How Banks (Can) Turn Into Startups
If there is one super-hyped word in banking these days it is: agile.
Every banking executive - from Ralph Hammers at UBS to JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon - loves to throw the word around. The consultants love to talk about it - the C-suite loves to throw it around.
And yet most of the world knows that banks are anything but agile - far from it.
The real key is for a banks to (really and truly) turn themselves into startups.
What does this mean, exactly - and how can they do it? Here are a few thoughts:
Find a feature
A great many startups began their journey to super growth by picking one single feature that set them apart from the rest. In the banking world, you would be hard-pressed to find any institution that really and truly stood out from its peers. Of course, a single feature can be a liability later on - but find the "killer feature" that differentiates you from the crowd is key for rapid growth.
Embrace destruction
Startups are growth companies - and their great advantage is to be fearless in diving into markets that seem impossible to penetrate. Think kamikaze style. This goes for the company itself - and even more so for it competition. Startups know that growth only comes by tearing down the old and building up the new. Banks hate even the thought of this. But in the end it is the only way.
Reimagine the market
By definition, banks operate in the financial services industry. This is, naturally, a heavily regulated field. But so was telecommunications - and yet Steve Jobs, a pioneer if there ever was one, realized that by pairing a mobile phone with a music player and a personal computer - he could reinvent a market. Banks have to do the same.
Slapping a new methodology like as agile development on an old and decrepit structure - like the proverbial new wine in old bottles - will never help banks break out of their rut.
Their only hope is to completely rethink their identity - and start (mentally at least) from the ground up.