Read more news from CEO Network. Attend CEO Network next year. Read another take on Taylor's speech at opensourcecu.com.

Makings of a Maverick
Why companies with the most original ideas win

November 14, 2006

By Mary Auestad Arnold

Even in an industry that's lost more money over its lifetime than it's made, it's possible for an individual player to succeed. The industry Bill Taylor describes as the "worst business in history" is the airline industry and its "crown jewel" is, of course, Southwest, a company Taylor calls the Granddaddy of all Mavericks. Mavericks are people or companies that shake up the status quo and challenge the powers-that-be.

"Southwest re-imagined what it's like to be in the airline business," Taylor told his opening general session audience at CUES' CEO Network yesterday in Carlsbad, Calif. Southwest thinks of itself not as in the airline business or the transportation business, but in the "freedom business." Its goal was to "democratize the skies" with no assigned seating or other perks.

Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company magazine and co-author of the new book Mavericks at Work, speaks at CUES' CEO Network.

What makes it different is the "value system, not the business strategy. It's not just a company; it's a cause, a mission, a purpose. This is burned into employees in the workplace," said Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company magazine and co-author of the new book Mavericks at Work.

"We are living in the age of disruption," he continued, and "you can't do big things anymore if you're content with just doing things a little better. You must stand for something truly unique."

ING Direct, an Internet-only savings bank, is an example of this in the financial world. It offers a small number of very simple products, yet it is an incredible economic juggernaut, producing $200 million of profits last year, all with less than 1,000 employees, Taylor said.

ING Direct offers high-yield savings accounts with the goal of leading "America back to saving." So far it has attracted 4 million Internet-savvy customers." Because of its focus, ING says "no to business opportunities that traditional bankers would say yes to," Taylor explained.

Another financial institution that stands out from the crowd is 20-year-old Commerce Bank. It doesn't compete on rates but tries to make its 400 East Coast branches fun, Taylor noted.

"They said, 'let's think of ourselves as a high-end retailer that deals in money; let's create a banking store that's so much fun people will love coming to our stores. Let's keep our banks open when people want to use them," for example, all day Sunday.

The branches are bright, cheerful, fun and full of colors. Every Friday is called Red Friday and employees, who call themselves "Commies," dress in red and are eligible for prizes. Red Fridays have been so successful that Commerce Bank now encourages customers to wear red the last Friday of each month and compete for their own prizes.

Fun is not Commerce Bank's only distinguishing characteristic, however. It also looks for "opportunities where most banks see costs to be cut." For example, instead of spurning children's coin deposits, each branch has installed "penny arcades," featuring a Penny Arcade character. The machines "spit out the equivalent of an ATM ticket" which can be redeemed for cash at the counter. Transactions per month: 600,000.

Instead of looking at the coins as an expense, Commerce says "let's enhance that relationship" with those kids and their parents. "Traditional banks don't see any ROI on it, no intrinsic ROI, on the Penny Arcades," Taylor explained.

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