Speak to Entrepreneurial Themes

Growing a business involves delivering what your members need now and providing what they need tomorrow. Committing to execution for today and innovation for the future is a solid step forward. Help your team see members as investors/owners and seek to increase the financial and experiential value of their relationship with and ownership of your credit union.

Create an Idea Lab

One hundred ideas might produce 10 that may work and three that deserve your focus. Encourage your team to believe that their contribution to the 100 ideas establishes the foundation for innovation. Actively seek ideas to grow the top line, manage the bottom line and deepen your members' relationships with your credit union. Better yet, consider adding job-based innovation as part of job descriptions and annual reviews at every professional level.

Incorporate all Departments

There are lots of moving parts in your credit union – when one pushes, it pulls another and can affect members. To get the end result of innovation right, include departments that have an active role, stake or part in an innovative idea. Innovation should move your entire credit union forward; integration of involved departments helps to ensure successful execution and engagement. Many credit unions map the process flow of an innovative idea across a member's experience, a surefire way to understand which parts of your credit union need to be included in the conversation.

Test the Ideas That Have a Chance

This allows for quick assessment, real-time consideration and potential refinement before a full rollout. It also allows for quick exits when results do not produce expected outcomes. One credit union tested 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. branch hours at one branch, learning many lessons before establishing the same hours in 10 other locations. The “beta branch” validated many innovative ideas in the early stages, and member feedback throughout helped the credit union refine its “branch of the future” model, ensuring a seamless launch and branch-wide change in operations.

Celebrate the Process

Celebrate rollouts and results. But, also celebrate how you arrived at success. Odds are you learned some lessons and killed some ideas to find your focus. Your colleagues see that innovation is not a one-time endeavor, it's a continual process for ongoing success. As CEO, challenge your colleagues to always ask, “What's next?” and continue to consider ways to improve your credit union. Often, small improvements over time add up to significant increases in long-term value for your members.

At credit union conferences and planning sessions, I often state the seven words we can never say in credit unions: “We have always done it this way.” We laugh and realize it's true. Consider incorporating this notion into your leadership of a culture of innovation. As your members' expectations change, so must your culture. It must always be ready to adapt and deliver value to the owners of your credit union.

Jeff Rendel is president of Rising Above Enterprises. He can be reached at 951-340-3770 or [email protected].