Fish In Water
Today’s post is a guest post by our Culture and Creative Team Member, Emily Steele.
I often feel out of place in discussions or conferences about workers’ compensation.
My background is not in this industry (hello, French degree and master’s in teaching) and my expertise is not in claims management but instead in marketing and creativity. This gap between knowledge and experience has sometimes lead to feelings of imposter syndrome and, honestly, flat out embarrassment, as I shrink to the background and silence the many questions I have about the topic at hand. (What’s TTD? Are the claimants always this quiet? What do you mean present value?)
I felt similarly planning my wedding.
Talk about a gap between knowledge and experience. (Isn’t it odd how we expect the one person who, in many cases, has never done this before to make all the decisions?) With such a gap, I had to rely on my instincts and personal preferences. I made some choices and asked for some things that got some funny looks and questions, but mostly because they were “non-traditional” or not the way someone else did it.
This isn’t to brag about my incredibly unique party planning skills or out-of-the-box ideas (most of them were just me being quirky and high on newlywed love), but it is to say: our familiarity can blind us to new ideas & innovation. When we’re steeped in something, constantly exposed to it, or swimming in it day after day, it’s often difficult to have fresh ideas and question it, simply because we’re so familiar with it.
At first, I tried to eliminate that icky “newbie” feeling at work by reading articles, watching videos on LinkedIn, listening closely at conferences and trying to mimic the lingo and legalese around me.
At the first few mediations I observed as part of our ongoing efforts to improve our services from top to bottom and better share them with audiences who need them, I asked no questions to, once again, skirt around that uncomfortable “I’m new here” feeling.
Maybe it’s age, maybe it’s time, maybe it’s a workplace culture that embraces curiosity and effort over accuracy and being “right,” or maybe it’s the realization that I should just stay in my lane of creatively packaging ideas in a way that the intended audience understands, but lately I’ve stopped shying away from asking my questions.
And guess what?
It has (sometimes) lead to “aha” moments and new ways of doing the same ole same ole. The truth is, there’s no way to discover something new if we aren’t brave enough to question the status quo and consider letting go of the old. After so long in the water, we no longer know it’s water. And sure, you might sound like an idiot for asking “how’s the water?” or “why do we do ______?” but for the fish who value awareness, progress, and growth you might also sound like an innovator.