Do Zombies sleep?:: bankers are ‘kept awake’ by fears of new crisis | Herald Scotland

This shouldn’t come as a great surprise…no, not the fact that bankers have a conscience (the article doesn’t go that far and I doubt the research would have obtained a believable response)!!!

We are ALL worried about the impact of a  “global recession” but banking has been in a cultural crisis for years. Financial and political “mismanagement” led to a financial crisis that, without decisive action, has created a Social crisis.

Now, finding a solution IS something that is worth losing sleep over! But, on the evidence of the last few years the answers will not come from the people who brought us here…at our expense.

Another global recession triggering a catastrophic banking crisis is keeping bankers awake at night, according to a survey of the world’s banking industry from the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI).

The main cause of anxiety is the eurozone crisis, with the shock of a euro collapse liable to hit banks not just in Europe but in all major regions of the world, says CSFI’s annual Banking Banana Skins survey, produced in association with PwC.

via Bankers are ‘kept awake’ by fears of new crisis | Herald Scotland.

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Transparency:: “the only lasting competitive advantage is extreme trust”

If TRANSPARENCY is viewed as a "threat" it presents itself as an OPPORTUNITY for competitors and new entrants.

Image by ronploof via Flickr

This message should really be ALL the incentive that the “managers” of tired old Institutions need to remind them that, before they determined that the function of their role was to secure individual wealth and power, it was to oversee fulfilment of the purpose(s) for which the organisation was first created.

Discharging that responsibility would be such a departure for some that it could amount to a “disruptive strategy”!

Extreme trust.  This may be the strongest strategy of all, because it makes it likely your customers themselves will want you to succeed. Being proactively trustworthy (we call it “trustable”) requires you to watch out for your customer’s interest even when your customer isn’t paying attention. For instance, if you try to buy something from iTunes that you already bought, they’ll remind you that you already own it. Ditto Amazon. Extreme trust like this engages people’s natural impulse to show empathy, transcending the commercial domain of monetary incentives and tapping into the social domain of friendship, sharing, and reciprocity. And extreme trust should be even easier for a physical store to earn, because most people find it easier to trust other people they come face to face with.

via The Only Lasting Competitive Advantage Is Extreme Trust | Fast Company.

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Risk Management:: we have one history but multiple futures – can we “fix” it?

OK, so, in Economics and Finance we hear a great deal about “models”. Despite the obvious and much written about, failings, great store is put in their accuracy and ability to predict…even though, we already KNOW that, meaningful prediction about future events, based upon past events and outcomes, IS NOT POSSIBLE! 

We are [still] in crisis and surrounded by increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity: most of it of our own making.  The need for CHANGE, to give us hope worth clinging to, is even more pressing. But…

…we can’t begin to rebuild trust, an industry or economies without reliable tools:

Financial and Political mismanagement, misinformation, manipulation and mis-selling brought us to this point and mere rhetoric about “change” cannot mask these facts!

TRUST needs a foundation: the failure of past models, techniques and tools tell us that, without TRANSPARENCY, we need evidence from those that claim the ability and desire to (re)build a RESILIENT and SUSTAINABLE future.

One in which the integrity of the entire “structure” is ROBUST from the bottom up, or inside out [i2o].

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WEF 2012: talking the talk…all the way to Dystopia

On paper a great annual event. Something that SHOULD have real “punch”…but what happens to all the “thought leadership” when the collective wisdom spills out into the real world? Simple: not a lot!

Insurance:: GIAS “Phase II”– turning threat into opportunity

I should pay Warren Buffett a royalty (not that he needs it) for excessive use of this phrase:

“be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy”

But few can doubt that we are paying the price for greed. Whether we are all more fearful could be debated but we are, certainly, financially, socially and environmentally  “poorer” for the experience. Hopefully, we are “wiser”!?

For obvious reasons the financial sector is fearful of what the future holds for them because of the implications of new “mechanisms” that are intended to avoid a repeat of financial meltdown. One thing for sure is that, as much of the cost of increased regulation, falling or unpredictable margins, etc. will be passed on to customers.

How hard a sell will that be for “reputationally damaged” institutions that have, knowingly, abused the trust they once enjoyed???

How much more attractive will their actions (and subsequent inaction) make, innovative propositions, from existing competitors and new entrants look?