3  Aligned Loops

Every large organization will eventually have multiple sub-flywheels spinning about, each with its own nuance. But to achieve greatest momentum, they should be held together by an underlying logic. And each sub-flywheel should clearly fit within and contribute to the whole. -Jim Collins

Figure 3.1: Underlying logic for all Lerner College flywheels.

In this section, we seek everyone’s help to identify aligned pushpoint loops (i.e. sets of scoping the four pushpoints in such a way that they are aligned to build momentum) - let’s call these aligned loops. with limited resources, we must choose how to scope our offerings in such a way that differentiates Lerner and provides a distinctive, economically viable, and spirited platform for excellence.

In a later step, inter-disciplinary teams will be called upon to extract common and distinctive themes from all identified aligned loops. The ultimate goal will be to extract 3-5 loop themes through which Lerner will pursue distinction. These loop themes will be the major flywheels through which Lerner becomes increasingly distinctive, economically sustainable, and passionate.

3.1 Lerner Loop Teams & Identifying Aligned Loops

To facilitate a bottom-up process, the 38 Lerner areas identified in Table Table 3.1 are being called upon to identify their area’s aspirations and current capabilities to sustain and grow momentum using Figure 3.1 as the underlying logic; we will refer to area-specific flywheels as loops and hence, the team of people working on this for each area will be called a Lerner Loop Team.

Table 3.1: The 38 Lerner Loop Teams tasked with identifying how they wish to support aspirational loops.
Accounting Geltziler lab Lerner Diversity Council
Alumni / Advisory boards Global Enterprise Management Lerner Events
BAIM Graduate Programs Office Lerner IT
Business Analytics Graduate student association Lerner Student Advisory Board
Business Undeclared Horn Entrepreneurship Management
CEEE Hospitality and Event Experience Management Management Information Systems
Development Hospitality Industry Management Marketing
Economics (B.A. and B.S.) IFSA/FSAN Operations Management
Economics Education International Business Studies Sport Management
Entrepreneurship Lerner Advising Vita Nova
Finance Lerner Career Services Weinberg Center
Financial Planning and Wealth Management Lerner Communications Women’s Leadership Iniaitive
Fintech (pending senate approval) Lerner Deans office administrative team

Table Table 3.1 lists the 38 Lerner Loop Teams formed to date. The Dean’s office, working with departments/areas, is actively recruiting leader’s for each of the 38 teams. Please see the below call for participation to get involved.

Note

For some areas, the relevance of certain pushpoints may be unclear. That is okay. The intent is to generate visibility into supporting and amplifying Lerner momentum. To the extent you have ideas that match the intent, please include them, but do not worry if your area does not have fully articulated contributions to each pushpoint.

Figure 3.2 presents a proposed timeline. The timeline is compressed as Dean Yao is encouraging us to work with a sense of urgency and not get mired in the process itself.

Figure 3.2: Lerner Loop Teams timeline

You will notice that the timeline begins with individual efforts through February 20, 2024 and concludes with consolidation of individual efforts by LLTs by March 20, 2024.

3.1.1 Individual Brainstorming

To avoid groupthink and help LLT team leaders facilitate discussion, a google form has been created requesting individuals to answer these 3 questions for each of the four pushpoints (i.e. scholarship, education, community, impact):

  1. Where do we envision this unit/area/major being in the next five years, in terms of [each push point] with respect to innovation, market leadership, and impact?
    • Write a forward-thinking, aspirational statement.
  2. What is the current state of [push point] in our area/major/ unit? What are we good at now? What do we do well as it relates to [push point]?
    • List at least five items.
  3. For each [push point] what are the gaps between the vision and the current state in our area/unit/major? What do we need to change? How do we need to evolve to get to where we will go? What assumptions need to be verified?
    • List the strategic steps we need to take to move from reality to the future vision. (Think about resources, time, knowledge, passion/commitment, and other resources) Remember, these things can take more resources, shift resources, or be revenue- and expense-neutral.

Individual form submissions are due February 12, 2024.

3.1.2 LLT Brainstorming Consolidation

After all individual forms are collected, a Google sheet of all collected responses will be made available to everyone. This is not anonymous. Filtering the sheet by area will allow for more focused discussions, but visibility to all responses will be maintained to possibly trigger even more ideas.

Starting February 27, LLT leaders will schedule and run consolidation sessions so that each area can move towards consensus on potential aligned loops for their area (more than one proposal is encouraged if there are multiple aligned loops that the team feels are important).

3.2 CALL FOR HELP: Lerner Loop Teams (LLTs)

Identifying our distinctive, promising, and potential aligned loops requires engagement of all Lerner stakeholders to give visibility into all of Lerner’s potential. WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH THIS IDENTIFICATION PROCESS.

Is there a part (or parts) of the Lerner college community that you are passionate about? If so, we want to hear about it! Tell us your aligned loop success stories and aspirational ideas. Eventually, we will coalesce thematic areas of strength into several potential distinctive Lerner flywheels; enabling coordinated efforts that lead to sustainable and growing momentum for our college.

Please click relevant participation links which can be found at the bottom of this page and the home page.

Current Participation Requests

After reading the main website content and/or participating in the town hall, please use these links to participate: