"Hackers don't look at the whole process to try and overhaul, they look for one weak spot they can improve."

"A hacker doesn't look for best practices."

"Find your industry hackers; those in your group that can find the one vulnerable spot, the missing piece to create a solution."

"You don't need everyone, you just need the passionate 15%."

"The brand is a lagging indicator of culture. If people like your product, they will share it with others. Retention is your #1 metric and leading indicator of  long-term growth."

"What changes people's beliefs are experiences. Choose forgiveness over permission because you can provide an experience through your experimentation that will yield more buy-in."

Polly LaBarre, founding member, Fast Company Magazine, shared why credit unions can't be content with doing things a little better than the competition.

"The first step to creating culture change in a legacy industry? Don't call it culture change; simply start a migration. "

"With experimentation comes failure: Check the scope of your experiments so that you can afford to try multiple times."

"Walk in stupid. Ask more questions."

"Invite a weirdo to lunch. Each and every one of you need to create a first-person relationship with the future."

"Have the ultimate fresh eyes. Practice innocence to yield innovative ideas. Be a haven for mavericks."

"Ask more questions than you give answers."

"The new employee engagement survey tool. Grow into your creativity. Don't grow out of it."

Perry Yeatman, external director, Mission Measurement, discussed how mission-driven organizations can profitably track charitable and business results by creating shared value.

"Strong culture is when values, words and actions all align. So true. But don't confuse strong with good. They are not the same. "

"Fewer, bigger, better: Collaborate to create powerful social value. "

"Forty-three percent of purchase intent is about social value. It's a huge opportunity for credit unions. Social impact drives demand through different benefits. We stay in abstract thinking when we refuse to solve the problems."

Leila Janah, founder of Sama and Laxmi, shared her Give Work model with attendees as an example of how to influence and inspire others to work at things that matter. Her organization helps people lift themselves out of poverty through digital work.

Max Schorr, co-founder and director of GOOD, explained how to make the leap from informing people to giving them tools to make a difference. 

"Pragmatic idealism is the playing field of 21st century; credit unions are perfectly positioned."

"The credit union story is amazing with one voice we can have ambassadors and use our story as our secret weapon. Your story is your best reality. Your employees are the best brand ambassadors you could ever have."

"Real honesty builds meaning."

"Money is not a need. It's a strategy to meet a need. Reading literary fiction develops empathy because you picture the story and what's happening. It puts you in someone else's shoes."

Whitney Hess

"We live in an on-demand economy and are really becoming an expectation economy." 

"I encourage you to see that purpose is your brand and you should not hide it."

"People tolerated cabs until Uber said, that's not the way it has to be."

"We disqualify before we qualify. We use our smartphones to help us make buying decisions. Create mobile moments."

Uwe Hook 

Founder/Principal

Gretchenfrage

Sarah Critchfield, Polly LaBarre, Michael Sullivan and Scott Bales shared a few CO-OP THiNK takeaways:

"Create stories. That's an opportunity."

"We need to focus on fintech startups. They have strong purpose. And they are innovative. "

"The purpose of credit unions is solid. We need to think of innovation."

"People helping people 2.0: Helping people help themselves. Addressing the causes of problems is more impactful than addressing the symptoms."

Samantha Paxson asked CO-OP THiNK attendees to consider the following:

How many lives would be better off if they knew about credit unions?

What is the single most compelling thing we could do that would drive our mission and our business?

Out and about at CO-OP THiNK16:

CO-OP THiNK 17 is Manhattan bound!