Posted by Christopher Stevenson
Tom Wujec, the opening speaker for CUES Annual Convention, shared a picture of a sign in a Taipei manufacturing facility that says, "Pretend to innovate and lose." Of all the great ideas and unique perspectives shared over the three days at the conference, that image stands out as one of the most important messages for today's credit unions.
Pretending to innovate is rampant in financial services. We add a feature to a product or service and call it innovation. Unfortunately, it's not that easy. Allowing a member to add a photo of their choice to the front of their credit card isn't innovation. Neither is giving away free checks with a "totally-free checking account." They are nice features to list in a brochure, but do little to move your credit union ahead in the market. It's the equivalent of adding raisins to a box of cereal. Raisins are nice, but they don't shake things up much. Innovation shakes things up and moves you forward. And you can't fake it.
