In credit unions, strategy can feel like art—different each year, built from intuition, colored by market guesswork, and driven by a committee of well-meaning collaborators. But what if your credit union approached strategy not as bespoke artwork, but as lean, high-performance architecture? Repeatable, disciplined, data-driven, and—yes—bold.
In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Michael Mankins lays out a compelling case for “Lean Strategy Making.” The premise? Strategy should become a standardized business process, just like lending, member service, or risk. The goal is simple: reduce waste, increase speed, improve decisions, and deliver better results.
Strategic inconsistency is the hidden killer of performance. According to Bain’s research of 350 global firms, 25% of strategic decisions were suboptimal in hindsight, over 45% were too slow to capture value, and nearly a third of business results fell short because strategies were vague, conflicting, or just incomplete. If this were your loan portfolio, you’d panic. But in strategy? Too often, we tolerate the mess.
It’s time for a credit union reset.
From Vision to Victory: A Lean Strategy Process
Lean strategy makes the case for a simple, structured flow: set your performance ambition, create and act on a strategic backlog, and monitor business performance relentlessly. Here’s how to rethink your playbook:
1. Set an Ambition Worth Chasing
This isn’t about budget targets or negotiated goals. It’s about a bold, transformative ambition—one that stretches well beyond today’s capabilities and inspires breakthrough thinking. Sound familiar? It’s how 10X credit unions operate. One Midwest 10XCU™ created its three-year ambition not around assets, but around member lives changed. Then it engineered growth to fund and deliver that value.
Compare your ambition to a multi-year outlook of current strategy. If your trajectory and your ambition are too close, your goal’s too safe. Create separation. Ambition without discomfort is just a to-do list.
2. Build and Use a Strategic Backlog
Strategy isn’t a one-time annual retreat; it’s a rolling set of priorities. Capture the most pressing strategic, operational, and financial challenges—and prioritize them. Two criteria matter most: value at stake and urgency on the critical path. A high-growth 10XCU™ in the West calls this backlog its “Strategic Sprints”—a rolling 90-day slate of big bets, built into weekly exec briefings.
Each issue in the backlog should tie directly to decisions that must be made. Vague aspirations don’t cut it. You’re not just asking, “Should we expand into new markets?” You’re asking, “What’s the most efficient and member-focused way to establish presence in Market X, and what does success look like in Year One?”
3. Decide Boldly and Transparently
Lean strategy relies on a two-step cadence: facts and alternatives, followed by choices and commitments. The best credit unions know that strategy starts with diagnosis—what’s really holding us back? And, what are the genuine alternatives? Too often, strategy reviews are a performance—what Mankins calls the “Goldilocks options”—one too soft, one too crazy, and the one we were always going to pick.
That’s not strategy. That’s showmanship. Real options mean risk, trade-offs, and potential 10X rewards.
Then, make the choice—and commit. Resource it. Align it. Publish it. Strategy without resourcing is just a wish.
From Reviews to Realignment: A Better Way to Monitor
What happens after you make the call? Too often, credit unions reduce performance reviews to backward-looking budget discussions. Did we hit the numbers? What went wrong? Let’s fix it.
Lean strategy flips that model. Performance reviews should be about future alignment. Are we still on the right course? Have the facts changed? Are we ahead—or behind—because of execution, assumptions, or the market?
Take a page from Amgen’s “performance dialogues,” where each executive presents not only variances but proposed solutions. They don’t stop at “why we missed”—they ask, “What’s our new move?” And when results exceed expectations, they investigate why—so they can do more of it.
Credit unions can adopt this rigor, too. Create standard metrics that blend lead and lag indicators. Track cause, not just result. And when a market shifts or a bet falls short, move that issue back to the backlog and make a new decision. Strategy is a loop, not a ladder.
What This Means for Credit Unions
You want to grow. You want to serve more members. You want to outpace banks, fintechs, and complacency. That means building strategy as a muscle—not a memo.
So, yes—standardize your strategy process. But don’t play it safe. Build structure to make bolder moves, faster. That’s what your members deserve. That’s what credit union leadership demands. And that’s what it takes to be a 10XCU™.
Jeff Rendel, CSP, is a strategic advisor to credit unions nationwide. Through his 10XCU system, he helps high-performing credit unions turn growth plans into growth engines. Reach him at jeff@jeffrendel.com or 951.310.7275.