Lets' play a quick game of Scrabble...
😎 But first, a brief review of the conversation so far, which doesn't seem to have created too much controversy (but don't worry, it's coming!).
Chapter 1 [link] established that there are unique things in our world; that credit unions are not banks; and that the idea of a "non-profit bank" makes about as much sense as the ideas: jumbo shrimp, pretty ugly, cold as hell, killed by friendly fire, and educational TV! Chapter 2 [link] pointed out how folks quite often misunderstand the meaning of words - like "bank" and "credit union" ("football" - NFL or World Cup soccer?); and Chapter 3 [link], acknowledged, that like it or not, the word "bank" is how most folks perceive their credit union - the "Kleenex dilemma", which credit unions must seek to overcome. Chapter 4 [link] made clear that the lawyers, legislators, and bankers who "passed the laws and wrote the rules", fully understood that credit unions were never intended to be banks; and Chapter 5 [link] noted that founding credit union members weren't confused either - those folks knew exactly what a credit union was and why they were creating it!
✅ So lets' play a little "Credit Union" Scrabble. You know the game, everybody has played at least once (... and once is usually enough for most of us!). You get a bunch of random letters of the alphabet and try to arrange the letters into meaningful words to score points. Above you see the letters which represent "credit union". Is it possible to re-imagine "credit union" into something unique, which would change the perception of SECU members that SECU is just another "bank" (that Kleenex dilemma"!)?
It's hard to change well-entrenched myths, a difficult hill to climb... an impossible task? Well, of course it is impossible, if you are a "Legacy 8 Board member", CEO, or employee who doesn't understand or believe: "There is a Difference". With that attitude you can't help but fail - as a credit union - and that is what is occurring.
But if SECU members truly understood that credit unions were different and believed that their credit union was unique .... they just might come to agree: "Credit union membership is a certificate of character and a badge of honor" (as banker John Sprunt Hill said) in North Carolina.
✅ What if you re-scrabbled those "credit union" letters to make SECU something unique? Here's how you do it. First, members want SECU to be efficient, a bargain, the low cost provider; so go on an operating cost "DIET" and "EDIT" out those 4 letters, and you'll start to see the "TIDE" of membership opinion improve. Second, you do need to have good technology, so as IT folks say "pack your bytes" (in other words, get rid of those blank "spaces"), which leaves "CRUNION". Now get busy, work hard, tell the truth, listen to your members, be transparent, and as Herb Kelleher [link] so bluntly said "Screw conventional wisdom" [or "industry standard", if you prefer!].
And, if you stay true to purpose (and stay on that "DIET"!), here's what you can re-imagine and create:
A UNICORN!
("C R U N I O N", re-imagined.)
... and as an SECU member would you rather own a unicorn or a bank?
