LAS VEGAS -
That transformation will be guided by the "Four Pillars" that support the National Center for Collaboration and Innovation. The "Four Pillars," says NACUSO, are critical thinking, collaboration/cooperation, innovation, and implementation. Each keynote or featured speaker is expected to "add clarity to one of the 'Four Pillars.'"
Perhaps playing on the method of life reading developed by ancient Chinese philosophers called "The Four Pillars of Destiny" which is based on reading a person's life from his or her birth year, month, day, and hour displayed in the form of four columns, Davis says that credit unions are "in the mature phase of their life cycle" and need to change their business model. "Why not consider a tangible market differentiation?" he asked.
Davis cited a 2006 poll that found 56% of potential CU members didn't know the difference between a credit union and Citibank as proof of the need to take a more revolutionary, if Feng Shui-inspired approach to financial services delivery.
"We have the same organizational structure we had 50 years ago, with functional departments, or silos. Problems arise in trying to integrate all those departments. What I'm saying is that we may need to change that basic structure. AT&T in Canada, for example, organizes around a strategy rather than a structure. Each box in the chart "isn't a person, but a team," said Davis. The problems arise when there is no follow-through, or implementation of the seemingly great ideas that are generated.
Nicholas Carr, a former editor of the Harvard Business Review will lead off with a "series of pragmatic and surprising strategies to increase the odds that innovation initiatives and investments really pay off, and illustrate those strategies with compelling examples," according to NACUSO's preview.
Michael R. LeGault, author of the 2006 book "Think! Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye," will deliver an analysis of the downward spiral of American intellect and culture: "If bestselling books are advising us to not think," LeGault argues, "it comes as no surprise that sharp, incisive reasoning has become a lost art in the daily life of Americans. Somewhere along the line, the Age of Reason morphed into the Age of Emotion; this systemic erosion is costing time, money, jobs, and lives in the twenty-first century, leading to less fulfillment and growing dysfunction."
NCUA Vice Chairman Rodney E. Hood "will stress the importance of collaborative and cooperative footing for NACUSO's National Center and the industry in general," says NACUSO, and finally, Karen E. Purves, a business consultant will provide the closing keynote, leaving attendees with "a fresh perspective on problem solving methods, and a variety of tools to spark innovative thinking, while sustaining an innovative environment."
Purves' credits include testifying before a U.S. Congressional Subcommittee and performing improvisational comedy at "The Second City" Mainstage Theater in Chicago.
