.
For example, building a new claims projection methodology is unlikely to deliver as much value as improving the granularity of your rate change assumptions.
Improving inputs is less sexy work but will drive better decision-making.
2) Be strict with timelines.
We know that work expands if you give it more time. At the start of a project, be realistic about how long it really needs to complete.
Get a first draft done in the time you allotted. Then, engage with colleagues and/or your manager to get feedback.
If you find yourself spinning your wheels, stop and speak to someone.
3) Build your network and commercial understanding.
Get really tight with your understanding about how an output is used.
This will help you get much better at 1) and 2) above.
In order to do this you need to build really strong relationships and utilize them.
Spending time networking (as opposed to analyzing) is usually a good trade-off.
4) Analysis is useless without a “so what”.
Every piece of actuarial analysis should be tied back to a business decision - don't lose sight of that.
Having limitations of a piece of analysis is okay as long as those limitations are communicated clearly.
Put yourself in your manager’s shoes – what decision is this driving and is the analysis thorough enough to achieve that aim? If you were CEO, what decision would you make on the back of your work?
Summary
Technical skills are an actuary’s backbone but implementing some of the tactics above will make you an even stronger actuary. It will enable you to get more done and progress in your career more quickly.
