{"id":32108,"date":"2026-10-28T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/?p=32108"},"modified":"2026-10-27T14:20:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T13:20:56","slug":"lao-tzu-on-the-board-of-directors-paul-t-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/lao-tzu-on-the-board-of-directors-paul-t-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Lao Tzu on the Board of Directors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ccfic\"><span class=\"ccfic-text\">What advice would Lao Tzu give to a modern insurance company?<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What advice would a 6th-century B.C. Chinese sage give to a modern insurance company? In this episode of his podcast, \u201cPaul the Insurer\u201d invites Lao Tzu to the conference table, and realizes that the founder of Taoism wouldn\u2019t have much to say. But what he does say rings true.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Laozi taught the wisdom of flow, balance, and non-resistance. Natural order, humility, and simplicity were at the heart of his philosophy. If he were to sit quietly in a boardroom today, amid quarterly figures, combined ratios, and AI roadmaps, he would likely hardly say a word. But if he did, his advice would have a depth that no strategy consultancy can provide. Paul distills six lessons from this for the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/74-Lao-Tzu-advice-final.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Serving Without Dominating<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe best rulers are those whose existence is scarcely noticed,\u201d says the <a href=\"https:\/\/de.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Daodejing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tao Te Ching<\/a>. Applied to insurance, this means: protecting without controlling, supporting without dominating. A product should empower customers, not confuse or burden them. The ideal policyholder forgets that their insurer even exists, until the moment it really matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Simplicity Instead of Fine Print<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lao Tzu viewed complexity as a sign of imbalance. The thirty-page policy, the endless exclusions, the fine print, he would question all of it. His advice would be simple: simplify. A clear product, a seamless claims process, an effortless customer experience. And when in doubt, it\u2019s better to leave something out than to add something. A phrase one would like to hang above the door of some product development departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Be like water<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Water is soft and yielding, yet it wears away stone. Insurers often try to manage risks with rigid systems. Lao Tzu would recommend flexibility: adapting to change, absorbing shocks, and going with the flow of data and technology rather than fighting against them. A company that moves like water will outlast even the toughest structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Leading Without Pride<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Taoist leader does not seek recognition. Laozi would warn against boastful branding, and against AI platforms that claim to be all-knowing. Instead, the results should speak for themselves: settle claims quickly and be there during a crisis. The goal is for the customer to say in the end, \u201cI did it myself,\u201d rather than \u201cThey saved me.\u201d Modesty as a business model, in an industry that loves to advertise with superlatives, is an almost subversive idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Being able to let go<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lao Tzu would also question this obsession with control. Not every risk can be modeled, and not every event can be prevented. True wisdom lies in knowing what to hold on to and what to let go of. An insurer must be able to act decisively while at the same time accepting uncertainty without fear. This is a useful reminder, especially in times when algorithms lead us to believe that the future is entirely predictable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Trust in the Tao<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taoism seeks harmony with the natural flow of things. In the insurance industry, this would mean: focusing on the actual needs of customers, avoiding predatory pricing and manipulative sales tactics, and operating with quiet integrity rather than market clamour. In a noisy world, Paul says, calm is a competitive advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Protection that works quietly<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Laozi would not chase after KPIs or market share. He would remind insurers that protection, like wisdom, should be quiet, steady, and humble. Those who follow this path may gain more than just profit: peace of mind, purpose, and trust. And in doing so, they may truly become indispensable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether a board of directors would seriously discuss this advice between two agenda items remains to be seen. But there is something appealing about the idea that the best insurance is the kind you hardly notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Binci Heeb<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listen and read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/dante-evaluates-insurance-companies-paul\/\">Dante Puts Insurers to the Test<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What advice would a 6th-century B.C. Chinese sage give to a modern insurance company? In this episode of his podcast, \u201cPaul the Insurer\u201d invites Lao Tzu to the conference table, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5100,5134,5139],"tags":[16059,16055,16056,16058,16057],"class_list":["post-32108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current","category-general","category-podcasts-en","tag-fine-print","tag-humility","tag-lao-tzu","tag-non-resistance","tag-tiles","ownarticle"],"acf":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"What advice would Lao Tzu give to a modern insurance company?","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32108"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32116,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32108\/revisions\/32116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}