“The biggest threat to banking is not what you think. It’s not AI, it’s not the regulatory or rate environment, and it’s most certainly not fintech. A look inside the four walls of an individual financial institution is the first place to look if you want to find the industry’s true threat. That is where the sleeping monster lives. Its name? Indecision.”
So starts last week's article in The Financial Brand titled: “Why Indecision May be Banking’s No. 1 Problem, and How to Defeat It,” and as is often the case, I couldn’t agree more. I can say this with certainty because I’ve experienced it often, working with community bank leaders on leveraging technology. The article goes on to say this: “While it may be easy to point the finger at the C-suite as the greatest source of indecision, it is this writer’s opinion that banking is still (though hopefully not forever) plagued by the "we’ve always done it that way" legacy mentality. This may be the worst source of decision paralysis as it robs the C-suite of the ability to make decisions.”
While I agree that “paralysis through over analysis” is real, I think that the challenge, in the end, stems from a challenge a bit more difficult to address; not taking a more holistic view of tech adoption. That view, in a nutshell, demands treating tech adoption not as “purchase and implementation,” but as organizational change.
Backing up a bit, we all know that the banking industry, as always, faces ever-evolving challenges. Customer expectations are changing rapidly, non-traditional competitors are emerging, and the regulatory environment is constantly shifting. To meet these challenges, banks are investing heavily in digital transformation. Yet many initiatives stall or underperform. In fact, only 30% of banks that have undergone a digital transformation report successfully implementing their digital strategy, and the majority fall short of their stated objective. A common mistake is not fully involving all stakeholders in the development of the strategy and blueprint.”1
Technology adoption is not simply about selecting software or upgrading infrastructure. It is about bringing people together, aligning goals, and ensuring that every stakeholder sees value in the change. Building consensus is not easy, but it is the critical foundation for successful tech adoption. What can banks do to get there?
1. Recognize That Digital Transformation Is Organizational Change
Bank leaders often make the mistake of treating digital initiatives as purely technical projects. Employees, not just systems, must adapt. This requires change management strategies that focus on communication, transparency, and engagement. C-suite executives, mid-level managers, and front-line staff should all understand not only what is changing but why it matters. Without this human-centered approach, any new technology adoption risks underperformance at best, complete failure at worst.
2. Identify and Engage All Stakeholders
Too often, organizations equate stakeholders with end users. In reality, stakeholders include anyone affected by the adoption. That means employees, compliance officers, customers, and even vendor partners.
By casting a wide net, leaders can surface potential friction points early and align expectations. Engaging employees in the discovery phase improves adoption and productivity. When change feels like something happening with people rather than to them, the likelihood of buy-in increases dramatically. This also helps manage tradeoffs. Not every stakeholder will benefit equally, and priorities may conflict. Transparent engagement minimizes friction down the road.
3. Speak the Same Language Across the Organization
Banking organizations are complex, with different departments using different vocabularies and measuring success differently. Operations may focus on efficiency, marketing on customer engagement, IT on integration, and finance on ROI. Miscommunication is inevitable unless leaders establish a shared vocabulary.
For example, a new content management system (CRM) may seem like a win for marketing, but could create integration headaches for sales if it doesn’t align with the CRM. Leaders must frame proposed technologies in terms of their impact to the entire organization, ensuring that stakeholders across every operational area of the bank understand how the change supports the broader business goals.
4. Define Clear and Agreed-Upon Measures of Success
Consensus cannot be built if different teams define success differently. Is success measured by reduced processing time, increased digital adoption rates, or improved compliance reporting? If one team expects a 50% efficiency gain while another expects 80%, someone is bound to be disappointed.
For this reason, shared KPIs—in the form of quantifiable measures that everyone agrees upon—must be established to track progress. These metrics should be monitored and reported consistently creating accountability, along with a roadmap that can become the “single source of truth” for adjustments down the road.
5. Guard Against “Shiny Object Syndrome”
In a sector where new technologies emerge daily, stakeholders can easily fall victim to shiny object syndrome (SOS). Chasing the latest innovation without clear goals leads to wasted resources and unfinished projects. The antidote is discipline: setting measurable, achievable objectives and evaluating technologies against those criteria. Stakeholders must resist distractions and avoid the temptation to be derailed by the “next best’ solution.
6. Use User Stories to Connect Business Needs with Technology
User stories are a simple but powerful tool for bridging the gap between business needs and technical solutions. Put simply, they answer three key questions: Who are the users, what must happen to achieve outcomes, and why is this change a priority? For example: “As a loan officer, I want to automate document verification so I can process applications faster and improve customer satisfaction.”
These simple statements of goals by stakeholders guide the process, highlight priorities, and help articulate desired outcomes in easy-to-understand language. They help keep consensus grounded in real user needs.
7. Transform User Stories into Use Cases
Once stories are gathered, they should be distilled into concrete use cases, that is, self-contained scenarios that include goals, stakeholder parameters, and measurable outcomes.
Prioritizing use cases ensures that teams focus on the initiatives that deliver the most business value. Short-term cases aligned with 1- to 3-year goals can move forward quickly, while long-term cases provide a vision for future investment.
Building a Culture of Consensus
Consensus is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing practice that must be embedded in a bank’s culture. That means fostering inclusivity, collaboration, and a willingness to learn from both employees and external vendors. Ultimately, successful digital transformation isn’t just about technology—it’s about people. By treating transformation as organizational change, and taking the above-mentioned steps, banks can create user consensus, make better-informed decisions more expediently, and reduce the risk of an unsuccessful solution purchase.
Bank Marketing Center
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Want to learn more about what we can do for your community bank and your marketing efforts? You can start by visiting bankmarketingcenter.com. Then, feel free to contact me directly by phone at 678-528-6688 or via email at nreynolds@bankmarketingcenter.com. As always, I welcome your thoughts.
1McKinsey. Why most digital banking transformations fail—and how to flip the odds. April 11, 2023.