PROCEEDINGS May 15, 16, 17, 18, 2005 - Casualty Actuarial Society

ADDRESS TO NEW MEMBERS 155strength or a weakness. You need to know when to act out ofcharacter.That knowledge comes only from seeing yourself throughother people’s eyes. Even your friends will have trouble tellingyou enough about yourself. Even if they do tell you, you probablywon’t hear what they are telling you.One of the best rules in determining whether you have hearduseful information is whether it hurts. If it doesn’t hurt at allit’s probably not useful. Remember that during your next performancereview.Rule #9: Build a CathedralPerhaps you’ve heard the story of the two masons in the MiddleAges. When asked what they were doing, the first mason saidhe was laying bricks and he couldn’t wait to finish for the day tohave a pint with his friends. The second mason said that he wasbuilding a cathedral and could barely wait to begin work everyday.When applying for my first consulting job, my potential futureboss said, “You know we do a lot of reserving here. Won’t youfind that boring” I was naïve, but fortunately more correct thanI imagined. I told him if the work was important to the clients,then I would find it interesting.Actuaries are doing work that is very important to their employer’sor client’s business. If you think your work is boringyou might not understand how it is being used.On the other hand, sometimes the work is boring and it’s timeto move on.Rule #10: There is a Game Called LifeYes, really. It’s a board game that is at least 45-years-old. Atthe beginning you set your goals. You allocate 60 points betweenfame, fortune, and love–think of that as relationships. You goaround the board and see whether you can achieve your goals.