By Frank J. Diekmann
Here are some odds and ends finally retrieved from between the seats of the family station wagon (look it up) after the recent Labor Day weekend:
The Snowbird Account
The League of Southeastern Credit Unions & Affiliates, which represents Florida and Alabama, and the New York Credit Union Association recently announced they have amicably agreed to suspend their collaborative partnership. Contrary to what many assumed, the partnership had nothing to do with relocating retirees.
A Surprising Hire At One Fintech
A fintech called Qapital is billing itself as a “saving service,” but also a “lifestyle app.” In the process it’s also employing a psychology professor it has given a unique title as part of a broader movement around behavioral economics.
The company says its goal is to reconfigure the way young people think about saving money by incorporating it into everyday transactions. Its app includes features such as 'If This, Then That,' which allows users to automatically save money each time a designated action occurs. The company’s founder, George Friedman, says the goal is to build a suite of easy-to-use tools with the power to change users' financial habits and behaviors. Before it can do that, however, it said it is seeking insights into the "tricky behavioral aspect and the emotional decisions surrounding money and budgeting."
That’s why it’s hired Duke psychology professor Dan Ariely as its chief behavioral economist. Ariely will apply his expertise in decision making and behavioral economics to help shape the company's strategy for aligning its users' spending habits with their savings goals.
Ariely said that one of the features he envisions is an “anti-goal” feature in which separate spending categories are linked, so going over budget at the grocery store, for example, would automatically eat into a user's monthly movie budget.
Analysts say companies such as Qapital are part of a growing “synergistic relationship” between startups and social scientists.
‘Everyone Is Freaked Out’
Here is yet another (but interesting) perspective on Millennials. In this case, it’s from an Inc Magazine analysis, which suggested, “Nearly every company in America today has a crush on the Millennial consumer. You can't blame them; with Millennials making up the largest segment of the population, who wouldn't want to woo them? But many seem to be forgetting one basic fact: Millennials will do what every generation before them have done. They'll change.”
Inc published an essay by LinedIn’s Caroline Fairchild that was titled, "I Just Bought a Car and Everyone I Know Freaked Out." In it, she acknowledges that companies like Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb have empowered Millennials to maximize their income and only spend money on what they feel brings the highest ROI. But for Fairchild and other Millennials, that empowerment now begins to take a different form.
Fairchild wrote: "So why did I buy a car? Like my co-workers and friends who feel empowered not to buy a car, I feel similarly empowered to buy. Buying a car is both something I wanted to do and something I felt financially secure enough to do. There are certain trips I want to take sans Uber driver, and going to and from Avis every weekend that you want to get out of the city gets old pretty quickly.
I am not alone in this decision: More Millennials are buying cars now than in the immediate aftermath of the recession. This clearly has to do with the improving economy, but I would argue that it also has to do with this shift in attitude. I might be singing a different tune come next year when I have 12 monthly car payments behind me, but for now I am confident in my decision."
Woohoo! Five Things You Shouldn’t Be Saying
Alexander Kjerulf, founder of Woohoo Inc. (surprise, he’s an expert in happiness at work), has led workshops in over 30 countries for clients like Microsoft, LEGO, IKEA, and many others and also authors The Chief Happiness Officer Blog.
According to Kjerulf, here are the top five phrases you shouldn’t be using as a leader:
1. Failure is not an option. "No matter how many times you repeat this maxim, failure remains an option. Closing your eyes to this fact only makes you more likely to fail. Putting pressure on people to always succeed makes mistakes more likely,” he said. What should you say: Failure happens. Deal with it.
2. The customer is always right. Kjerulf feels strongly against this one. Customers are important, but so are employees, he said, and not every customer should be considered king--especially if they are unruly, extremely unreasonable, or bad for business. What should you be focused on? Happy employees, as happy employees make for happy customers/members, he said.
3. Never be satisfied. According to Kjerulf, this maxim is based on a fundamental misconception, namely that once you're satisfied you become passive, leading to complacency."In fact, a constant sense of dissatisfaction in an organization sends one powerful message: We're not good enough! The irony is that this results in worse performance, he said. What should you do instead? Focus on appreciating what you have while still aiming for more.
4. Nice guys finish last. This saying attributed to baseball manager Leo Durocher is wrong, according to Kjerulf. "Unpleasant people hurt the bottom line. In a networked world reputation matters, and it's more important to be generous and likeable than to be ruthless and efficient,” he advises. Instead, he said managers should recognize that nice people get the job done.
5. Grow or die. This statement is often espoused at credit union meetings. "It's interesting to see how growth has been elevated to an automatic good, questioned by very few businesses and executives," according to Kjerulf. "Growth certainly has some positive effects especially because it creates new possibilities and challenges for an organization and its people. I'm not saying that growth is bad but that growth isn't always right for every business."
Many a company, Kjerulf, has failed in an attempt to grow too fast. The mantra for businesses, including CUs, he said, is to “grow at the time that's right for you.”
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief at CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info or @FrankCUToday.