I once took an Uber ride from the airport in Madison, WI, and the driver asked me if I had seen Avengers: Endgame. The final Avengers movie had just come out and he was obviously excited to talk about it. I had seen the movie, so we had a good chat. He then went on an unexpected tangent that made me laugh. He said he loved Marvel movies because the heroes’ superpowers were based on science and things that could technically happen. He proceeded to go on a rant about why the Harry Potter movies are lame because magic isn’t real, and they would just make up magic that would solve all their problems as the movies went along.
When we watch these movies, whether it’s the Avengers or Harry Potter, we rely on something called suspension of disbelief. According to the Oxford Dictionary, suspension of disbelief is “to temporarily allow oneself to believe something that isn’t true, especially to enjoy a work of fiction.”
We are all a bit different when it comes to suspension of disbelief. I may think that the stunts in the Fast and the Furious are ridiculous, but I am willing to believe a talking racoon can fly a spaceship in Guardians of the Galaxy.
I suggest there is value in practicing suspension of disbelief as we envision the future of our credit unions. Here are a few ways we can do this:
Embrace the impossible
My credit union was established in 1953 by a small group of teachers in Tempe, AZ. In the past 71 years we have greatly evolved in both the types of products and services we offer and how we deliver them to our members. I doubt those founding credit union members envisioned the future of banking, but they embraced the impossible idea that a group of teachers could come together and provide for themselves what no other financial institution would at the time. They took a risk and succeeded. Similarly, we don’t need to have all the answers to know what banking may look like in another 70 years, but we should be brave enough to take the first steps into the impossible.
Build a shared vision
It’s one thing for an individual to come up with a vision. It’s another thing to build a shared vision to unite your team. Innovation relies on a team with diverse skills and a common goal coming together on an unfamiliar path. The team needs to suspend disbelief of what has always been done, or even what has made them successful in the past. Ambitious change starts with a team that is willing to be comfortable with the unknown and work together to do something great.
Overcome the fear of failure
Innovation involves a degree of risk. We must suspend belief that something will go wrong and ask ourselves, “what if it all goes right?” We question how a new product or delivery channel will be received by members, we worry about how employees will respond to a new organizational structure, and we are concerned about how any failure will make us look. At some point in your credit union’s history someone took a chance on giving your members a little piece of plastic to use in place of cash or checks. Later, someone decided to install an ATM or encourage members to make payments using their phone. Although risks remain with these innovations, we can’t imagine banking without these conveniences. Don’t let the fear of failure deter you from giving your members something better.
Let’s return to my Uber ride for a moment. Not too long ago it would have seemed ridiculous to jump into a stranger’s car and expect to arrive safely to my destination through an app on my phone. Someone made that impossible idea a reality and it disrupted transportation. While our reality may not include schools for wizards or superhuman soldiers fighting supernatural beings, in the not-to-distant future we will be doing business in ways that may currently seem like science fiction. As leaders in this movement, I ask that we take a minute to suspend our disbelief and ask ourselves how we can make the impossible possible. Once we do that, let’s get to work and solve some problems. Just like magic.
