The Walking Dead: Lessons for your zombie credit union

October is a great time of year for a lot of reasons. Autumn is here and the air is finally turning a little cooler. Kids are back in school, college and pro football is on and the baseball postseason is heating up. It’s time to think about upcoming holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving. And it’s also time for the return of the most popular show on television — The Walking Dead on AMC.

Yes, we finally get to see what Rick and the gang have been up to for the last six months. How Did they get out of their railroad car prison in Terminus? Did Carol, Tyrese and baby Judith find the rest of the group? And how long will it take somebody to figure out Eugene is completely full of hot air with his “I’m a scientist and I know how to cure this thing?”

Certainly, questions abound. But the really neat thing about this show is not so much the zombies — it’s the people. When it comes to this kind of human drama and interaction, there are many things credit unions can learn from The Walking Dead.

• There is strength in numbers. Time after time, we see stragglers and loners on the show picked off either by walkers or renegade humans. Credit unions traditionally cooperate together and find strength in numbers. Together we are strong. Separated, we become very small. Let’s remember – we are a cooperative movement.
• Don’t fall into a rut. Just like a zombie, a credit union can devolve into a lifeless, shambling shell of its former self. Credit unions must continue to find ways to innovate and lead the pack when it comes to financial services for consumers. Just because we’ve always done a certain thing a certain way does not necessarily mean we must continue to do that thing in that way. Complacency is a deadly enemy.
• Not everybody fits in every job. Not every credit union employee is the right fit for a particular job. Everyone on your staff should have skill and desire for member interaction. But your best skilled salespeople should be on your front-line and on your business development staff. Too often credit unions ask other employees to cover jobs that are just not in their wheelhouse (for example, having branch managers do marketing). Learning that not every person is the right fit for every job is a difficult but important lesson to master.

Those are just a few examples of lessons credit unions can learn from The Walking Dead. If you’re a fan of the show you can probably think of more. Please feel free to add them in the comment section below. Until then, enjoy your autumn and watch out for walkers.