LAS VEGAS — The parallels between 1976 and 2009 are clear: an economic crisis, people losing their jobs or scared they will, banks busting...and in another similarity, Michael Hales is mad as hell, and he's not going to take it anymore.
Hales, a credit union consultant who is a partner with The Rochdale Group, shared a clip of one of the most famous scenes in movie history at NACUSO's recent annual conference here.
In "Network," the character Howard Beale, a news anchor for a fictitious television network, is pushed too far by what he sees in modern society of 1976 and delivers an on-air rant that climaxes with a wild-eyed exhortation for people to get up out of their chairs, go to the window and shout "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
Peter Finch won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Beale; Hales managed to get an entire audience of credit union folks at a conference standing and shouting, which has to be worth something.
"Credit unions have four choices," Hales said. "They can continue on with their traditional model, they can merge with another credit union, they can convert to a bank, or they can convert to a collaborative mindset."
One glaring difference from 1976 to 2009: a market that back then saw more than 22,000 credit unions is down to less than 8,000. "Sixty-five percent of our industry has vanished," exclaimed Hales, who added CUNA estimates an additional 700 to 800 CUs - as much as 10% of the current number - will vanish by December 2010.
Another difference from 33 years ago: the term "network" used to mean a flow of strength from one source to a number of dissemination points. Today, the definition has morphed into a concept that includes omnidirectional movement and collaborative thinking. According to Hales, collaborative networks would help with numerous back office issues that cost CUs money, including compliance, vendor management, HR administration, loan underwriting and services, marketing and advertising, call centers, and collections.
The question, he added, is: are CUs ready to form collaborative networks?
The answer, he said, is as easy as ABC, or, more accurately, eliminating ABC: apathy, bureauacracy and complacency, the top three enemies of growth.
Complacency alone is an enemy of survival, he added.
