Seth Godin said about change: “The largest enemy of change and leadership isn’t a ‘no,’ it’s a ‘not yet.’ ‘Not yet’ is the safest way to forestall change. THINK 17 is a few days away. Time to change. Time to transform into a digital powerhouse. Time to say ‘Yes.’ Enjoy these stories of the day while you are getting ready for 4 days of transformative thinking: Imagine this: Digital Transformation is improving regulatory exams. "It’s time for financial institutions to envision their own benefits from digital transformation. Not only can you improve member experience and retention, but you also can increase operational efficiency and reduce costs. In its study, “Finding Your Digital Sweet Spot,” McKinsey found that among 10 major industries, including retail banking, focusing member interactions in digital channels and automating back-office processes cut the total cost base by more than 9%, resulting in average bottom-line growth of 36% – no matter what the industry is. And credit unions’ cost savings were on the high end, averaging 20%." Can Challenger Fintech Banks achieve scale? "A characteristic of the technology industry is that only two or three companies normally gain the massive scale to succeed. This should serve as a precedent study for challenger banks as they will always need to innovate to maintain a ‘feature-based’ competitive advantage over traditional banks. But in reality, only a few companies are likely to achieve the needed customer volume and deposit base to leverage their cost advantage to drive sustainable scale and long term growth." Asking the right questions can frame a successful transformation. "Albert Einstein once reportedly said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I knew the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” Einstein knew he had to understand an issue deeply before addressing it in order for his solution to have the most meaningful impact. You need to overcome the core, often hidden problem in your work — not just the visible stumbling block." Three reasons your strategy is too complicated. "Strategists are the scaffold builders, we build the framework upon which the creative work can then flourish. And because the strategist often feels judged more on the strategic output than creative output it can be hard not to show everyone just how clever all of your thinking is: the stats, the studies, the quotes. But they’re how you got there, not where you ended up. If you removed them what would happen?? The psychological importance of wasting time. "At the end of the day, all of us have the urge to while away time flicking through a magazine, walking around the block, or simply doing nothing. We should embrace these moments, and see them as what they are: time well spent.?" We'll see you at THINK 17.