Most appraisal departments have a foundational problem.
The problem is the absence of asking questions.
Questions like,
• “Why is our review revision rate so high?
• “Why do our SLAs lag behind competing banks?”
• “Why are chief appraisers left out of the C-suite?”
The biggest question is, “Is this still the best way to do this?”
Not in a meeting. Not as a complaint.
But seriously asked it with the intent to improve?
Because curiosity isn’t just a mindset. It’s a process tool.
It’s how you eliminate the ping-pong of vendor emails.
It’s how you go from 27 steps down to 8.
It’s how your engagement letters get you what you need.
Curiosity clears the fog.
Trading curiosity for comfort is expensive.
• Expensive on your leadership as chief appraiser.
• Expensive of your team’s workload.
• Expensive on your SLAs.
But here’s the catch: comfort doesn’t move your department forward.
Curiosity does.
And let’s be honest. You may be using workflows that made sense 20 years ago.
The teams that win are the ones that get curious…daily.
They ask:
• Why are we touching this file three times?
• Why does our data live in five places?
• Why does it take two days to answer a simple audit request?
Here’s the shift:
Curiosity isn’t about changing everything.
It’s about giving yourself permission to rethink one thing at a time.
To stop accepting friction as a given.
To build a culture that questions to improve.
Because when curiosity becomes part of your process, efficiency stops being an aspiration.
It becomes the default.
Ask questions.
Stay curious.
