Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

We live in an age of specialization.  As risks, regulations, technology, products and services multiply, more and more employees will be responsible for an ever-smaller slice of the pie. 

There are benefits to specialization.  Workers with very specific skill sets can do amazing things in small spaces.  Think of a scalpel, compared to a butter knife.  

But are specialists preferable to generalists?  

Here are five reasons to love generalists.

1. It is hard to surprise a generalist.  A generalist may not have a deep understanding of every issue.  But they track a high number of them.  If an issue evolves, the generalist has a good shot of seeing the change.
2. Generalists evade "Specialist Bias."  Ask a litigation attorney to review a case file of an employee about to be terminated, and he or she will highlight every conceivable risk related to employee lawsuits.  Ask a fraud specialist to review your policies and procedures, and you'll find that you're lacking in fraud-related internal controls.  Specialists make a living in finding problems related to their speciality.  There's nothing wrong with that, but organizations have limited resources.  Everything cannot be a priority.  Specialists often see their area as priority for everyone.
3. Generalists connect the dots.  Often, developments in one area have a huge effect on another. Those in specialized silos are more likely to miss the connetion.  How many times has a major membership outreach been launched, only to find out later that no one thought to consult/warn membership services? It happens more than you'd like to think.
4. Generalists make good decisions.  Gathering data from multiple areas and knowing how a decision will affect all aspects of an organization leads to good decisions.  
5. Generalists can specialize when needed. Nothing prevents a generalist from diving into the weeds when necessary. But it is hard to dig into a problem when you never saw it develop.

So, long live the generalist.  What you give up in specialized knowledge, you make up for in perspective.

And I'll leave you with this question:

Who are your credit union's generalists? What can you do to support and nurture them?

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Speaking of generalists, who is tracking compliance issues for your shop?  I'm biased, but NAFCU's compliance school is a great way to support them.  Especially this year. Go here for more details.