Cooperation, Collaboration, and Compromise

Co•op•er•a•tion [koh-op-uh-rey-shuhn]
- noun
1. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit; joint action.

Col•lab•or•a•tion [kuh-lab-uh-rey-shuhn]
- noun
1. The act of working together, especially in a joint intellectual effort.

Com•pro•mise [kom-pruh-mahyz]
- noun
1.  A settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.

I hear these three words in the credit union movement over and over. I'm glad I do. After all, each is necessary for us to realize our potential, maximize our impact, and fortify our future. Unfortunately, too many credit unions do not understand their importance. Worse, the ones that do get it sometimes think that doing any of the three without the others is sufficient.

Here's why it isn't.

Cooperation amongst credit unions means that the parties involved work together with a common purpose. I believe credit unions in fact do have a common purpose. There is, however, debate over what that purpose is. Some seem to think our purpose is being the low cost leader in the financial services world. Others think our purpose is to be cooperative banks; different in structure than banks, but direct competitors. Still others believe that credit unions are charitable organizations that fund our good work in the world with financial services. Most of us believe our purpose is some combination of these three. Cooperation, full cooperation anyway, requires a clear purpose. While way too many of us are not on the same page, we are for the most part in the same book. That's a start.

But say we all worked together with a common purpose. Let's say this is it: credit unions exist to provide members with control over their financial lives through the governance of their financial institution, access to affordable financial services, financial literacy education, and community impact. A credit union whose member owners, environmental factors, resources, or board disagree with the collective purpose, or even one component of it, would feel obliged to break from the pack. This is where compromise comes in. Each participant in the cooperative ensemble must be willing to give something, anything, up for the common good. Without compromise, we cannot be cooperative.

What about collaboration? A joint intellectual effort should go like this: a bunch of credit union people, regardless of seniority, sex, title, geographic location, politics or relationship with the meeting scheduler, come together to pick each other's brains about how to tackle a problem. All ideas are taken into consideration, none trumps any other, and collectively a solution is formed from the group that far exceeds the value of a solution any single member of the group could have come up with.

But what if the solution isn't consistent with our purpose as credit unions? Collaboration can yield great ideas, but those ideas need to be put into play and need to be consistent with the entire group's purpose. The solution must be one that credit unions will embrace and pursue. Without cooperation, we cannot be collaborative.

So, how about compromise? This is a touchy subject. There are certain things we should never compromise as credit unions: our autonomy as a movement (ahem, TARP debate), our member-ownership, and our mission, for example. Working within a system, a cooperative of cooperatives, however, we must at times allow ourselves to give up certain things for the greater good. Support of the corporate system has served as a simultaneous point and counterpoint to this statement.

We can't compromise for the sake of compromise. There are some things that we simply should not budge on. This is why collaboration and cooperation become so important. How can we put our collective minds together to create solutions to current problems, cooperate under the flag of a common mission, and give up a little as individual credit unions to see our vision through?

The three C's of credit unioning are easy to say and hard to do. And, try as we might, none of them are sufficient by themselves. 

CU Water Cooler

My new role at the Filene Research Institute is to help credit unions put ideas into action. Interestingly, about the same time I started in this role I had an idea of my own.

I talked to Brent Dixon a couple of weeks ago about how much I miss the early days of OpenSourceCU; how when any of us wanted to learn what was going on in the world of social media, we knew exactly where to go. "What if we could build a site that would get that back?" I wondered. We brainstormed over adult beverages, and I got excited.

I called Mark McSpadden, who is always up for a technology brainstorm session. He was excited.

I called Morriss Partee, who has always been kind of like my social media big brother. He was excited, and pledged his support. I was giddy.

I bought the domain name cuwatercooler.com, and started brainstorming with Brent about themes, design, and a bunch of other things I'm a complete novice in.

I called Tim McAlpine, and told him my idea. His response? Silence. It may have only been four seconds, but it was definitely silence. "I think it could work," he finally said. We brainstormed a little, he agreed to create the logo and do the design work, and we marched forward.

I pitched the idea to George Hofheimer at the Filene Research Institute. He was excited (maybe more in response to my excitement than the idea itself), but saw the project as being outside the scope of my role at Filene. But he didn't tell me "no". So, I proceeded.

I contacted William Azaroff, Gene Blishen, Steve Delfin, Kelley Parks, Denise Wymore, Christopher Morris, Christopher Stevenson, and Doug True. They all said they were in.

Today, we launch www.cuwatercooler.com. I spared you the details about the site because I want you to see and experience it for yourself. (Also, I wrote more about the concept here). The idea is less than three weeks old. It's not perfect, and will most certainly change. But it's live, and can start making an impact now.

I hope you enjoy the site, and realize the power of putting ideas into action.

Turning the Page

In November 2003, my wife (girlfriend at the time) was in her final year of graduate school at Wake Forest University. We had been dating for five years by that point, but for the previous year and a half she and our English bulldog, Leota, had been living in Winston-Salem, NC, while I lived and worked north of Richmond, Virginia. Living so far apart was taking its financial and emotional toll, so I constantly kept my eyes open for career opportunities that would allow us to remedy our situation.

I found and responded to an ad in the Winston-Salem Journal for a Director of Public Relations position at Members Credit Union in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This was an interesting choice for me. Working in the financial services sector had never been appealing to me. In fact, even though the dot-com crash destroyed the job market for college students as unfortunate as I was to graduate in 2001, I simply refused to meet with recruiters from large banks, investment firms, and the like. I knew very little about credit unions, even though I had been a longtime member at Indiana's Centra Credit Union. I knew even less about Members Credit Union, Winston-Salem, public relations, and even North Carolina.

I didn't get the job.

Members Credit Union hired another applicant instead of me, but offered to make me her assistant. I accepted, and did the best I could to absorb everything I possibly could about credit unions, public relations, financial services, and marketing. I learned about the credit union structure, and how Members Credit Union carefully followed the most sacred of credit union philosophies. Although we offered the latest in financial services technology, this was a traditional (read: wonderful) credit union that insisted on putting people over profit, serving the community, keeping deposit rates high and loan rates low, financial literacy education, and treating employees well. I had found a home.

After only a few months, my boss suddenly resigned. I was lucky enough to be selected as her replacement. In the nearly six years since, I have been blessed to serve a credit union that truly understands, and lives, the credit union difference. Members Credit Union is conservative with lending and investments because we see the credit union's assets as our members' assets. Steady growth, we have always argued, is much more desirable (and responsible) than forced, expensive, and risky growth. Thanks to the careful guidance of our management team and volunteer board, we have always run a lean organization. We have always been open to new ideas, but insist that they be implemented with as little hard dollar costs as possible.

At times, the lack of budget dollars has been frustrating. Looking back, however, I would say that this experience was the greatest thing that could have possibly happened for my personal and professional development. They say that need is the mother of invention, but I'd argue that under-funded passion is. When you don't have the budget dollars to implement an idea, what do you do? Well, if you believe in the idea, you do anything you can to make it work within the budget. You read as much as you can. You work as hard as you possibly can. You connect with people with expertise on the subject. You teach yourself things that you never knew you would ever have a chance to learn. You work every relationship with every person outside of your organization to see your idea get its first breath of life.

This mindset has kept me interested in credit union innovation. It has convinced me that credit unions of all sizes and budgets can implement ideas they are passionate about. It has proven to me that the credit union difference is alive and well. It has allowed me to get to know many of you.

Today is my last day at Members Credit Union.

On Monday I start an 18-month contract with the Filene Research Institute to help credit unions across the globe learn about, implement, and create financial services innovations. Over the years, Filene's i3 Program has researched and created game-changing programs to help credit unions better serve, engage, and appeal to consumers. My goal will be to help as many credit unions as possible deliver these programs to their fields of membership.

This is a dream come true for me, and as close to a perfect professional fit I could ever hope to find for myself. I hope I've proven over the years that I deeply love credit unions, am a total financial services innovation nerd, and walk the talk when it comes to credit union cooperation and collaboration. This position will allow me to live and breathe my passions, while surrounding me with co-workers that I have always truly admired.

I'll miss Members Credit Union dearly, but can't wait to start this next chapter in my career. I hope you'll continue to be a part of it.

Trick or Treating for Members

A funny thing happened at my son's gymnastics class. I mean, let's face it, a TON of things were funny about gymnastics - imagine 18 toddlers between the ages of 18 months and three years tumbling on dance mats, jumping on trampolines, walking through an improvised "haunted house," and chasing each other with fake snakes, spiders, and bugs.

No, the funny thing that inspired this post was what the instructor handed us as we walked out. Miss Brittney handed each child an orange legal-sized sheet of paper with twelve "Free Class" passes printed on it to hand out for Halloween. Production cost? Maybe $1. Possible reward? 216 new paying customers and $11,800 in recurring monthly revenue. Put that in your ROI pipe and smoke it.

The beauty of this idea goes well beyond its price tag and simplicity. Think about how well Salem Gymnastics Sports Center has targeted its audience. Who will be receiving these passes while trick-or-treating? Where do they live? How likely is it that this pass will stick out in a jack-o-lantern full of candy?

Why not go trick-or-treating for members? Would your members be willing to be your credit union's evangelists this weekend? Do you have a compelling offer that will appeal to parents of young children in your members' neighborhoods?

What do you have to lose?

Become an Ex

Just before tonight's Monday Night Football game, I saw an interesting ad. A woman was sitting at her office desk talking on the phone while simultaneously mixing an adult beverage. As she walks out with her freshly-mixed daiquiri, the narrator says "You don't drink every time you smoke... So why do you smoke every time you drink?"

The message is simple. Eliminate the triggers that create your urge to smoke, and you can kick the habit.



The campaign is a product of the American Legacy Foundation, a collaboration of organizations dedicated to helping people quit smoking. Its web presence (built with Ning) is simple, yet effective. There, you can learn about smoking triggers, nicotine addiction, and success stories from peers. You can network with others who are struggling just like you, set a quit date, and track the cigarettes you smoke (and what triggered them). The 3-Step process is: 1) Re-learn your habit; 2) Re-Learn your Addiction; and 3) Re-Learn Support.

I'm not a smoker, but this program really captures my attention. It's brilliant in its simplicity, and 100% applicable to what most of us are trying to do at our credit unions: improving human behavior.

Could we inspire people to "Become an Ex" bank customer? What are the trigger points that cause people to, despite excessive fees, distrust, and dissatisfaction, continue to flock to goliath banks? Is it inertia? A habit? Apathy?

Could we encourage people to "Become an Ex" spendaholic?

Could this be our national brand?

The Box in the Garage

He was there all along. The "boy in the balloon," as we now know him, traveled nary a few dozen steps to the attic in his family's garage, and simply hid in a box.

The rest of us were looking skyward at a weather balloon about which Area 51 would be proud. We wondered if the cute little boy with the eccentric parents had survived. Was he in the balloon? Had he fallen to his tragic death?

We were so preoccupied with what was high up in the sky, we ignored what was right under the Heene family's collective nose.

We shouldn't be surprised by this phenomenon. It's nothing new. The drama, imagination, and potential tragedy that was unfolding live on television of a balloon floating through the sky was much more interesting than the story of a boy safely hiding in a box. That's why it grabbed our attention so firmly.

We've wasted so much energy in the last 12 months worrying about corporate credit union investments, the Credit CARD Act, alternative capital, a decline in consumer loan demand, and surging loan losses, that I wonder if as a whole we have maybe lost sight of what's right under our noses. As credit union leaders, we have no choice but to think about worst case scenarios, the realities of the economy, and the uncertainty of an ever-changing regulatory environment. We'd be irresponsible if we didn't. But we also have to make sure our focus isn't stolen from us by the extraordinary.

There's a box in the garage that deserves much more attention.

Waiting on Perfect

I see it all the time. Heck, I live it. Too many of us are waiting on perfect. We wait for the perfect idea. The perfect opportunity. The perfect applicant. The perfect proof.

We spend so much time waiting on perfect, that we miss the good, the great, and the fascinating. One of the few things more boring than perfection must be the quest for it.

How about, starting today, you make a change? Instead of criticizing, scrutinizing, and dismissing the imperfect, why not decisively pursue the really good? Vigorously improve the good to be great. Continuously tweak the great. You'll never reach perfection this way, but you'll be a lot more successful than if you were to keep on waiting on perfect.