It’s Not Extraordinary if It’s the Norm

by Matt Monge

We’re all trying to figure ourselves out, aren’t we? Individuals are “finding themselves,” young leaders are finding their way (or maybe they’re not, depending how you look at it), groups are figuring out who they are or who they can’t be, organizations are figuring out their identity, brands are trying to communicate an organization’s essence, and movements (or systems, depending how you look at it) are trying to find their soul.

The thing is, try as we may, we still very often end up looking or sounding or acting or trying to be just like dozens of others. Don’t believe me? Check out this list of bank and credit union taglines.

A couple years ago at the CU Water Cooler Symposium, Ed Brett said something that continues to resonate with me. During his talk that year, he essentially said that credit unions have to be “better bankers than bankers.” In other words, at least one potential differentiator is being better at our business. Profound, yes? I think culture is another of those differentiators, but the fact remains that we have to continue to improve at what we do.

In his most recent post here at the CU Water Cooler, Brett said something that a friend and colleague of mine have talked about several times in the last couple years. It’s not enough just to be good at what we do, or even just a little better than our competitors at what we do. We have to be “differently better.”

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