The solution to that is contained in the core principle of the cooperative movement: Working together. At the end of 2018, the U.S. banking system had $17.9 trillion in assets and a net income of $236.8 billion. Credit unions make up only a small part of that market. Our competition is not other credit unions but the banks and alternative financial service providers that are springing up in the industry.

At MEMBERS Development Company, we've helped our owner credit unions work together to innovate and stay ahead in a variety of creative ways, including our NextUP program. Every year, we invite each of our nearly 70 owners to send one representative to the program, where they work together to create new ideas for the industry. Participants go through an ideation workshop led by industry-leading innovation trainers to generate new ideas. Because we gather industry professionals from across business sectors and from all over the nation, the sessions benefit from a diversity of backgrounds and insights. The ideas produced are then placed through a market scan, with the top ideas developed further by teams of participants and pitched to MDC's collective ownership.

Not only does this process generate a pipeline of great ideas to develop for the credit union industry, but the individual participants get valuable training in innovation and the experience of developing new, marketable ideas, as well as exposure to other credit union professionals who become part of a powerful network. Our owner credit unions also benefit by steadily building a workforce trained in techniques that spark innovative thinking.

What Can Your Credit Union Do to Foster Innovation?

Changing culture isn't easy. Here are some things we have learned along the way.

Institute a company-wide belief in innovation and get everyone involved. It's only natural for people – and companies – to fear change. Encourage creativity and think about an idea's possibilities. Instead of looking for ways it won't work, look for ways it would.

Budget time and resources for innovation. When do people do their best thinking? Hint, it's not when they are pressed for time to get a long list of tasks accomplished. Instead it's when they have time to consider a situation, to picture ways to improve a process, to discuss ideas with peers in other departments and to generate ways to overcome obstacles. Make time in the schedule for thinking of faster, simpler or better ways to serve members.

Encourage failure as the learning tool it is. Understand that not every idea will be successful. But, that doesn't mean it was wrong to try it. Instead, accept that there will be failures and learn from them. To quote Thomas Edison, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." In fact, try replacing the word "failure" with "experiment." It's a subtle but powerful change.

Who Can Join In the Fun?

Some MDC owner credit unions have established their own innovation committees and teams made up of their NextUP alumni. But NextUP is only as successful as it is because we bring together multiple credit unions and share ideas and knowledge.

How can other credit unions outside of our network innovate together? As I said before, sometimes it's easy to see the credit union next door as your competition and let that get in your way, but the real competition is still from outside our industry. Use the networks your credit union belongs to as a starting point to find innovation partners. Starting your own collaboration can be done with the right people working together – and isn't that the point after all?

Sarah Lietz

Sarah Lietz is Vice President for Owner Engagement for MEMBERS Development Company in Chanhassen, Minn.