Home » Credit Union Strategy Blog » Increasing Efficiency

Archive for the ‘Increasing Efficiency’ Category

Recommended Reading: Linchpin by Seth Godin

Friday, May 6th, 2011

The recent release of Seth Godin’s bestseller Linchpin in paperback was accompanied by an opportunity that every credit union leader should pursue.

Here’s the deal.

In a blog post last week announcing the release of the paperback edition, Godin offered free access to an awesome video created from an audio of a speech he gave last year to anyone who buys the paperback edition of the book.

It’s one of the best investments you’ll make this year.  You get a great book and access to an amazing  4-part video that will stimulate your thinking, while also showing you the power of motion graphics to tell a story (even if they do at times “run amok” as is stated on the video viewing page).

Trust me.  This is a book you want to read and a video you need to watch if you are serious about creating long term success for your credit union.

P.S.  The video would be a great way to kick-off or prepare for your next Strategic Planning Session…it is filled with thought-provoking ideas that will open the mind and lead to some real outside-of-the-box thinking.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Effective Marketing Strategies, Growing Your Credit Union, Improving Communication, Increasing Efficiency, Leadership Development, Leveraging Technology, Recommended Reading, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking | 2 Comments »

RECOMMENDED READING: Rework

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Attention credit union leaders looking for new ideas that can take your credit union to the next level.  Here is a book that is packed with insight, that will challenge your thinking, and that delivers actionable advice that you can put to work now and in the future.

The first thing that drew my attention to this book was the Seth Godin quote on the dust jacket stating: “Ignore this book at your own peril.”  It got told me a lot about what I would find inside the book, and I was not disappointed.

Rework is filled with practical tips, actionable advice, thought-provoking insights, and a core message that will have value to anyone running a credit union (or any other business).

The book was written by Jason Fried and David Heinemenier Hansson, the founders of 37Signals, a company described as “a trailblazing software company that produces products used by millions of people around the world.” These are the guys who created Basecamp, Highrise, and Ruby on Rails, and several other products that help teams work together more effectively. Along the way they’ve learned a number of lessons and this book shares them in an effective manner.

But Rework is much more than a story of what two guys learned while building a successful business. In fact, one of its real appeals is that it skips the usual self-indulgent stories about what the authors did, why they did it, and how amazingly it worked.

Instead, it opts for a more direct dose of reality on a wide range of topics from getting started to productivity to hiring to culture. You’ll nod in agreement, scratch your head while pondering, and ache to change the way you do things to liberate yourself from the binds that are holding your credit union back.

ACTION ADVICE: Buy a copy today, read it tomorrow, and put it to work in the days, weeks, and months ahead.  You’ll be glad you did, and you credit union and your team will realize valuable results from your efforts.

Posted in Creative Ideas, Growing Your Credit Union, Improving Communication, Improving Member Service, Improving Organizational Effectiveness, Increasing Efficiency, Leveraging Technology, Recommended Reading | No Comments »

Leadership Development: Permission to Kick the Can Down the Road a Bit?

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

Earlier this week I spoke with a credit union leader about how to develop the leadership skills of her team.

One of her core concerns revolved around the lack of progress she is seeing from members of her team who constantly seem to be “operating in a state of perpetual overload.”

The conversation struck a chord with me as I have seen the problem with many of the leaders and business owners whom I have had the privilege of coaching.

From time to time they all seem to sometimes end up in a place where it feels like there is just too much to do, where too many things are competing for their attention, and where their commitment to action takes a back seat to trying to figure out which fire needs water first.

Here’s a quick solution that you may find useful that I shared with her:  Give them permission to kick the can down the road a bit. (more…)

Posted in Creative Ideas, Increasing Efficiency, Leadership Development | 1 Comment »

What Can You Improve Today?

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

OK, we all know it.  Times are challenging, the economy is not what we wish it was, and just about everyone I know has had it beyond ‘up to here’ with all the negative political ads.

But today is a new day and so is tomorrow and so is the next day.  And on each of those days, and the ones that follow, you have a choice.  You can either join the whiners, complainers, and worriers, OR you can decide to be the one who swims against the tide.

Here’s an easy way to do just that.

Every day make a commitment to ask and answer this question: What Can I Improve Today?

Long-term success is seldom the result of huge changes or massive programs.  It comes more from small steps taken every day and repeated over time.

When you commit to improving something every day, you will develop a powerful habit, a winning perspective, and you will begin to slowly but surely improve your credit union.  And that is what will lead to long term success for you and your team.

ACTION ADVICE: Start today by asking and answering the question: What Can I Improve Today?  Teach everyone on your team to do the same.  Focus on making the small incremental improvements that require no approvals, no discussion, no debate, and no committees.  Try it for 21 days and you’ll see a dramatic impact–one that will encourage you to continue the process and make it part of your routine.

Ideas to get you started…No doubt as you think about this you find yourself wondering where to start.  Here are five quick ideas you might consider:

1. Improve the attitude of an employee by catching them doing something right and letting them know you appreciate it.

2. Improve your personal efficiency by taking five minutes to set up the files you need in your e-mail system that will make it easier for you to file and track communications about specific subjects.

3. Move that trash can, file cabinet, table, desk, or whatever it is that you have been thinking about moving for a long time, but just never get around to moving.

4. Create a new spreadsheet where you track the little things that need to be improved so that you always have a place to capture your ideas and a place to go to find one to tackle when nothing comes to mind on a given day.

5. Fix something that is broken or call someone in to fix it.  There are often lots of little things around the office or the branch that need minor fixes that everyone knows about, but no one owns.  Be the one who takes ownership and takes care of it.

Posted in Creative Ideas, High Performance Culture Building, Improving Organizational Effectiveness, Increasing Efficiency | No Comments »

RECOMMENDED READING: The Myth of Multitasking

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

It’s often been said that good things come in small packages, and that is certainly the case with The Myth of Multitasking. The book is appropriately brief and well-focused, and it provides easily implemented approaches that can quickly improve your effectiveness in leading your credit union.

Author Dave Crenshaw makes a strong case for why multitasking is both a myth and a lie, supporting his ideas with references from scientific research and anecdotal evidence. Writing in the context of a performance coach working with an entrepreneur, he reveals the flawed logic behind multitasking and then provides a step-by-step approach for becoming more efficient.

To some the concepts will be familiar. But to others the very idea that multitasking doesn’t work will be hard to swallow. And that’s where the real power of the book is revealed. By role playing the conversations with a non-believer, Crenshaw responds to the objections that multitasking devotees will bring up. In the process he reveals the flaws in their logic and delivers actionable advice for changing behavior.

Dave Crenshaw is a business coach and founder of Fresh Juice Strategy. He coaches CEOs and management teams worldwide and is a frequent keynote speaker. The ideas he shares in The Myth of Multitasking will be of interest to credit union leaders interested in increasing their effectiveness and their impact.

ACTION ADVICE: Even if you don’t opt to read this little gem, let me encourage you to consider its most valuable lesson: Multitasking was never intended for human beings.  It is a term that was coined with respect to computers that were able to switch between multiple tasks so quickly that they appeared to be doing them all at once.

The simple fact is that people are not wired to do more than one thing at a time.  When you consider that and look at how you really operate when you think you are multitasking, you will realize that you are actually switch-tasking.  It’s less efficient than focusing, and it tends to invade the development of relationships with your team.  Just paying attention to that reality can significantly increase your impact.

Posted in Creative Ideas, Increasing Efficiency, Leadership Development, Recommended Reading | No Comments »

« Older Entries