Acedia has a clinical cousin called depression. Norris traces acedia’s path through history to expose the damage to not only our own lives but also to our culture as we become desensitized by never ending distractions and our loss to care about anything that is really important. She finds that “restless boredom, frantic escapism, commitment phobia and enervating despair” that we have problems with today are “the ancient demon of acedia in modern dress.“

This is not a new concept. It is first encountered in the 4th century by the Christian monk Evagrius Ponticus. This is what makes the challenge so interesting. How can a 1600 year old concept be so relative in today’s world? We are so enamoured in the newness of the modern age that our view of history and what it has to offer is so easily forgotten. We should realize that the paths we currently walk are not always ‘new’ but sometimes very worn with previous travellers.

There was an underlying theme that we needed to pay attention to our membership and move away from the constant rehearsal of paying attention to ourselves. The culture of each credit union should be directed by the board who are representatives of our membership. That being the case our cultures are dictated by our members. We need to be inclusive but not necessarily homogeneous. We include everyone in a common bond but that doesn’t make us ‘all things to all people all of the time’.  And in this lies the difficulty.

By having a common bond it made credit unions easier to be part of the free market system. Are those that use credit unions understanding that a free market association creates challenges for us to remain a financial community of sorts. If they are only there for the “free chequing” what does it matter that credit unions have a social conscience?

The Symposium allows everyone to think and discuss issues that are relevant today and tomorrow. But we tend to get bogged down in the ‘good old days’ stuff and need those dialogues to bring us forward, screaming and kicking, into the future. The credit union I work for supports this event because this is one of the few remaining places where we can discuss the emerging culture of credit unions. We can begin to formulate what this will look like.

We do need a Manifesto or Accord sometimes when the dust settles. I would offer a few points.

1. The movement needs to reconcile that it is multi-generational. All contribute to the end result.

2. Credit Unions are formed with many dimensions. It is not all marketing, not all management, not specific to one domain. We are defining a new language for what we are and what we do. That takes time.

3. We are generalists that have been formed from exceptions not norms.

So just wait until next year when we go at it again.

Yesterday was spent walking around the Sacré-Coeur Church along with a lot of tourists. On the way back there was an organ grinder in one of the squares. He pushed through this long folded cardboard sheet as he wound the handle which produced the most wonderful sound and music. It must have taken a lot of effort to keep that wind going in the small bellows to get the accordion like sound. But the notes were many and the pieces complicated which made it so interesting.

After supper (Normandy Brie, paté, fresh bread, proscuitto, etc.) we walked around the Cimetiere de Montmartre and ended up having crêpes Grand Mariner and Noisette. Of course we sat there for over an hour watching everyone.

Paris is a city of people, history and of course food. You can’t help but be amazed at the selection in the stores. Being in an apartment gives us the advantage of buying and trying out everything we can see. And this morning just after 10:00 am the church bells were ringing. Sacré-Cour has one of the heaviest bells in the world. The bell itself weighs 18.5 tons and the clapper 1,900 lbs.

This morning we had a great buffet breakfast and I got to try the black pudding, haggis and square sausage. All of it wasn’t bad but with the haggis it must be an acquired taste. After breakfast we registered and signed up for a credit union visit on Tuessday to Dalmuir Credit Union. We noticed that we are getting a ‘wee dram’ at the end of the visit. Tonight is WOCCU’s grand opening and reception.

Weekendavisen
10 Jun 2011
An extremely interesting letter from Barry Neville.

As part of the event we contribute buttons and a poster which has been done by my son (an artist who lives in Copenhagen). A few months before the event we kick around various ideas of what it should look like. This year’s poster has a bit of a story around it.

Derek Miller (Penmachine) has always voiced how much he liked the posters and has contributed ideas of what they should look like. I wrote him back in March asking him for input. He sent a short email with some neat ideas that went off to Copenhagen. Just before we went to print the news came of Derek’s passing away. It was a sad moment to hear that. We never told anyone until now that at the last moment the poster was changed to add some small print on the boat which reads “In memory of Derek”.
In some ways those two characters in the boat express how when we receive news of someone’s death it shapes us — we look forward and we look backward at a point when we really can’t move at all.

A trust fund has been setup for the Miller family by our good friends at Vancity Savings Credit Union

The transparency, or whatever you want to call it, of social media has made some significant changes in various stratas of society and definitely between various demographics of the citizenry. It has a “no prisoners” approach and no matter how much some would love to stuff the Genie back in the bottle it doesn’t look like it will be returning to the old way anytime soon. This morning the Globe and Mail had an article on how the TV networks and cable companies were complaining about Netflix and that they were not contributing to Canadian content. These were the same guys that were trying a year ago to get out of paying for Canadian content and now they use it as a means to try and stop Netflix. They forget to realize that Netflix offers something they don’t – complete choice of what to watch and when to watch it.

Being part of a financial cooperative that creates a culture that gives staff the ability to produce a clip about their boss for the world to see is extremely satisfying. We can talk about transparency, openess, relationships, empowerment or whatever buzz word you want, the fact remains, people have to be able to do something they see as positive, fun, and an extension of what they do in their everyday lives at work. That’s regenerative. That’s intentional. That’s socially responsible and sustainable. That is this new world emerging as we speak. The byproducts are a healthy and well run credit union.

Thanks gang. And by the way I do leave the toilet seat down. Leaving it up is nothing more than a freudian slip.

In a recent issue of Business in Vancouver (a weekly business journal produced in Vancouver B.C.) there is a section titled ‘Hats Off’ which lists donations by various businesses to worthy charities. This week caught my eye. Listed were three credit unions. But to the untrained eye they were not ‘credit unions’ they were ‘Financial’, ‘Savings’ and ‘Financial Group’. So what happened here?

In the Lower Mainland of B.C. are a large number of very large credit unions. In fact the total of these large credit unions amounts to an excess of 60% of the total deposits for all credit unions in the province of B.C. It runs into the billions of dollars. The competition is fierce amongst all financial institutions and there is this marketing mantra that says any FI needs to differentiate itself in a crowded marketplace. That mantra has carried into the credit union system by pushing some credit unions to have their names presented in the public arena sans ‘credit union’. This supposedly is the way to be different.

The problem that I see is even if I am not a member of a credit union I do have some remote idea of what it is. But do I know what a ‘Financial’, a ‘Savings’ or a ‘Financial Group’ is? That is even more confusing.

I would ask any group of credit unions to consider what they would do in a similar position. Would you keep ‘credit union’ or drop it? It seems once you drop it you become something entirely different. Don’t ask me what, because as noted, it becomes confusing.

Her blog post today does just that. When I began reading it proved interesting from the fact that the 4 minute mile was a record broken in Vancouver during the Empire Games in the ’50s. There was a bronze statue commemorating the run erected at the site and as a kid you always wondered about how magical that moment was. Back then those types of events didn’t seem to happen as often as today so they always seemed magical.

The blog post points to something similar. But many, instead of experiencing that magical moment, will begin to sense a moment of dread. The key to exist as a business in this world is to be aware and be nimble. If you aren’t good at keeping your balance with the winds of change you’ll end up falling a lot. And getting up gets harder to do. Being aware and nimble should give you your greatest advantage which is the use of time. The new iPhone and possible iTunes payment system isn’t hard to see as a concrete possibility. It will be used but it won’t have everything that people will want. Those FIs that understand that and are prepared for change will find they will continue to exist.

I tend to see technology as pure technique. This is just another refined technique to be aware of and to see as a possibility to play to. Don’t forget ‘magic’ is a noun, adjective and verb.