By Kent Sugg
Five months ago, when the opportunity to work with the Filene Research Institute for six months on a "Radical Sabbatical" was presented to me, I certainly couldn't pass it up. So I expressed my interest, sent my resume, interviewed, and got the job. I was going to work alongside a partner, Maureen Maddox, to help credit unions implement Filene i3 innovations.
Four and a half months in, I'm still helping credit unions implement innovative ideas, but am doing it in a much different way than we expected. While the original plan was to build implementation plans to assist credit unions, we quickly realized that credit unions can implement anything they wish to implement. Our role would be to help push innovative (and unproven) projects off credit unions' backburners, where they too often languish, and assist these credit unions in understanding the value (not measurable by ROI) in implementing innovative ideas.
No worries, though. I recently read The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need by Daniel Pink, and the first of six lessons is that "there is no plan." So I adapt and we keep moving forward.
Coming in to this sabbatical as a branch operations guy, I had the front-line stuff covered. But what I see and experience while out in the "real world" has completely changed my perspective on credit unions. I already knew what it takes to deliver on the credit union philosophy of "people helping people," because I experienced it first hand in the branch. As I embarked on my new role, I realized when a credit union implements change that affects the lives of thousands of members, that's "people helping people," too. Example: When GECU, El Paso, Texas, implemented its Savings Challenge in 2007, it changed the lives of six families--and proved the benefits of financial education to thousands more.
Here's my take on three key areas of focus during my sabbatical:
Innovation is the act of creating change. It's new, unique and difficult. Innovation allows for differentiation with new products and services and, most importantly, it's the beginning of change. Filene has filled a role within the credit union movement as a change agent. The Filene i3 teams consist of credit union leaders not yet to the CEO level who work together to find ways to use innovation to meet member needs. Filene i3 uses the open source solution model: Once an innovation is developed, it's offered fully and freely to credit unions to implement.
Implementation is the key. Implementation is the most difficult component of change, yet it's also the most rewarding. Innovation is an exciting thing, but if it goes without being implemented it never becomes change, never affects our membership, and never really matters. Innovation without implementation is just a bunch of great ideas. At a credit union, it's everyone's responsibility to be a change agent to enhance service and give members the most beneficial financial relationship possible. As I continue to advocate for the implementation of innovative ideas, I find that change is hard but it's amazing, as the most challenging things always are.
Collaboration is what the credit union movement is all about. My sabbatical experience is a prime example. When my credit union, $1.6 billion Tinker Federal Credit Union in Oklahoma City, chose to collaborate with the Filene Research Institute, it committed to pay my salary and benefits for the six months I'd be "gone." The credit union even filled my old position, so I could fully focus on my new role.
These two organizations created a valuable partnership. Filene gets the benefit of the perspectives I can offer as a front-line credit union professional. In return, Tinker FCU gets the inside track to credit union innovation.
When my sabbatical is over, I'll not only bring back best practices, but I'll be a better developed employee with a firm grasp of what's going on outside our credit union. I will have an understanding of what afflicts credit unions, beyond the press releases, and will instead grasp the real challenges and opportunities I see and experience working with other credit unions, communicating on Twitter, and regularly reading about two dozen credit union blogs.
I'm a stronger employee with a whole new world of experience, opportunities and contacts. I've always been a credit union supporter. But now I'm on a mission to make my credit union and the credit union movement better. I will challenge the status quo in such areas as innovation, strategy, board nominations and elections, and general operations, and I'll ensure we're doing everything we can to embody the spirit of "people helping people."
Nearly a century ago, credit unions were propelled forward by innovative thinking, implementation of change, and collaboration to meet a common goal. In this century's challenging economy, if we look back to move forward, there's no reason we can't excel in the future.
Kent Sugg, member services manager at $1.6 billion Tinker Federal Credit Union, Oklahoma City, is on sabbatical with the Filene Research Institute, where he is working with for six months on i3 project implementation. He also hosts the Drive for Implementation blog.
Read more about innovation in this Credit Union Management supplement.
