CAUTION: The Road Ahead Has Curves
I got my driver’s license on the day of my 16th birthday. Only 43 days later, I caused a fender bender at an intersection. Naturally, my parents questioned my underdeveloped skills and ability to focus but thankfully footed the bill to fix my car. Twenty days after I got my motorcycle license, I took a curve too fast and crashed my Harley in a ditch. I questioned my own skills and ability, but this time I had to foot the bill to fix the bike. It was an expensive mistake!
In both instances, my lack of experience caused the problem. Many people told me to learn from my mistake, practice, and keep focus. One piece of advice that sticks out in my head is to never drive/ride beyond my skill level. That was eye opening because I realized I had taken on higher levels of risk too early into my learning curve—and that proved to be costly.
The most valuable advice I received was to get back up and keep going. As we ride through the first quarter of 2018, we are all learning how to navigate the map of new and amended rules such as HMDA, TRID, and the Military Lending Act. This can certainly be intimidating and may deter us from offering specific products and services because implementing any new procedure increases the risk of mistakes and regulatory scrutiny. And yes, this may cause fender benders along the way.
But keep going! Stick with it, continue to learn, and practice. Consider how much risk your financial institution should take on during its learning curve. As employees get fully trained and monitoring of new procedures reflects fewer and fewer errors over time, you can go farther and faster as your experience reduces the risk.
Mistakes will happen, some more costly than others. But learn, monitor your progress, and keep going! Soon enough, your institution will be taking curves at just the right speed. If you need some experienced help, we are here for you; just let us know.
