Five observations on credit union subjects.
From Steve Jobs on credit unions:
“While many economic and social factors weigh into the success of a credit union, I’ve seen first hand the difference a passionate team can make on the bottom line. The most successful credit unions we’ve worked with have not had the best marketing, they haven’t had the most college degrees in one room, nor have they had the best circumstances.
The credit unions, which have the most success, are winning because they personally believe in their credit union. They have a mission statement and a vision they are passionate about. Their members are friends and family.
“If you don’t love something, you’re not going to go the extra mile, work the extra weekend, challenge the status quo as much. What separates the good credit unions from the great credit unions? Culture. Vision. Passion.” (Source: SECU Just Asking)
From Mark Arnold on leaders: Jim Collins found that great companies build leadership from within. He goes on to say, “Visionary companies develop, promote and carefully select managerial talent grown from inside the company to a greater degree.”
From a CSIS panel discussion on current government reform efforts:
I led two major reviews in 1999 and 2011 of top down reform experience around the world. Of the many lessons I learned, two stood out: the process of reform is as determinant of the outcome as the goals of reform. Even the best-designed civil service reforms falter when national leaders fail to lay out an affirmative vision for the role of government.
Governments, after all, are mission-driven. They are dependent both on a service ethos on the part of public employees, as well as the public’s trust in those who serve.
From Mike Higgins, consultant on scale:
The “there used to be 14,000 banks and now there only 4,000″ is an old and tired statement used to justify scale. . .there are some strong arguments that scale is not the answer.
Complexity of scale is a real thing – and complexity occurs in a lot of areas simultaneously – it’s like watching a fight between two octopuses – lots of tentacles in motion.
Two notes from Who Pays for all Those Generous Credit-Card Rewards?
It’s also worth remembering that lots of Americans don’t have incomes or credit scores that provide access to the most desirable credit cards. This means that debit-card and cash users, who tend to be lower income, are essentially paying for the credit rewards enjoyed by wealthier Americans. . .
“Nobody ever got rich through credit-card rewards, yet lives have been ruined due to credit-card debt,” Wang says. Sticking with a debit card, which comes with many fewer risks, “I think it’s totally reasonable for lots of consumers.”