Here is one of the OED’s definition for holiday:

1. a. A day on which ordinary occupations (of an individual or a community) are suspended; a day of exemption or cessation from work; a day of festivity, recreation, or amusement.

That said, how many of us can quickly flick on the ‘no work’ switch? It seems to me we are creatures of habit and when you are constantly refining your scope of work for a year you tend to get habitual in what you do. The question will now be how long will it take me to move from these structured work patterns to one of ease and serendipity. (Even that question has the attribute of a business decision – how long?).

Then there is the defining moment. Does it really matter? Time for another coffee. It’s work exemption day!

It does seem a little crazy that whenever the topic of the 7 cooperative principles is brought to light, people will point to what they see as the greatest need –  ”to make money” and neglect what the real debate is about. It is like someone asking how you are today and your first statement is “I need to breathe”. Of course we need to breathe but does that end the discussion?

Here is the post.

To start off there will be a lot of new rules the new federal ‘credit union’ will have to operate under. But wait a second. Lets establish who and what this new entity will be. Will it be a ‘credit union’? I don’t think so. It will be a co-operative bank. Someone once said if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck it is a duck. And you don’t even have to look at the new set of rules that the co-operative bank will have to live under. Just look at what has happened in other co-operatives. Agricultural co-operatives (grain and dairy) have evolved from being co-operatives to corporations because their size dictated it. They needed more capital to grow. They just couldn’t find the capital from the membership or from the equity they had built up. They had to go beyond these two sources and that forced them to evolve into a corporation that could access capital markets. That happened with them and that is about to happen to credit unions as their size expands. They have a corporate model for growth that will eventually reach a point when there needs to be a choice to continue in some fashion as a credit union or to move to become a co-operative bank. I support this legislation as it follows historically what has happened in the co-operative system. Just make sure your members vote for it and realize if it walks like a co-operative bank and talks like a co-operative bank then it is a co-operative bank and not a credit union.

PS. This is one paragraph of what appeared in an Edmonton newspaper in response to the question about a credit unions going national.

In his 2010 federal budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Ottawa will draft legislation that allows credit unions to incorporate federally. Credit unions welcomed the move, saying operating outside their traditional provincial boundaries will give them more options to expand.

When a newspaper quotes “Credit unions welcomed” the move they must make sure they list the credit unions that have this opinion. It needs to say that this opinion is not held by most as a reason for welcoming the draft legislation.

First it seems important to realize that though we all call ourselves credit unions there is a difference behind the scenes. There are the large credit unions and the small credit unions. For the most part the size of the credit union is a differentiator in more ways than we might think.

Small credit unions must focus and understand who they are in their marketplace and what they mean to their members. With any organization of limited resources, use of resources must be dictated by need. That use of resources needs to be structured under the credit unions vision both now and for the future. They key to initiate and accomplish the vision is the ability to hold and keep a strong culture based on what I would call the 3 i’s. [Apologies to the Filene Institute for any confusion with their i3 program] Those 3 important i’s are:

Independence. This would mean that the credit union values and maintains its own sense of who it is and how it fits into the cooperative system. It means that by being independent it is accountable and responsible for its own decisions. I think credit unions have become lazy in not attempting to understand vital areas of their operation, specifically technology. They rely on the advice of others and haven’t taken the time to realize the extent and future challenges that may be in store for them when they make decisions about a banking system or switch provider without sound evidence. Knowledge starts first from admitting ones ignorance. The beauty of the credit union system is that most credit unions are willing to share any information if one begins at that humble position.

Innovation. This means keeping a key strategy that smallness brings, the ability to turn on a dime when it comes to creating and producing a product or service. When you see innovation as a strategic weapon you will be amazed at the possibilities available. You turn from the depressing “we can’t do that” to the positive “why can’t we do that”. It is very powerful when your energies are used in developing things your member wants instead of cloning what others already have.

Integrity. No credit union will last when it neglects this aspect of who they are. You cannot operate in a healthy fashion with your members or in the marketplace without this. The trust that you have will disappear when you forsake a culture established on having integrity. Sometimes it can be painful but whatever the loss, the gain is usually magnified by remaining true to who you are.

There are large credit unions that also have these attributes in their culture but because of their size they may not have them woven into their everyday fabric as much as a smaller credit union. Sometimes size diminishes the possibility of such. Small credit unions have less of an internal political life and because of this tend to approach problems differently within the credit union system. You can solve problems easily when the operational issues are solved. It becomes very difficult to finalize anything when politics become so dominant.

For those that want the Olympics in their hometown good luck. The end result will be great and most are excited. It took 7 years to get here.

When the kids were younger and at home there was always the family time. Home was the revolving center and the noise and energy was its heartbeat. It would be nice to repeat those eventful days. Then the kids move on and one should start thinking of what you plan to do. Sure you can always work. The in-basket and email in-folder is bottomless. Then there are the library of books, too many to count, that would be great to finish. And the list goes on.

It is important that sometimes you don’t need a planned day, that it can be moments of serendipity. Today I found a real great song that will be played dozens of time. There is a kids video “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” that I need to watch. (that is somewhat work related…) and getting back to reading a bit of ‘The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” by Michael Chabon. The sun is also out with the blue sky inviting me to a walk on the mountain. Some say the internet is a time waster. When you start following those items that you have an interest in, I really can’t see that as wasting time. If we had a limited capacity to learn then it could be considered wasting time. So far there haven’t been too many people that have had to shut down their intellectual curiosity for anything other than a lack of time. The best reason of all to be serendipitous are the words of Sandy Denny’s song “Who Knows Where the Time Goes“.

The problem starts when the growth button gets pushed to the detriment of the  cooperative culture. There is a fine line here. Everything will grow. Vegetables grow. You can add fertilizer and whatever else to make them grow bigger and faster but there is a limit. If you push it too hard you vegetable is something else. This seems to be also true for an organization like a credit union. It can grow naturally or you can push it until it becomes something else. I am pretty sure we know what that something else is.

There is a lot of work to consider when growing your credit union. From our discussions this morning I think the next generation of leaders understand what it takes to create a strong and healthy credit union without too much manure.