Transformative solutions to the deepest societal challenges — that’s what WashU’s strategic plan “Here and Next” aims to advance. As a professor of strategy, I find this vision statement to be a compelling one. It articulates the university’s purpose, identity and portfolio. In other words, this vision tells us who we are, why we’re here and what we do. Simple, clear, compelling — just like any good strategy should be.
I also find myself attracted to this vision on a more personal level. And, indeed, it was this vision that brought me from my post at Northwestern’s Kellogg Business School to the deanship here at WashU Olin. You see, each morning, long before the sun comes up, I open up a popular game app and put a set of puzzles before me: word, number and geometric. Like many academics, it’s problems that captivate me. And, like many academics, it’s the methodical process of working toward a solution that energizes me.
Of course, the problems WashU aims to solve go far beyond online puzzles like Wordle. Our sights are set on entrenched, vexing challenges. The puzzles before us are ones with no image on the boxtop and many missing pieces. It’s on us to deduce the full picture and generate the pieces that, when assembled, represent a solution.
Health, climate, economic vitality — I can think of few problems more entrenched nor solutions more needed. These topics require us to work across schools and beyond the walls of the university. It’s these kinds of challenges that require WashU to bring together our disciplines, our community and our world.
Health, in particular, is an area where WashU can play a leading role. WashU Medicine is among the nation’s finest medical schools, and the new School of Public Health represents an opportunity to transform the field. Critical to confronting the multifaceted challenges in health — innovation, cost of care, equity, workforce — is a business lens.
In Olin’s new strategic plan, “All Together Now,” we’ve put the business of health front and center. The strengths of our university, along with our region and our alumni, represent an unparalleled opportunity for our business school to partner in generating solutions and drive impact. That’s why Olin is expanding our educational programming, investing in our research, and partnering with the medical school around commercialization. We intend to produce more leaders, insights and entrepreneurs in health.
The commercialization of the discovery taking place in our medical school is an area that is particularly ripe for collaboration. Our scientists are creating new knowledge all the time. And yet, most have never sized a market or run a competitive analysis — precisely the things a business school teaches daily. Therefore, we’re working to train principal investigators in the fundamentals of business, develop project teams of MBA students to support entrepreneurial activities, and convene the community of investors and business practitioners.
“Our scientists are creating new knowledge all the time. And yet, most have never sized a market or run a competitive analysis — precisely the things a business school teaches daily. ”
Mike Mazzeo
We’re in the early stages of this work or, to resume my metaphor, we’re just beginning to put the puzzle pieces into place. We’re putting ourselves in a position to create new pieces, too — pieces that, even months ago, no one thought we could help build. I’m finding extraordinary partners in this process like David Perlmutter, MD, the George and Carol Bauer Dean of WashU Medicine, and Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, the Margaret C. Ryan Dean of the new School of Public Health. These partnerships testify to the collaborative quality of WashU.
A truly transformative solution requires that we go beyond the walls of WashU. It takes more than one hand to put all the pieces together. Thankfully, in my time at WashU, I’ve found that there are so many who are eager to pitch in, to contribute to this project we call our university. I invite you, too, to reach out to me with a connection or an insight. Together, we can create transformative solutions to the deepest societal challenges.
