Developing a Pitt iSchool Vision

May 4, 2011

You will recall the introductory conversations we have had this spring about developing a 5-year vision statement for the School. This was one of the principal recommendations of the Board of Visitors last fall and one that I intend to pursue with you. Understanding that vision statements can easily become vacuous, I was impressed with the article Prashant found in Inc. magazine (http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/creating-a-company-vision.html) and the larger story behind that article, in the book Building a Great Business by Ari Weinzweig.

I also found the University of Michigan School of Information program description they put together for reaccreditation to be quite informative, and have extracted the most relevant excerpts here.

I then took a crack at a vision statement using the Weinzweig material as a guide. I offer this to you as a draft exemplar of a Pitt iSchool vision statement… which is to say I encourage you to go through a similar process, culminating in your own vision statement for the School. Rather than focusing on a critique of my draft, I believe the School’s interests are better served by each of us individually attending to our own visions for the future, writing these down, and sharing them amongst each other. Through such a process of contemplation, writing, sharing, and discussion, I believe we can build a vision for our School that is rooted in our historic traditions and strengths and looks boldly to the future. This School has done this many times in its 110 year history. It is time to do it again.