Holly Fearing
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Filene Fill-In. I'm Holly Fearing with Filene. The Filene Fill-In is the podcast where we fill you in on what's been going on here at Filene's home base and out and about in the financial services world. Today's conversation is about what it takes to have an innovation POV in 2023. We're starting off the year on the podcast with a couple of fresh Filene Fill-In voices that quickly turn into podcast pros. That's right. We're talking with Sarah Lietz, Chief Experience Officer at MDC and Christie Kimball, Chief Product Officer at Filene Research Institute. We dig into their decades of exploration into learning, growing, and keeping up with innovation personally, professionally, and organizationally.
Here are a few highlights on the insights they share:
- Tip one, it's okay to have help when things are overwhelming. Credit unions swim in a collaborative community, and innovation support is out there if you want it. Our networks are our secret weapons to make our work better, faster, and easier.
- Tip two, it's a mindset flip to move to thinking about your services embedded into experiences, instead of spaces. Start envisioning your financial products, serving moments.
- Tip three, jump in and explore something you know nothing about. Maybe it's the metaverse, maybe it's NFTs. Look, we all look funny high-fiving air from the outsider's POV, but you can guarantee you'll come out knowing more than when you went in.
- Tip four, if you wanna learn without being overwhelmed, find the ones that have expertise or at least something thought provoking to say about the ideas or concepts you want to explore. And that is how Christie and Sarah became podcasting experts.
- Tip five, the key to being a learning organization is to be diligent about finding time and space to think and strategize. In a world where strategy is built in minutes, give yourself and your teams responsible for strategy the time they need to think it through.
Now, here we go. A 10,000 foot view on all things innovation in financial services with Filene's unofficial sister organization.
(02:18): All right, thank you so much to Sarah Lietz and Christie Kimbell for being here on the podcast with us today. We are gonna be talking about innovation and an innovation perspective in the credit union industry. So I'm gonna kick it off today with Sarah. So Sarah is the Chief Experience Officer at MDC. And Sarah, for our listeners who aren't familiar with your role at MDC and and what you do in the industry, can you give us a little bit of background and tell us about how you serve the credit union industry?
Sarah Lietz
(02:57): Yes, MDC is owned by about 80 large credit unions and a couple of CUSOs in there as well. We have been around since 2000, and really our mission is to do collaborative R&D projects on behalf of our credit union owners, really with the mindset of accelerating credit union growth. So we do a lot around technology, experience, and emerging trends, both on the consumer side as well as technology. And we bring those forward and work projects collaboratively with our credit union owners. And we've been doing that now, like I said, for over 20 years.
HF
Awesome and welcome to the podcast.
SL
Thank you! I'm thrilled to be here. I've never been on the Filene podcast before, so I'm excited to be with you and Christie here today.
Christie Kimbell
I don't think I've ever been on our podcast either, so we're doing this together the first time.
SL
I think that's hilarious, Christie.
HF
(04:07): I was just gonna say for regular listeners of our podcast, you may be familiar with our Chief Product Officer Christie Kimbell, but I think you're right, Christie, this might be your first time on the Filene podcast as well. So welcome to being on the podcast finally.
SL
I'm glad I'm not the only newbie.
CK
Yeah, it's a joint experience for us, Sarah. We're doing it together.
SL
Thanks Christie.
HF
(04:34): So Christie, you are the reason why we're all here together, with Sarah, with MDC. So can you talk a little bit about, you know, what is Filene's body of work and where does it intersect with the work that MDC does?
CK
(04:50): Yeah, I think this is a great question because when I first started with Filene, sometimes in the market we would hear, oh, we're working with MDC, or how are you different than MDC, or what are you doing together? And I was like, you know, I'm not really sure. So, you know, one of the things that was really important to me is, there's so much need for innovation in this space and there's so many people working on it in different ways. And I feel like one of Filene's strengths is our ability to create the network and to understand how to pull together all these pieces into something greater, you know, that the sum is greater than the parts. And so Sarah, I'm kind of a fan girl of Sarah, and she'll probably be like, yeah, Christie was like really, really into me, you know, she really, really wanted to work with me from the beginning.
(05:43): And because there's so much synergy between what we're doing and what MDC is doing, and I think that we're very, very complimentary in the way that we're structured. And what do I mean by that? Filene is structured as a nonprofit, and what we do is really scan the environment to see what's out there and what's working, and then test that in a way where we can capture the results and share those broadly. When I think about MDC and Sarah, you jump in on this, I think that they are looking the same way, but they're building new solutions and new products. So where we don't consider ourselves to be sandbox developers, we kind of frame what's already out there and then provide insights about what's working or where there are opportunities. We really look at MDC as somebody who says, here's a gap and here's what's missing and we're actually gonna figure out how to build that and create products and solutions that could be sold or could be used. And so if you think of it this as a roadmap, we could either be on the back end of what MDC is creating where something already exists, and then we can share the research on that or on the front end of what MDC is creating by saying, okay, run it to this far, and now we see an opportunity for something to be created, and we can hand that off to MDC to do that.
SL
(07:06): Yeah, I think Christie, I think you hit on it perfectly when you said complimentary. You know, you and I have had that conversation where it's like we do concentrate in the same areas, and we do sometimes work on the same project topics, but that's because we know our credit unions. I mean, we know what is important to them, we know what can move the needle, so of course we're gonna have some overlap, but I think the way that it's unique is how we come together, right? You guys do such great research and you have academic partnerships that MDC is really more focused in on the business partnerships and practitioners. So when you marry those together, I think we get a much broader spectrum of ideas and solutions that serve our credit unions well. So, I get the questions too, you know, how is MDC different from Filene? Well, yeah, I mean we work in the same space, but we go at it very differently, but in very complimentary ways.
CK
Yeah, I totally agree.
HF
(08:14): You know, I think that it's essential that credit unions get all the innovation support that they can possibly have in this industry. So that's why we're talking about the importance of innovation today. Christie, why don't you start us off on this, but can you break down, what is really at that root for the need to innovate for the credit union business model and the way that it serves its customers?
CK
(08:42): Yeah, and I don't think this information is really new to our listeners because, I mean, you would have to have all of your senses completely dulled to not realize the huge amount of transformation that's happening in the financial services industry. And with the rise of fintechs, with just the impacts of COVID, with the changing demographics, there's all of these significant transformations happening in the space. That means that what we've always done before isn't going to perform the way that it has historically, in the future. And what I would also say is that credit unions, for many, many, many years have been in the business of risk avoidance or risk aversion and so when you think about innovation and think about the mindset that we're approaching it from, the idea is how do you test and learn in a way that is responsible and respectful to the members that you're serving, but also doesn't hold you back?
(09:49): And we believe at Filene, and I think it's shared with MDC, is that that's where innovation fills the gap. And so the methodologies that we use are built so that you can test and learn, and that you can make small bets and see how they perform and parlay those into larger bets in order to move more quickly. And so, what I think is the risk right now, and where I feel like this is more critical than ever, is that if we, as the credit union system don't embrace innovation, don't create pockets within our organizations for innovation, if we don't have a place to put new ideas, then those ideas will die. And the startups, the emerging entrepreneurs, they're gonna go to other places in order to launch those new products and services if we can't keep pace with them. And so the idea isn't that we embrace every single innovation that's out there, but that we have a methodology and a mindset that allows us to assess what's out there and to be able to implement the things that we really need to have a competitive advantage. Sarah, I'm really curious, from your perspective, how you see the system and their innovation journey and kind of where MDC is working in that space as well.
SL
(11:12): We have done some really interesting analysis at MDC, and I've seen this from PSU as well, but just the declining margins in our industry. I mean, if you look at the graphs of a 30 year trend line in our industry, they're all going down. It's not a very attractive business model when you look at some of the data that we have in the trends that we're seeing. How can we turn that momentum around? Honestly, I firmly believe that innovation is key to our survival. It's not just how do we compete with big banks, fintechs, corporate financials, it is seriously just how do credit unions survive in this type of an environment. So it is critical that we have opportunities as an industry to bring our ideas together, but then move those ideas into action and think about our future. How are we going to continue to serve the members that we serve and the cuts of the population that may be ignored by other competition that we deal with. So, and it's not even just our industry, right? It's dealing with the changing consumer trends, the political environment, the global economic environment. It's a big world out there and it moves so quickly. I think that's one of the things that we, in the credit union industry, like to talk a lot about, collaboration, but when it really comes down to action, I really think that's where organizations like Filene and MDC come into play where we can step in and say, this is the way we're gonna get things done, and this is the way to move the needle.
HF
(13:07): I'm assuming that through both of your roles, from a chief experience perspective and a chief product officer perspective, over the last few years, you've had your finger on the pulse of the accelerating change and the uncertainty that has come to financial services in general. But Sarah, can you talk a little bit more about what those changes or challenges you are seeing coming that credit unions are gonna need to be prepared for now in terms of how they're serving their members or what consumers are going to be needing more of from financial services as the economic landscape continues to change?
SL
(13:50): Sure. I have been in the credit union space now for almost 20 years, which is shocking to me. But when I think of how things are so different, I really think it's the pace of change that takes me aback, not only technology, but just the speed at which consumer expectations change. You know, things like how quickly I can get something delivered to my house. It's, you know, Amazon started it, but then you think about Instacart and DoorDash, it's that immediate satisfaction of my need. So that whole entire pace of change and then the deep pockets of our competition, you know, the big banks. We can't compete at the same level that the big banks do when it comes to rolling out technology, but we can make an impact if we work on things together and are committed to actually living our philosophy that we like to talk about of people helping people. Those to me, are competitive differentiators that we don't always take full advantage of, but I firmly believe in, and I know that Christie does as well. So by kind of pulling our brains together in full cooperation, we can really make a difference in the credit union space and I call it eating our own dog food. You know, if we're preaching to our credit unions to collaborate, then we as industry leaders need to collaborate as well.
CK
(15:30): Yeah, and Holly, I really would agree with Sarah on the rate of change. I mean, I think a recent example that we're seeing is credit unions had more deposits than they knew what to do with, and literally in three months, now the war for deposits is on, and the fight for liquidity is real, and that all happened like literally in a quarter. And so when you think about the rate of change, one place that I think MDC and and Filene are also playing is in talent development. Because not only does the organization as a whole have to really think about their business model and, you know, how are we gonna create value in today's environment for our members? But to do that relies on your team members and your talent. And the research that we have and the conversations we have with CEOs are number one, I need a whole new set of skills that didn't exist before.
(16:28): So you look at our data analytics work, and one of the biggest challenges with data isn't the technology, it's the culture around data-driven decisions that's holding organizations back. Likewise, research shows like 52% of the talent population will need to be re-skilled for the types of jobs that we will have in the future. And so the other way that we're tackling this for the system is through our leadership development programs. Our innovation program, i3, is really built around how do we create the ability for leaders not only to to navigate change, but also to lead their teams through change management. And I know Sarah, your next step, has a different version of that, but still focused on the development of leaders around innovation thinking and innovation processes.
SL
(17:24): And you talk about the skillset, I totally agree, Christie. You know, it isn't just an innovation brain, right? Like you really have to work at getting people out of their day-to-day jobs and their day-to-day to-do lists and the things that are on their strategic plan for this year, for next year and the year after, and really start training them to think future, to think beyond that, to think beyond what they even see today. And that is a skillset, right? That's training in and of itself. It does not come naturally, especially when you're in an operational type of role at a credit union. But teaching our existing leaders in the credit union space to think big, to be strategic, to be innovative, is something that both of our organizations are dedicated to.
CK
(18:23): Yeah, I read this crazy stat actually just today and I'm gonna see if I can find it. It was something like, oh yeah, the strategy paradox. Those who are paid to think strategically spend an average of just 90 seconds to four and a half minutes per day doing so. And I think it's funny, but it's kind of awful, right? That people who have strategy are so busy that what they're really there to be thinking about, they don't have time to do. And I think as leaders, if you're listening to this, really kind of letting that sink in and figuring out how do we make the space that people need to be able to think, right? Like, just to have a little bit of time. And Sarah, you and I, we actually in our brainstorming together, so we get together once a quarter and we were adding on, so like whenever we had an event, we would just say, okay, well let's just catch up before or after that. And what we realized is like, it doesn't happen. So we've committed to meeting separately just her and I to go through, whatever our agenda is, whatever we're working on together as dedicated time, because we realized like just kind of trying to bolt it onto something else wasn't really working for us.
SL
(19:38): As evidenced by the fact we are trying to record this podcast and had to move it because we were both gonna be together in the same location, and then it didn't work, right? So to be intentional and to be planful and thoughtful around thinking big and thinking differently, I mean that's key. That's something that you and I have definitely learned. But then I value those conversations, Christie, because then you and I have the opportunity to kind of close the doors and sit down and talk about what is Filene working on? What is MDC working on? Where can we compliment each other and where can we build on each other as well? And how can we make that visible? I want people to know that we have these conversations and that we have plans in place to work together and on the benefit of our credit unions. We have a lot of overlap. Filene credit unions are MDC credit unions, and our boards overlap. So we should be spending time working together to make sure that we're the most efficient and innovative that we can be on behalf of our credit unions.
CK
(20:53): Yeah, I think that is a responsibility, especially because we're nonprofit and so, you know, people are giving us their membership dollars that we're not wasting them, right? Like, we're not sitting here working on the same thing that they are paying for in another place. And also what we know about innovation is that if you bring diverse perspectives to the table, that you come out with better ideas. And so the other places making sure that we are not staying in our little world, and that we're expanding the conversation to bring in more perspectives, to bring in other ideas. And I think that's where our networks, as you talked about earlier, where those really compliment each other, right? So that we have the academic perspective as well as the business perspective, as well as both of our experiences with what we hear everyday from the credit unions themselves. You know, all of that we're able to bring together and say, okay, here's all the dimensions of whatever topic it is. I think one thing that we're both working on in partnership is this idea of credit union of the future and I think that's a really specific example of how what we're doing is really been designed to compliment each other's work.
HF
(22:04): And I think that it's a really good point that you're bringing up about, you know, as the speed of change increases, the frequency of having strategic conversations needs to increase to match that. So if you're having a strategic conversation collaboratively across the industry, or even in your own teams once a month, and you're coming up with innovations for strategies, that were relevant four weeks ago, things can change in a matter of weeks. And the next time you meet, you know, your example around the war for deposits, credit union staff had to go from being flush with deposits to now having to come up with innovative strategies for winning more deposits. And if they're not checking in strategically, frequently enough, the teams could be thinking and innovating on the entirely wrong strategies, or you're always chasing where you need to be going instead of keeping up with the market and the speed of the market.
CK
(23:11): Yeah and I also think the idea for me about the strategic planning and innovation thinking is that maybe you don't have all the answers, but you don't wanna be surprised by where the market is going, right? And so the ability to have a little bit of view about what's next and where's it coming, allows you to prepare yourselves and your teams and your organization to be ready. And so one of the examples I have on that is we know when the pandemic hit, a lot of credit unions had done scenario planning where they had thought of actions around a pandemic and what their organization would do. And during that time, I think everybody believed like, wow, we never thought that we were gonna actually like, have to roll it out, right? Or these things would really happen the way, you know, we thought that this was a scenario not reality.
(24:04): And I think that that's more, you know, almost that piece of grappling with all these things that we thought were so implausible, right? We did it just in case, but we didn't really believe that they would happen. You know, I think we live in a world where those crazy things are happening, and so that changes the way that people are thinking and reacting, and it changes the skillsets that we all need so that those incidences, those things, those big events, that they're not debilitating, right? That people have the confidence and the training and the mindset to be able to roll with the punches, so to speak. And so I don't think innovation is a panacea for that. Like, I mean, obviously there's a lot that goes into it, and there's complexity, but I think that it's a really tremendous foundation for the types of skills and thinking and processes and habits that you need to be in, in order to start to build that kind of culture and resilience.
SL
(25:01): Yeah and you just can't do it alone. There's too much going on. I don't know how a credit union can deal with everything just to keep up much less, to be forward thinking and to be out in front of the market by themselves. That's why, you know, organizations like Filene and MDC are so needed. And we have seen in the last, you know, probably three to four years that mindset of us going out and business development, you know, looking for credit unions to join MDC. We don't do that anymore. We don't have to do that anymore because credit unions come to us. It's overwhelming, the things that they have to keep up with. I mean, just compliance alone, is overwhelming much less once you start talking about innovation. So collaboration, working together is not just a nice to have. It is a must have.
CK
(26:07): Sarah, I think you bring up such an important point on how critical strategic partners are and how essential collaboration is in this new world, and also the strength of the networks, right? When you think of business models like Apple or Amazon or all of those are built on those network effects. And so I think credit unions, because we have collaboration and cooperation, in our DNA, that we should be tapping into that because I think that it could be a true competitive differentiator for us as an industry against some of the other players out there. And we do see that in pockets, right? I mean, we are seeing where these strong partnerships and collaborations are making a difference for the industry.
HF
(26:57): So let's get into some of those best in class examples. I don't want to put you on the spot, but if you have any examples of organizations that you're seeing either inside or outside the industry that's doing the work of innovation really well, I want to invite you to share, what organizations are you seeing out there today showing up with a fresh perspective in how they're approaching things and how they're being responsive to what their consumers are needing. And also just kind of keeping their eye on the ball for both responding to market needs today and being predictive of where the landscape is headed.
CK
(27:39): One of the places I see this happening, and this is traditional, right? Like credit unions have always used CUSOs as a place to put new ideas and what I would call extensions of critical services for the credit union space. In addition to that, I think you're seeing the real thirst for fintech and financial partnerships. With the Circle Fund. Sarah, like with what you, with MDC and the partnership with Next Level Ventures. The whole model of that was how do we help get new ideas, and not just partnership, but investment in those as a way to drive the credit union performance. I also think, you know, we talk about them a lot and we have two of their members in i3 right now, which is Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. I think April as the CEO, has done a really just tremendous job of building an innovation lab within the credit union as a channel to feed new ideas.
(28:46): And what I think that she's done that is, is really, really brilliant is that she not only has the idea person, there's not only the person that goes out there and scouts what we should be looking at and how we should be investigating it and I think they both, they use MDC and they use Filene as partners in that, but then they have a project manager that actually takes those ideas and has bandwidth and the authority and support of the organization to put those into action. And so I think for me, it's less about, okay, who are you partnering with at any given time, but how as an organization, are you building the capacity to partner? And how are you building your internal structure to be able to enable both the scouting of new ideas as well as the implementation of those, as well as the capacity, both from a funding and a talent perspective to support those initiatives.
SL
(29:40): I think that's a great example. I mean, MSUFCU is an outstanding organization. I know that they're closely involved with both of our organizations, Christie, and April is a fantastic leader as well. I think when you look around the inside our industry, I mean, you mentioned Circle Fund, obviously that's a new concept for the credit union space to have an investment fund dedicated to making fintech investments on behalf of our credit unions. There's organizations like CU NextGen that have really kind of disrupted the whole development space and through low-code, no-code applications, of developing new technologies, so we love working closely with them. Outside of the industry, I like to go outside the industry because I think that we tend to be a little bit myopic when it comes to credit union space and financial services, but what can we learn from other industries?
(30:45): We connected with Trend Hunter, which you may be familiar with. They're a research organization. We connected with them, I guess it was August of '21, and recently formalized that partnership from a research standpoint. It's like crowdsourcing research, backed by AI. So they have millions of contributors across the world that look at developing trends and react to those. So then based on AI, they can see how those trends are coming out of this crowd before it even hits the marketplace. So we look at reports, trend reports from, let's say, consumer goods or food and beverage. We like to just look at that and say, how does this apply to financial services? Not only what can we learn from them, but what are consumers experiencing in those spaces that they are now going to expect naturally from whoever they do business with, with their money? It's just a different way to look at consumer trends and consumer research in addition to more traditional outlets like Gartner, or McKinsey or any of those other more traditional outlets. But looking at other industries and seeing what is happening there that is going to hit financial services is always eye-opening and it's actually a lot of fun too.
HF
(32:20): Sarah, I think you mentioned it earlier too, about the kind of niche product and service areas like UberEats or Postmates, and how in the pandemic this was their moment to shine on delivery services and how much it's evolved to be beyond just food delivery now. And you know, who's to say if they changed the landscape in consumer expectations around how quickly things can be delivered now or if they were being responsive to consumers' needs. But those kinds of businesses have changed the entire consumer mindset of expectations now and so that kind of tangentially affects the financial services industry too, because you're gonna expect to get a response on an application now within minutes, because that's the expectation for everything in the world today.
CK
(33:19): Holly, I was gonna say to build on what you and Sarah have both brought up is this idea that really what's happening, we think about delivery channels and financial institutions, I mean, have been physical spaces, right? I mean, we started with branches and physical spaces, and so we see that moving digitally, but it still is like a place and where the future is going is that those services are embedded into moments, right? That they're in your everyday life and we're seeing that with even the payment options of digital payments, contactless payments. This idea of going into a store and not having any, you know, you don't check out. All of those things are moving to where financial services are embedded into those experiences. And so I think where the market is going, is how do you envision your financial capabilities as a product when people need them at that moment in that place.
(34:20): And so it's less about bringing things to people at a certain place, but already actually being there already and that's complex, right? And I think it goes back to what we were saying again about collaboration and partnerships is, it really is the more connections you have from a network perspective and a capability perspective that the race is to already be there and ready for somebody who needs to use it at that point. And so I think that's gonna be not just payments, but loans, financing, I think wealth building, you know, all of the different services that we have the ability to provide.
SL
(35:05): Yeah, I think it's exactly what you said, channel and meeting people where they are. So we have a project going on right now at MDC with about 14 of our credit unions, and we are exploring the metaverse. And while my 17 year old son has great familiarity with gaming in the metaverse, I had never put on those Oculus headsets and explored so, and neither had anybody on this team. So we are all credit union execs who are exploring this space for the first time, but we're seeing that if we want to be relevant, if we want to stay relevant, it isn't just about digital or bricks and mortar or having the greatest app, right? It is where are the 15 to 25 year olds hanging out and it is in the metaverse, and how do we get them our products, whether it's moving money or transactions, buying things.
(36:09): How do we get in front of them where we are there? I mean, we've envisioned like this ATM, like this ATM that kind of follows you around, like, did you wanna buy NFTs? Do you wanna buy a new outfit for your avatar? Do you wanna buy land next to Snoop Dogg? You know, I mean, the options are endless, but to be there, to be in it, to explore, to feel it, to see what that experience is like, that's all part of innovation. That's all part of what we're talking about.
CK
(36:42): That's so funny, Sarah and next week in our i3 meeting, we're having the i3ers build their own NFTs. And the whole point is no, I don't think that they're gonna monetize NFTs for any reason, but understanding this new model of how information can be. There's some really great case studies actually around the ability to fundraise, the ability to use it as an experience, the ability to build communities, like all the things that we do. So, it's like, how do we introduce people in a way that they're like, oh my gosh, I don't really wanna create an NFT, but making sure that people understand the relevance and where it's going and how to be more comfortable with it, so as the strategy continues to evolve, that people are thinking about it ahead of time and realizing some of the capabilities. So even if you're not an early adopter, or you don't want to be the first one to market on that, you understand what's coming at you and you're ready to react when the moment is right for your organization.
SL
(37:51): Because you've been in it, right? Like you've played with it, you put those goggles on and you felt what it felt like to be in this virtual world, so you can speak to it with confidence and relate better to our consumers. I mean, if that's half the battle, I'm happy to say we moved in that direction. If you don't have the products and services ready in your little virtual ATM in metaverse, at least you participated in a meeting out there and felt it, and can speak with confidence to consumers who have. That's part of our job.
CK
(38:29): Well, and if nothing else, it's really great for, it's I think very amusing to watch people as they do it, right? Like it's not really a sport or an event for the shy, right? Because it's so awkward watching people interact with imaginary, on the outside forces.
SL
(38:50): Oh honey, I have like knocked things off my desk. I have high fived my monitor instead of, you know. It's super funny. You are right. It's highly entertaining, but again, it's part of our jobs. We have to do that kind of exploration. We have to do that kind of play in order to grow and to change.
HF
(39:16): You bring up a really great point that, like thinking about the metaverse or thinking about how you're gonna bring NFTs to your credit union, especially if it's a traditionally risk adverse environment, it can be really daunting, but you both are so good at having fun with it and not being afraid of innovation. Can you talk a little bit about like, how do you approach that when it's like, I don't know anything about this and it might take me 400 hours to get up to speed on everything I need to know about this? How do you take one bite at a time?
CK
(39:52): Well, I actually think Sarah and I approach this the same way as we bring in people who know what they're doing. Right?
SL
Exactly. I don't expect to be the expert on anything. I just like to know where to find people.
CK
(40:06): It's like you and the podcast, Holly. Like, I'm happy to show up and participate in a podcast, but I'm not creating the podcast. And I think it's so many things we do is we just say, okay, people need to know how to do this. You know, who do we know is really good at this or has something interesting to say, or can at least provide a perspective. And I think that's where the great thing about the supporters of Filene and I think the supporters of MDC at Filene, we serve growth, innovated-minded credit unions, and what they give us is an audience, right? What they give us is the willingness to learn and the curiosity and the appetite for what's next. And so, you know, I think our job a lot of times is just putting the experts together with the people who really wanna learn and that thirst for what's next, what's new, I think is the fuel, right? It's an energy for the credit union system.
SL
(40:58): Oh my gosh, yes. I mean, how much do you love that? I love my job because, I mean, I've been at MDC for 17 years, and the reason why is because I'm doing something new all the time. I get to work on these projects where it's like, oh my gosh, metaverse, okay, I don't know what that is and off we go, let's find out. To me you said energy Christie, and that's exactly what it is. It's so much fun to go down that path, to learn about AI, to learn about RPA, to learn about chatbots, and the next generation of chatbots that are coming out. I mean, I can't think of a better job, at least for me than that, to just always have something new and the ability to ask questions and meet new people and put really interesting people together in a room and see what happens. I love all of that.
HF
(42:00): So that leads me to my next question then, about what advice do you wanna give to credit union leaders to help them approach the big picture challenge of innovation? And specifically just in the year ahead, what do they need to be doing now to take advantage of these insights we've talked about today and just all of the opportunities to connect and learn about innovation and what they need to do, what do you wanna tell credit union leaders about doing that work?
SL
(42:38): I have a couple of things. I would like to ask credit union leaders to stay engaged, actively engaged with organizations like Filene and MDC. To show up, to participate on our projects, to be part of the Filene Centers of Excellence to really support from an upper level, this whole idea, this whole concept of innovation and play and exploration. So they need to commit resources, there needs to be a budget. I mean, these are very practical things, but I think they're also really easy. Have a budget set aside for projects that people want to get involved in, or new technology that they want to bring in to play with, and, you know, not make it just part of somebody's job during the year, but to actually have dedicated resources to that. Altra Credit Union in Wisconsin is really great at that. Making sure that they have committed resources to draw upon through the year for play and exploration.
CK
(43:46): Yeah, and I would just say it goes back to that statistic we said a little bit earlier. The number one barrier we have, even within Filene members, if we're testing something or we want somebody to participate on something, it's like, I just don't have capacity, right? There's already too many things on our plate. We're already trying to accomplish so many things. And I would say, but think about that, like, think about that your strategy team is probably on average spending less than five minutes, right? So the idea is giving people room and space to think, to explore, to question, you know, just to have a quiet moment to really be able to synthesize what's happening. That is critical, right? That is a necessity to be a learning, growing, organization, and that your team and your talent has to have capacity to be able to process all of the things coming at them.
(44:42): And I know, I mean, I feel like the biggest hypocrite saying that because we struggle with that within our own organization. I struggle with that personally, but we have to find those moments and we have to honor those moments where we give people the time to participate in these exercises because this is really what moves us forward. And I think it's the idea of, you know what, I can start sawing away, or I can sharpen the knife, I can sharpen the saw, I can take a little time to make sure that everything is ready to go, and then my work becomes faster as a result. And so that trade off is so hard to make in the heat of the moment, or when you have all the deadlines that I know everybody has. But I think that what we found is that the time with each other, the network actually makes things faster and easier. And the exercise of going through those thought processes provides frameworks, provides tools that allow you to move forward faster. And that's where we say like, you have to be part of it to believe it. But I would say that your owners, Sarah, and our members, like they would vouch for us on that piece.
HF
(45:54): Well, this is a really fun and meaningful conversation. So I know Christie, Sarah, you both were first timers at the start of this, but you're now podcast pros and you've graduated into, you know, I would love to have you both back on the podcast anytime again. I think actually we already have plans to do another one with MDC, so I'm excited about that. But before we go, is there anything else that you want to tell our listeners or that you want to comment on, on this conversation?
SL
(46:30): I'm just super grateful. You know, thanks Holly for inviting me on. I really appreciate it, and I've had a ton of fun. I love having conversations with Christie, so this has been really easy. I want to say thanks to Christie for really being dedicated to developing our relationship over the last few years and being intentional about getting together and having these conversations. I find it energizing and I know that it's all for the good of our credit union, so thank you.
CK
(47:10): Aw, thanks Sarah and thanks Holly. I promise you anytime you two want to get together and talk, I am in. So would love to do the follow up and just really appreciate the time we've had today and really just so inspired and impressed. I love that we have a sister organization like MDC and I think it's really great to see what they are doing with what we are doing and how together I think we deliver more to the industry. And so I see that work continuing and I'm excited about some of the projects we have together coming up.
HF
(47:46): Thank you both so much. Alright, that's it for the Fill-In folks. Thank you for listening and of course, a huge thank you to Christie and Sarah for their time and insights. I'd also like to thank Filene's biggest innovation supporters and partners, our Inner Circle sponsors of our Center for Innovation and Incubation, as well as our sponsors for The Lab at Filene. To further build your networks of innovation leaders in the industry, show up and see who's showing up at Filene's research events this year. Check out Filene.org/events for our full lineup. Speaking of bringing in experts, I'd like to say thank you to our podcast editor Brian Daley, for making everyone sound good and for ensuring a pleasant audio experience for our listeners. If you like this episode, please do rate us on Apple Podcasts so more people can find us, and make sure you are subscribed to the Filene Fill-In podcast so you can keep up with what's going on at Filene. You'll find us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. To get in touch about today's show, email me at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @Fileneresearch. Until next time, thanks everyone.