Reflections on running an innovation workshop for bankers.

This week, I was invited by some top-notch colleagues (Andres Fontao and Fermin Bueno with a great recommendation from Dan Gertsacov) to work with executives from the top banks in Colombia by running a digital innovation workshop we called “Hacking Finance @ Next Bank Bogotá”.  I must say that I enjoyed myself immensely and was pleasantly surprised by the engagement I saw from the bankers.  Andres and Fermin worked with me on designing the workshop with group activities and interaction with real-world unbanked consumers.

It is evident even here in Colombia, where the banking industry makes some pretty nice profits, that global disruption is of deep concern to the banking industry.  In fact, this year, I’ve been working with a few corporate clients and have noticed a heightened interest in innovation and the whole startup phenomenon. Though this has made for some stimulating work, by far, the most satisfying experience of this year has been working with the companies that I advise and, in particular, working full-time with one of these (I need to write a post on this).

I agree that thinking that you have a handle on the future is a fool’s exercise.  That doesn’t mean that some haven’t predicted the future and gotten it right.  In fact, I remember my dad purchasing the amazing World Book Encyclopedia set (you can guess how long ago that was) in my home town of Reading, PA. Within one of the almanacs was a picture and description of a computerized “notebook” that I’d swear was incredibly close to today’s tablet computers such as the iPad. Decades later, I’m still astonished by that memory.

Though some predictions can be spot on (timing is still tricky), it’s those pesky non-linear events that can really throw you for a loop.  I’m talking about natural disasters, wars, financial crises, disruptive inventions and the like.  Even though we continue to observe as industry after industry (e.g., transportation, lodging, banking, etc.) becomes disrupted , I actually believe that some of these events could work to accelerate changes that are taking place at this very moment.

For instance, companies such as Uber and AirBnB are disrupting industries and impacting our daily lives at an unheard of pace. If a financial crisis were to occur, these companies, I believe, will experience negative, but also, positive effect as car ownership and hotel stays come under even more scrutiny by consumers.  In fact, Uber is already more valuable than Hertz and AirBnB is worth more than Hyatt. Hence, it should be clear that massive disruption is already happening, but what if the rate of change were to accelerate even more?

How likely are we to experience such a non-linear event in the near future?  I hope they are wrong, but more and more economists are pointing to not just bad, but actual catastrophic possibilities with respect to the US economy.  It’s not enough that the former Comptroller-General felt it his duty to warn the American public (captured in an amazing documentary), the former Labor Secretary, Robert Reich, also did something similar within his documentary highlighting the growing inequality within the country. The fact remains that the US is facing a mounting pile of debt and social issues which get tougher by the day and threaten to change it’s role on the world stage. 

In the end, if there is one constant today it is CHANGE. Not only are new, highly distributed technologies impacting business models, but external factors are making the situation even more fluid.  Seeing corporate executives (especially, from the banking industry) interested in exploring new ways to innovate is very telling.  If we do, indeed, experience a non-linear event in the near future, I’m sure this interest will turn into urgent action.

With respect to the workshop, we employed some methodologies from Lean Startup and tailored these to the financial industry. We were also able to have these bankers interview some unbanked consumers. I got some great feedback from these participants and recommend professionals from other industries to follow suit and join one of these workshops.  If you live in Colombia and are interested in attending a Lean Startup Weekend Workshop you can sign up in Bogota as well as Medellin.