“One giant leap” for credit unions
My youngest and I were driving from an activity last night and, as he looked skyward, he asked me “How far away is the moon?” Naturally, we asked Siri and learned that it is over 238,000 miles away. That’s a big number, especially for a 6 year old to comprehend! He then asked how long it would take to get there. The answer I reported was that it took the astronauts who went to the moon a long time ago around 3 days to get there in a rocket ship.
As the conversation continued, it expanded to missions to Mars, the very smart mathematicians and engineers who design missions and build spacecraft and then… I mentioned that there is video of the men who went to the moon. This resulted in the viewing of said video on our laptop.
This morning the boy announced that he was going to become an astronaut and travel to the moon where he would work on the project to send people to Mars.
That’s when it hit me.
Regardless of the fact that he has seen technology that is far more advanced than what was used in that mission around him every day and in spite of the fact that television and movies often depict space travel in a futuristic manner even you and I can’t truly fathom, his reaction to seeing Neil Armstrong step on the moon was still an extremely impactful moment for him. Undoubtedly, the impression is not as strong as that which was made on the youth of 1969, but it took space travel out of the story books and made it real for him.
There are many directions one could take this post from here and even keep the same subject line. Honestly, the deliverable I’ve gained from this isn’t fully fleshed out in my mind yet, but it has given me some freeze-dried nutrient capsules of thought:
– Sometimes what made a difference 45 years ago can still make a difference today. Are there core messages or strategies we’ve abandoned or minimized that could ignite passion in youth – fresh eyes see things in a way that we may not have considered in a while.
– Everyone is aspirational and the right message at the right time can ignite new thoughts of what the future may hold. That thinking big matters. What is the “One small step” that can translate into “One giant leap” for credit unions?
– Let’s not outthink ourselves. My last two points may qualify for the “yeah I’ve heard that before” category, but I believe we also need to do a better job listening for well-timed cues and then acting. If I wanted my son to be an astronaut (which, wouldn’t it be awesome if that happened!) I probably wouldn’t have started by showing him the Apollo 11 footage.
– Are we talking to the right people? In the conversation with my son, I was surprised to find that he, a 1st grader, was as informed about “robots” that have landed on the surface of Mars as he is.
– This applies to our system as well. As we deal with economic fluctuations, increased regulatory burden, non-traditional competitive pressures and complex technology solutions, the movement has become increasingly introspective, especially in the area of system structure. There has been evolution over time to be certain. But the prevailing modus operandi that has continued to move credit unions forward has been the unity of the system and our unified voice through advocacy.
Let’s continue to look skyward, remember the past, be aspirational, think big, but think simple as well, ask questions of new people and, most importantly, Unite for Good.
