A Future you can BANK on

What can Alberta, ATB Financial and the NDP learn from Calgary's failed Secondary Housing Initiative and the Philharmonic?

There is a growing population today who were born plugged into the net. Being interconnected to the world is a way of life that is changing the face of business forever. One mainstay institution being massively impacted is banking.

As notorious robber Slick Willie Sutton is reported to have said “I rob banks because that’s where the money is.” Today he might have a different response given that funds can be secured from a variety of sources anywhere in the world with the simple click of a mouse.

However, as alluded to in previous articles, just throwing money at problems will not fix an economy. We cannot spend ourselves out of our current problems with money borrowed from the future. As in any crisis we first need to stop digging and be clear about what the problem is - not just what we think it is. There is a great deal of time, money and effort spent solving symptoms not underlying challenges.

Once we are certain about the problem then we can create the best solution possible given our available resources and time constraints. It does not have to be pretty or elegant. It just needs to be the best available option to move us in the right direction. The key third step however is to fully commit to making it happen. Everyone involved has to buy in and get in step. As in the philharmonic it only takes one instrument out of hundreds that is off key or out of sync to throw the entire production off. Of course it is still vital to monitor and measure our progress religiously so we can adjusted to new data and changes. Large institutions are famous for having policies and procedures to fix problems that no longer exist and which have now become problems themselves. 

Several years ago Calgary City Council recognized that the city's substantial shortage of affordable housing was a serious issue. However there was no commitment to a solution. There was no coordination with builders or home owners. Many understood that without doubt secondary suites were the fastest and least expensive path to creating affordable housing because they maximized existing infrastructure at no additional cost. Individual suites can be created in few months at $20-50 per sq ft. - a hundred or more built simultaneously and independently. No other option comes close to this speed or cost efficiency. Plus it has the added benefit of helping individual home owners fund their mortgages in tough times.

Yet instead of developing a dynamic plan that would create diverse, inexpensive accommodations across a variety of communities the city floundered in the details and worked at cross purposes to their own goal. Without a commitment to the broad stroke solution hundreds of hours were needlessly wasted debating each suite, case by case, drastically slowing and undermining the process. As a result the response ground to a standstill with little problem resolution despite a decade of debate and effort.

Our current economic crisis is similar. Alberta badly needs more revenue. We need more jobs. We need more B2B commerce to stimulate recovery. We need a more robust value added sales model in getting more Alberta products to market at higher prices. Like Secondary Suites the fastest and most economical growth comes from simultaneously developing hundreds of small, self contained modules – small businesses – to meet a wide range of diverse Alberta needs at once. 

Hundreds of small business owners working passionately and tirelessly on their own projects for their own benefit will generate far more growth and economic velocity than stimulus packages to large corporations struggling to survive. In the process hundreds of new jobs will be created and millions of dollars generated. The power of many amplifies the success of all. However there still must be an architectural plan to help guide this growth and focus the results to achieve a specific unified outcome. For an orchestra to work there must be a balance of instruments. They must work together not drown each other out.

Building an effective economy is similar to building that harmonious sounding orchestra. Each musician brings their individual talent and personal instrument but someone must still write a common score and act as conductor. There must be the right number of violins to flutes to percussion. Otherwise it is just a cacophony of sounds regardless of the skill and talent of the individuals. Unfortunately, like the City of Calgary’s affordable housing project, no one has stepped to the plate to conduct our economy into a successful opus or symphony. As mentioned before why is Alberta selling peas at $500 a tonne when extracted protein isolate can sell for $15,000? Why are we shipping live cattle when the market is buying beef?

ATB’s new campaign to “Amplify Your Business” is an exciting start to this architectural plan. The beginnings of a melody. Obviously as a bank ATB offers basic financial solutions such as loans, accounts and lines of credit. But more importantly through their new emerging entrepreneurial centers ATB also offers advice, training, coaching and encouragement. By partnering and investing in the success of their clients they can build small accounts into much larger ones and reduce risk. Their online presence states that “The dream doesn’t happen overnight. But if you’re willing to put in the work, so are we. ATB is THE bank for entrepreneurs and your success matters to us. See how we can help you meet your goals.” An exciting promise. A needed vision. Hopefully measured results will be forthcoming and others will join in.

A fleet of small businesses do not have the luxury of 10 year business plans or comprehensive management models. They do not have layers of MBA trained managers and executives preaching Lean growth practices or Scrum team meetings. But they can take advantage of these ingredients delivered by others thus being great by choice and by their nature embrace the chaos and uncertainty of change. They know their Why. It is what they live and breathe. They need help with How.

So what is the problem? What do we need? More education? More discussion? More Agreement? Or simply the will of key people in government and influential institutions to do what they need to do to get the results they say they want? The results we all need.

In a recent blog Seth Godin stated that “ignorance is rarely the problem. The challenge is that people don't always care about what you care about not because they don't know what you know but that they don't believe what you believe.” So the challenge is not to inform but to engage, teach and communicate in a way that shares emotion values and beliefs. Seth always has a great way of turning a phrase.

This is the noble adventure that ATB is a part of. An economic movement that can save Alberta. A cause worth joining. In fact it’s the only thing that can save us in the long term. A vibrant, diverse, value-added economy not relying on a single commodity. Now we just need to find a conductor, pick a song and get Alberta’s SMEs singing from the same song sheet. But we need to start now. We can't wait for another election and the united Right to do this and the Federal government to do that. We already have a Ministry of Economic Development. Perhaps we need one for Entrepreneurial Growth. Perhaps that is a good next start. We build the supports for what we really want to have happen. That is probably the most exciting thing ATB is doing. They are re-imagining their entire company with new positions and new responsibilities. In this case if we build it then it may actually come. Like the congregation that came together to pray for rain but only one person brought an umbrella.

There will need to be resources committed. Guaranteed loans for example is a great way to create shared risk. But it does not have to be money. It can be access to the things money is used for. We can make use of office and warehouse space that is currently sitting empty. We can share legal, accounting and internet services - again tapping into a large reserve currently idle and non productive. We can start creating all of this starting tomorrow, not with another billion dollar deficit, but simply with a plan of cooperative ownership, forward paying incentives, and deferred profit sharing. People will work tirelessly to accomplish great tasks given a little guidance and tools. Look at what Calgary did during the flood. Come Hell or High Water we set the bar high and accomplished miracles.

Remember the man who fell from the roof of a 70 story building? All the way down people could hear him saying “so far so good.” We cannot be a province that simply survives in the moment. Its not the fall that kills but the sudden inevitable stop at the end. Without a serious, focused and committed plan any endeavour undertaken is by design left to chance and likely destined to fail. Whether it is an individual small business, an affordable housing initiative, an entrepreneurial engagement campaign or the economic recovery of a province.  We start with the plan and commit to a result. We don't educate an audience we inspire a movement.

The sudden stop at the bottom of an economic free fall does not have to be a certainty. As Morpheus explained “Some rules can be bent. Others broken” Five years from now Alberta could be basking in the reality of its new revitalized economy and there will be people and companies, like ATB, that can stand up and proudly say that "YES – we were part of that that. We made that. This is our Alberta."