If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" This celebrated chestnut causes more damage than good and delays calls for correction. It supports defective conclusions about the true effectiveness of what is seemingly unbroken. In many areas, the credit union system is working. However, for many Americans the system is seriously broken.

For years credit union leaders have sat by watching the steady decline in the number of credit unions citing aggregate asset growth, in general, as a key indicator of industry health. Little concern was given for the fact that the asset growth was coming from the same people. Lip service and fist shaking were the extent of many credit union leaders' objections as they watched the proliferation of check cashing, payday lending and other curses of the downtrodden that expanded during the last couple of decades.

One does not have to look far to see the limited success credit unions have had in helping those in need. The more credit unions look and act like banks, the greater the number of people who have to look to abusive alternatives for their financial needs. Credit unions using heartless computer-generated models have replaced the people-helping-people core value that was the foundation of the original success of the system. Many of the current leaders in the industry have never had the humbling experience of looking a person in the eye and explaining why their credit request was denied. Never attempting to walk a mile in a person's shoes makes a lifeless form letter so much cleaner and easier to send.