Slow start to the year? Here’s one change you need to make right now

“We had hoped for better this year.” As you should have, but perhaps you’ve already slipped in meeting your Q1 goals. So, what can you change to get the results you want?

Let’s look back to March 28, 1979: The fateful day when a partial meltdown of reactor No. 2 at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station near Harrisburg, Pa., occurred, and the subsequent radiation leak. The situation could have been much worse; however, it also could have been prevented easily.

Did you know that the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in 1979 happened all because of a burned-out lightbulb? When certain safety systems were malfunctioning, light bulbs would illuminate, and the technicians would alertly take care of the problem. No one anticipated a burned-out bulb. 

According to one expert, the biggest mistake of the event was monitoring for failure rather than monitoring for the absence of everything working well. “That bulb should have been bright when things were good and go out when something was wrong.”

Your credit union should expect goodness and monitor for the absence of it. 

Let’s break that down into a real-life scenario for you. You tell your child to call when he or she gets to their friend’s house. If you don’t get a call by the expected time, that’s when you take action. You proactively expect a good outcome and take immediate action when that doesn’t happen. Compare this to the parent who says, ‘Call if you get into trouble,’ never realizing that it could be hours after a car accident before he or she would know that something was wrong.

If you want smooth transactions and loan closings, ecstatic members who happily refer their friends and family, and success in achieving your growth goals to be the norm, expect these things, and then come to the rescue only if they fail to happen. Then, “ask a freaking question” to gain perspective as to why it didn’t meet expectations. That’s your light bulb to investigate and start the problem-solving process.

When to start? If you have experienced several quarters of stagnation or worse, declining numbers, your credit union needs someone from the outside to probe around and ask the hard questions. A third party with no emotional attachment to your organization, but who possesses the desire to see your credit union and you succeed will moderate the tough conversations you need to have to prevent the meltdown. 

“What issue are you shielding yourself from so that you are not close enough to the pain that you need to motivate you to change?“ – Necessary Endings