Invent and Wander

Key takeaways:

- Every hire should raise the bar. Every hire should raise the average of the department.
- Relentlessly lower costs for customers. What changes can we make to consistently have the lowest rates?
- Our customers are smart and informed.
- Jeff focuses predominantly on two things: The customer experience and offering the lowest prices.
- Just in time innovation misses the mark. We need to anticipate customer needs and build solutions before they know they need it. Use this to look for ways to save your customers money. It delights and wows them. For example, if we have a member with a large amount of money in their chequing account, or a member who is paying more fees on their accounts than necessary, or a member who signs a loan and the rate drops before we advance, and we call them to tell them about ways to save money, it will build loyalty. Yes, it will cost us some money, but enough experiences like this will build a loyalty that will be hard to shake. If we lose $250 per year in service fees, but gain a 25 year mortgage that won't leave, we are ahead. If we pay a little more in interest on deposits, but we get a lifetime member, and their family's business, we are ahead.
- If you take a long view, shareholder and customer values align. What's good for the customer is good for business.
- Operations must serve the purpose, they are not the purpose themselves.
- Keep fixed problems fixed. It's not enough to fix a problem, it needs to stay fixed.
- As a leader, your job is to make a few good, high quality decisions each day, not thousands.
- Good failure: Trying something new they has big potential to work, then failing. Bad failure: Doing something you've done before with poor execution. That's sloppy.
- What will still be true in 10 years? Focus on these things. Effort spent in these areas will continue to pay dividends. Customers will still want lower costs, faster shipping, and better service.
- Type 1 vs type 2 decisions. Type one decisions are one way doors. Once you have made this decision, you are stuck. It's not easily reversed. You need to live with the consequences. Type 2 decisions are two way doors. If things don't go the way you expect, you don't need to live with the consequences for long. These can be reversed without too much difficulty or damage. You can make type 2 decisions quite quickly. You want to make type 1 decisions differently.
- Slow decision making is bad for morale.