When Insanity Isn't a Bad Thing: Setting Goals for the New Year

As a general rule, I avoid predictions, and except back in third grade when Mrs. Casebolt required it, I have never been one to make resolutions, either.

But I've always been goal-oriented, which has served me well in my profession. (What is a deadline if not a goal that simply must be met?) In my personal life I've taken on a few goals that some have found to be thoroughly insane, such as completing a full Ironman triathlon (I like to say that's not insane, it merely takes a special kind of stupid).

But not all of my goals are stupid and insane. In fact, I'm betting some of my professional goals just might have made it onto your New Year's Resolutions for 2016.

One is to invest even more into mobile and social media. Credit Union Journal has long had a presence on various forms of social media, as well as a site optimized for various digital channels. Look for us to do even more of this in 2016. It's how your members want to interact with you, after all.

Another is to re-examine how we measure success. Given the number of times consultants have bemoaned how many CUs don't do such a great job of setting goals — and monitoring them to ensure they're met — it would seem this might be a popular executive resolution.

Still another is rethinking who the competition is. As the editor of a news publication, it's easy to think only of other publications as being competitors. But in this digital era, where people get their news and (more importantly) what the news actually means to them, is continually evolving.

There can be no doubt that is true for CUs, as well. You don't just compete with banks. You're competing with everyone from payday lenders and pawnshops, to such digital juggernauts as Google, Apple and Amazon. Just read the stories in our special report on pages 10-13 on "The Year Ahead."

Kicking off in this issue are stories exploring what 2016 may hold for credit unions on a variety of fronts: legislative, interest rates and payments. Still to come on cujournal.com will be more stories examining what's coming in regulation, growth strategies, lending and more.

Because it's one thing to suggest that swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles (yes, all on the same day) is crazy — but turning a blind eye to the challenges and opportunities ahead? Well, that really is a special kind of stupid.

Editor in Chief Lisa Freeman can be reached at lisa.freeman@sourcemedia.com.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER