Dean's Letter

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A Welcome to Our Summit from Our Deans

Imagine, if only for a minute, an institution of higher learning – but that's not what defines it. Its building blocks are subtle. It starts by both uplifting and challenging all its stakeholders to find and practice their best. Its people wake up excited to come to work, to achieve incredible things. It sustains a culture of excellence – excellence that continuously produces world–changing insights, imparts them via impassioned teaching, and supports the personal and professional growth of all its employees. It is a place that truly changes the way people think and act.

Transformational change is its calling card. This is why it's at the center of a vibrant intellectual community. Its faculty, students, partners, staff, alumni, wherever they might go in the world, are never too far from it – because its culture, ideas and impact are a source of lifelong renewal. It is always ahead of curve on what really matters in the world – and the line between "it" and "the world" is increasingly blurred, as its impact reaches far and wide. In fact, it's so successful at its mission that the rest of the world wants to either join or emulate its success.

Does this sound compelling to you? If so, how do we get there? A process for deciding something so foundational needs to be both broad-based and action-oriented. While that seems like a tall order, fortunately there is a Weatherhead innovation that does just this – the Appreciate Inquiry summit. Practiced in organizations from US Navy, Apple, Cleveland Clinic, and the United Nations to businesses around the world, the summit works by gathering a broad constellation of stakeholders over a multi–day period to translate what we know about our strengths into actionable recommendations for the journey ahead. Cindy Stull, the Chief Revenue Officer of Dealer Tire and a veteran of many successful AI summits, will co–lead our work with Professor David Cooperrider when we gather on Weatherhead's campus later on this fall.

Our strategic plan's assessment of the challenges and opportunities before us remains current. Higher education is indeed facing a paradigm shift, driven by the technological and social challenges of our time. The big data revolution in decision making across organizations has led to rapid proliferation in quantitative technologies and tools, breakthroughs in artificial intelligence being only the latest. The sheer scale and complexity of the decarbonization and regenerative economy transition is upending whole industries while creating unprecedented opportunity for sustainable value creation and industry–leading innovation. In parallel, the human dimension of management is rapidly evolving. In the specific case of higher education, the impacts of the pandemic have combined to demand greater flexibility in how we teach, opportunities in experiential learning here and abroad, greater personalization of studies with meaning and purpose, and the speed in which degrees can be completed.

We will not be able to create a 100–point plan for every challenge of our time, nor should we try. We can, however, build a truly resonant organization – which, if we are successful, will be that much better positioned to evolve with and capitalize on the unique circumstances of the day. We will start with our role and purpose, harness the things that make Weatherhead exceptional, and use the same out–of–the–box thinking we instill in our students– reaching beyond the current to seize this moment.

When you look around the room you will see faculty from every program. You will see staff and directors from our various centers. You will see students and alumni. And you will see our corporate and community partners. This whole system summit empowers us to shape our future vision together, setting the course for the next decade and beyond.

Thank you for being a part of the Weatherhead family. We hope you're as excited as we are about what we can achieve together.

See you on November 2^nd,

JB and Andrew.

JB Silvers
Interim Co–Dean
Weatherhead School of Management

Andrew Medvedev
Interim Co–Dean
Weatherhead School of Management