At Filene as we look to develop our team and work together as effectively as possible, we leverage the Workplace Big Five. The tool helps you understand yourself and your team members in order to create a stronger and more cohesive culture. There are five super traits and several sub traits below the super traits. One of the sub traits is the degree to which we strive for perfectionism. I am well above the norm in perfectionism. I find it frustrating and at times alarming when I can't get things just right.

Winston Churchill said it best: “Perfection is the enemy of progress.” No place is this more true than in developing and evolving the technology experience for our members. According to the Pew Research Center, 68% of U.S. adults own smartphones and “use these devices to accomplish a number of tasks – including getting directions, applying for jobs and getting health information.” Creating an engaging and interactive omnipresent experience for our members must be an imperative.

This is a challenge for credit union executives. We are conservative by nature as we are stewards of our members' money and operate in a highly regulated environment. Unfortunately, our members won't wait for perfection. According to Filene's report, “Trending: Credit Unions in 2025,” digital channels are the fastest growing delivery method in bank history. Engaging via mobile has potential to build loyalty as “frequent mobile users in the U.S. are 40% less likely to switch banks,” according to Bain and Company.

Many credit unions know this to be true, but struggle to figure out where to begin. We budget for a new website redesign, jump for joy when it is approved, plan for the redesign for another six months, execute on it, amortize it over three years and, outside of rate changes, never touch it. We must stop treating our digital experience the way we treat print material.

The cure for perfectionism: Iteration. Building a culture of listening to member needs, reacting and implementing changes, testing those changes by listening and watching members engage and making another round of changes. This cycle of iteration must become a continual charge. The work is never done. There is no perfection and nirvana is knowing that you can make a change today, tomorrow and every day thereafter. Ready to begin? Here's my list of the top five places to start:

  1. Watch your members. There is this funny thing about people. What we say we do and what we actually do are sometimes two very different things. Implement practices to see your members engaging with your technology to see what works and what does not. It's not a focus group. It's Live Observational Research.

  2. Map the member journey. What are your top three to five most important member experiences? With those identified, explore how your members accomplish their goals through all of your channels. Amplify and recreate what works well and improve what does not.

  3. Hold your team accountable to using your technology. If a member calls with challenges using your technology and your frontline team doesn't know enough about the technology to assist, it is parallel to a waitperson at a restaurant saying, “I don't know what to recommend, I don't eat here.” Your team members must be experts. Not only will they be able to better solve problems for members, but may also have ideas on how to make the solutions work even more effectively.

  4. Invite your members to participate. Within our transparent business model, we are well equipped to invite our members to share insights about our technology roadmaps and to test new solutions and additions early and often. For more ideas on how to make this a reality read, “Choosing Relevance: How Credit Unions Can Harness Transparency and Show Impact.”

  5. Do something. Frequently credit unions will share that they know what is broken, but they are waiting until they build a larger plan to make any changes. Members won't wait. As you plan, address the low hanging fruit. Begin iterating today.

Perfectionists hate to give up the hope of creating the best there is. In this digital age, perfection is iteration and giving up on having it just right in favor of making it better every single day. Your members will thank you.

perfection is the enemy of progressTansley Stearns is chief impact officer at Filene Research Institute. She can be reached at 203-859-2666 or [email protected].

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