One question occupying scientists and politicians is whether vaccines would work even better if they were updated to deal with new strains. Up to and including the Delta variant, which was first identified in India and was designated a variant of concern in May 2021, the answer has been “no”. But new research, which has mapped differences between all major versions of SARS-CoV-2, suggests that, although administering existing vaccines is still useful, Omicron is so different from other strains that the answer might now be “yes”.

Source: The Economist  Jan 7 2022.

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Here is the original catechism to guide the development of projects:

1. What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.

2. How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?

3. What’s new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?

4. Who cares?

5. If you’re successful, what difference will it make?

6. What are the risks and the payoffs?

7. How much will it cost?

8. How long will it take?

9. What are the midterm and final “exams” to check for success?

Each question is critical in the success chain of events, but number 3 and 5 are most aligned to the way business leaders think.

Case Study Using Heilmeier’s questions/catechism: 

Here is an example taken from a project proposed in the insurance industry.

Brokers are third party entities that sell insurance products on behalf of a company. They are not employees and often are under the governance of underwriters (employee that sells similar products). There are instances where brokers “shop” around looking get coverage for a prospect that might have above average risk (e.g., files too many claims, in high risk business, etc.). They do this by manipulating answers to pre-bind questions (prior to issuing a policy) in order to create a product that will not necessarily need underwriter review and/or approval. This project is designed to help stop this practice, which would help the improve business financial fundamentals. Here is Heilmeier’s Catechism for the Pre-Bind Gaming Project:

1. What are you trying to do? Automate the identification of insurance brokers that use corporate policy pricing tools as a means to undersell through third party providers.

2. How is it done today? Corporate underwriters observer broker behaviors and pass judgement based on person criteria.

3.  What is new in your approach? Develop signatures algorithms, based on the analysis of gamer/no gamer pre-bind data, that can be implemented across enterprise product applications.

4. Who cares? Business executives – CEO, President, CMO, and CFO.

5. What difference will it make? In an insurance company that generates $350 M in premiums at a combined ratio (margin) of 97%, addressing this problem could result in  an additional $12M to $32M of incremental revenue while improving the combined ratio to 95.5%.

6. What are the risks and payoffs? Risks – Not having collect or access to relevant causal data reflecting the gamers patterns. Payoffs – Improved revenue and combined ratios.

7. How much will it cost? Proof of concept (POC) will cost between $80K and $120K. Scaling the POC into the enterprise (implementing algorithms into 5 to 10 product applications) will cost between $500K and $700K.

8. How long will it take? Proof of concept (POC) will take between a 8 to 10 weeks. Scaling the POC into the enterprise will take between 3 to 7 months.

9. What are the midterms & final check points for success? The POC will act as the initial milestone that demonstrates gaming algorithms can be identify with existing data.

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