President's Message

Heraclitus and Instagram

We have all heard the expression that goes something like, “the only constant in life is change.” This general concept comes from the brilliant mind of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. But he probably did not say these actual words. Heraclitus’s wisdom has been digested through the years and through the ears of the millions of people who have grappled with change in one form or another. Consider one of his remaining writings: 

Everything changes and nothing remains still; and you cannot step twice into the same stream. 

Something about those words reminds us that perhaps everything is a stream — seemingly fixed in location but actually moving both quickly and slowly. The flowing water changes with every second and, assuming the Grand Canyon is no hoax, given enough time, the current can cut the soil into a majestic canyon. 

A short Google search will reveal that perhaps another constant of modern life is that social media churns out endlessly changing translations and interpretations of history’s great philosophers. Many of us are quick to blame social media for offering an unregulated platform for uninformed thinkers. Some of us, in a digital knee-jerk, denounce or criticize these individuals for trying on their thinking like wearing new clothes out of the store without sharing a selfie with trusted friends. But what about the millennial who unwittingly breathes new life into old wisdom by twisting Socrates on Instagram? Is that thinking any less valuable? Could it be that this is the modern method of bringing relevance to ancient thinking and channeling it into our current consciousness? At one point in time, every human being has resisted change in our lives. We have all cast suspicion upon changes that bump us out of our comfortable grooves. But could it be that suspicion of others is just less scary than facing our changing surroundings and walking down a new road? 

The economic impact of this global pandemic has laid bare one particular truth across the financial services sector (including their respective trade associations): Change is not only coming, it is here. “You cannot step in the same river twice.” Water constantly flows through our streams and the soil is shifting. We can no longer expect to recruit new members with the same methods we used to build our existing membership because millennials are not listening to our traditional messaging. We can no longer find the same revenues from the same products. Lower interest loans are just not enough of a sell any more. Just like the Colorado river transformed rock into the Grand Canyon, we all have to stop searching for the old groove and instead walk the new road as we cut a new path through the rocky soil.  

So what does this mean for your credit union? Are you (to paraphrase a classic Latin expression) holding a wolf by its ears (“auribus teneo lupum”)? This phrase draws our current conundrum into clarity: our industry faces the unsolved challenge of major societal, economic, and demographic shifts, but we will face new challenges no matter which path we take. Do we let go of the wolf’s ears and risk getting eaten or do we hold on for dear life in the hopes we can eliminate the threat? Not every problem has a solution—but we can’t stop trying to find one. 

And chronic change can make us feel even worse. Sometimes, in the middle of great change, the trauma of flux feels like the new normal. I cannot count the times during this pandemic that I have thrown up my hands and said, “When will this ever get better???” But we tend to forget this in the comfortable times. When life is going great for us, we lapse into complacency and try to avoid change by keeping everything the same as it ever was. Heraclitus knew better. No one steps in the same river twice.  

Mergers are happening already, consolidations will continue, and consumer choice will shrink. Some credit unions will grow and others will cease to exist. Your League faces the same state of change. Across our system, leagues actively wrestle with how to continue meeting the needs of those that love the old stream and those that want to hike the new canyon. Connecticut is not walking a new path beside the old stream. It is blazing a new trail through the canyon. A trail that will lead us to long-term independence and financial sustainability. It may feel different and even uncomfortable, but that’s only because the route is unfamiliar. 

With leagues and credit unions alike facing similar inflection points, now is the time for us to forge a stronger bond and weather the changes together. We thank you for continuing to place your faith in us and look forward to a prosperous future for Connecticut’s Credit Unions.