Gently, firmly… urgently

Welcome to banking.

The future is here. And it’s on fire. Here’s what I want you to do about it.

We will alienate you, patronise you, make your life difficult and put our future in your hands.

Have a nice day.

This sounds mad, right?

That anyone would contemplate doing this… sounds mad, yes?

We can all agree it sounds mad?

Good. Good. I am very happy we are aligned.

So as we don’t have to spend any time defending that this is actually what happens, we can spend all our energy on why… on earth… this happens. And why we should change it. And how we can do that.

And look. This is a blog. I can get away with making it a bit longer occasionally (Tanya says longer pieces are absolutely OK, provided longer means a few minutes more… not a few weeks more… so we will have to be snappy here). This can be an essay. It can’t be a book… and a full-on manual is what we need… but needs must, folks, needs must.

OK, so. Let’s keep it tight.

Years ago I told you we are the insurance policy the corporates’ better demons take out on their future selves. It’s probably the most accurate thing I have ever said in my life. And nobody disagreed. Which means none of us harbour any illusions as to what we have been tasked with.

Which is good. Saves us word count. We will need it later. We are on the clock here.

And for the last few years I have written (a lot) about how we are appointed… then resisted, charged… then tripped up, anointed… then doubted. And again none of you went ‘hold up, no way, that’s not what it’s like for me’. So more words saved. Moving on. Places to go, things to do, people to see, white rabbits to catch up with.

OK. So on to the hard questions.

Why this happens.

Why it’s not good enough.

Why we should change it.

And what I want you to do about it.

I am on the clock here folks so it will be a few words on each. I need you to write the poetry yourselves. I know you are good for it.

OK so the easy one first:

Why this happens.

Because.

Literally, that’s it.

It happens because of muscle memory. Because we created a space for ‘new’ but we didn’t bother to change all the things that could kill ‘new’. Because we cleared a little corner of the estate for this… you… whatever initiative you represent (from ‘innovation’ to a fully managed service, my younger self is crushed to know the mechanics don’t change when the ‘thing’ becomes bigger or more important)… but we didn’t look at the habitat… we didn’t think about the known predators… we didn’t think about nourishment, oxygen and… you know… whatever not getting eaten at the waterhole entails. Good luck with it all.

Why should we change that? I mean seriously. I am not even going to answer that.

Oh no, actually I will. Because I see the glint in your eye and I don’t want you to think – for a single moment – that the reason we will change this is ‘for all the little children’ and all the people who feel unappreciated. Nice try. Go away. No.

We should change it because it is an utter waste of money, time (which is money), velocity (which is money), creativity (which is a lot of money) and momentum (which is literally all the money).

If you don’t care yet, you are in the wrong job. Capitalism is disappointed.

All of capitalism is let down.

And now to the last question. The best question. The hardest question. The question we have all been waiting for and all know the answer to.

What do I want you to do about it?

Everything.

All of it.

I expect you to do exactly what you’ve been tasked with… and resist.

I expect you to play the game… and set the playground on fire.

I expect you to take the timid players by the hand… and crush their knuckles with your handshake.

You are the insurance policy, right? The better demons? The future self?

Well.

The future is here. And it’s on fire.

Don’t wake anyone up too suddenly. Heart attacks won’t help. But you know. Gently-gently can go with firmly-firmly, it turns out. The insurance policy is up. It’s time we settled.

This isn’t easy. We haven’t exactly done our homework diligently over the years. It’s going to be hard work, done quickly, under sub-optimal conditions.

But if anyone can do this, it’s you.

#LedaWrites

Leda Glyptis is FinTech Futures’ resident thought provocateur – she leads, writes on, lives and breathes transformation and digital disruption.

She is a recovering banker, lapsed academic and long-term resident of the banking ecosystem. She is chief client officer at 10x Future Technologies.

All opinions are her own. You can’t have them – but you are welcome to debate and comment!

Follow Leda on Twitter @LedaGlyptis and LinkedIn.