NIB's coming of age

Thirty five years of age is, for a human being, typically a time for some reflection. The most important part of the educational phase is behind you, family life has most likely changed in one way or another, and decades of professional life still lie ahead. This gives rise to different expectations and plans for the future.

For an organisation like NIB, after 35 years, routines are well established, the organisation runs smoothly and, barring any major crisis, the orientation of activities is not subject to any question. The old slogan “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is easily accepted. Should this stage really pass without any reflection?

It is true that a 35th anniversary does not, as such, require any special measures – in case the necessary reflections are part of the organisation’s everyday life. But we should ask ourselves whether they really are. Are we following the changes in the outside world and constantly assessing their implications for our activities? Are we also adapting our activities accordingly? These are necessary preconditions for an organisation such as NIB to continue to make a difference and ensure that it contributes to the targets set by its owners.

During the last few years NIB has attempted to, on the one hand, assess how it best can use its relative advantage-good access to long-term finance-in order to complement the functioning of the financial markets, while, on the other hand, ensure that this takes place by introducing a framework for assessing our activities against that background. These attempts have clearly affected our thinking as well as our activities.

But this is not enough. We should also make sure our innovative capacity is part of the organisational setup as well as the organisational culture. In an organisation which relies on human capital, the creation of new thoughts and ideas must be stimulated at all levels. All are experts in their own fields, and they are therefore best placed to identify possibilities for development. For that to take place, they will have to be prepared to take a step back and to “think outside the box” from time to time.

Being open to innovations and constantly reassessing our performance, we’ll be open to changes and challenges of the next 35 years. This would help NIB contribute even more to fulfilling the needs of our stakeholders.