LAS VEGAS–Credit union and CUSO leaders gathered here were offered a four-step process for killing zombies, reimagining what’s possible and forming a pit crew—but only if they want to actually get things done.

Those four steps and other advice were shared by Diana Kander, who is an entrepreneur who has built and sold a number of ventures, an author, and a Senior Fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Kandor offered her insights to the NACUSO Reimagine Conference.

Kander, who grew up in the Soviet Union during a time of what she called “an economy of absolute shortage” and who recalled what it was like to make a chicken last for four days, came to the United States as an eight-year-old in 1989.  She shared how her grandmother did not want to leave, as she couldn’t imagine doing so.

That Status Quo has a Strong Gravitational Pull

“I learned at the age of eight about the strong hold of the status quo and how even when it’s not serving us it just keeps us rooted in what exists today,” said Kandor. “You have to choose that better is possible.”

Kandor asked her audience for what they believe slows down development and growth in organizations, with attendees calling out things like politics, old people, complacency and capital. 

But there’s something else holding back organizations, she suggested. 

“Our growth is slowed down by our success,” she said, explaining that success is a barrier to growth because “as soon as we find a way that works we are more likely to just keep doing it. We trade our curiosity for caution and our creativity for complacency.

“The more we know, the less we question,” Kandor continued. “Curiosity is the space between what we know and what we want to know. We show up to work and often have no space. We have to do lists. And yet it is in that space that all of our growth and development happen.”

A Four-Step Process to Moving From Being an Expert to Being an Innovator

Kandor offered a four-step process she said any organization (or individual) can follow to forget their expertise and instead become an innovator.

Step One: Raise the Bar on What Gets a Yes

As part of all four steps, Kandor presented the question that is often asked, vs. the one that should be asked. 

Instead of asking, “Should I do this?” Kandor recommends asking, “How does this rank on a scale of 1-10?”

“This is a better decision-making framework,” Kandor said.

As an example, she said someone in a meeting might say, “We should go climb this mountain,” and that then becomes a yes/no question. Instead, the question of climbing that mountain should be rated 1-10 and then compared with all the other organizational mountain-climbing projects. 

“It helps us get better ideas out on the table and it helps everybody understand what assumptions you’re making about what a good idea looks like,” said Kandor. “So, if I want to unlock growth in my organization the first thing I want to do is get rid of those twos and threes that are taking up my time but are not my best use of resources.”

Step Two: Kill the Zombies

According to Kandor, any use of time and resources that doesn’t produce enough value in return are “Zombies.”

She showed a value map represented by a graphic with a vertical axis labelled Value Created and a horizontal axis labeled Effort Required. 

“Everything we do at work does not create value,” said Kandor. “That creates what I call zombies. This could be a project, it could be a rule you have in your organization, it could be a process that you have, and I promise you, if you’ve never been zombie hunting there is a meeting that takes too long and too many people are invited to that I promise is one of those. zombies that are a natural byproduct of success.”

The Amazon Example

One of the most successful practitioners of zombie killing is Amazon, according to Kandor, who cited projects that included the Amazon Fire Phone (a $170 million write-off), along with Amazon Destination, Amazon Wallet, Amazon Dash, Amazon Cloud Play, Amazon Test Drive, Amazon Endless, Amazon Restaurants, and more, all of which it invested in and shut down.

“More than any other organization Amazon has systemized the zombie hunting process,” Kandor stated. “Jeff Bezos taught that something can be good for your business, but not good enough.”

In all these cases, Kandor explained, Amazon killed ideas that were rated 1-5 and higher, and instead focused on the 8-10s. And it found value in the business lines it killed. Out of the Amazon Fire Phone came Alexa, and out of Amazon Maps came the tech the company now uses for its delivery platform.

In the credit union world, Kandor shared the example of Vancity Credit Union in Vancouver, B.C., which created a zombie-hunting initiative called “simplification” in which it reviewed all forms and processes. Vancity got rid of one-third of its processes/rules, and it reduced a third more. 

Step Three: Reimagine What’s Possible

“Often, as experts we limit our own growth because we see things in incremental terms,” said Kandor. “We see what exists today and think that’s the box we get to play in.”

Kandor urged credit unions to take one part of their business and ask what version 2.0 looks like. The best way to do that is to start from scratch with a blank piece of paper.

“The same things that worked for us today are the same things that keep us from going to the next place, and a blank sheet is the best place to start,” Kandor said.

She shared with her audience a photo of her computer which has on it a sticker that reads, “Day 1.” Every day is day one, she told her audience, suggesting that all of this applies to personal life as professional life.

Step Four: Create a Pit Crew

Kander said this is perhaps the most important step. 

The name for step four comes from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in the U.K. where after successful surgeries, children were still losing their lives. The hospital spent a decade trying everything to solve the issue, and Kandor said the hospital is a great example of “our own expertise getting in the way. It’s so hard to think outside that box.”

In the hospital’s case, two surgeons were watching a Formula 1 race and admiring the precision of the pit crews. Over objections from some at the hospital, the Ferrari pit crew was invited to come and watch the hospital’s processes, after which it put together a report that found the hospital was terrible at processes and especially transitions. Its recommendations led to a reduction in errors of 66%.

In this case, the takeaway lesson is that the question should not be, “How can I do this,” but instead, “Who can help me do this?”

“There are people who would love to be on your pit crew if you just let them,” said Kandor.

A Personal Mantra

Kandor closed by sharing her personal mantra, “Never goal alone.”

“We’re so used to putting our struggles on our own shoulders and don’t want to bother others, but there is help if we just choose to allow them to participate with us.”