Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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A practical 4-hour working session (12:00pm to 4:00pm on May 25, 2012) that provides key West Valley College leaders / stakeholders with a process:

to gain a common vision + objectives

for an inspiring + effective committee

in order to carry out the Student Success Task Force Plan for 12-13

West Valley College Strategic Visioning Retreat

Four Objectives

• apply frameworks and processes to draft a winning Vision Statement + 6 Top Objectives

for the new West Valley College committee

• gain consensus + momentum from these constituents: Basic Skills Advisory Committee, SEAS Committee, Matriculation Committee, other stakeholders

• meld into one well-functioning team to accelerate West Valley College success with SSTF metrics and expectations

• schedule a future session to define the detailed structure for this new committee.

Senior Workshop Leader

Michael T. Eckhardt, a Managing Director at Chasm Institute, a Silicon Valley-based strategy consulting firm focused on helping technology companies achieve a winning vision / strategy for key teams in US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

A Harvard MBA + Wall Street Journal Award Winner, Eckhardt has worked together with over 90 businesses + organizations worldwide. 

Clients include Cisco, HP, Adobe, Intel,Mentor Graphics, Agilent Technologies,AT&T Wireless, and LMC Data Systems.

meckhardt@chasminstitute.comwww.chasminstitute.com

Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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West Valley College is not alone – every winning team in these organizations needs to define a strategic vision:

Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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Vision is a widely used term, but not well understood.

It is a crucial element for any key team, committee, or organization.

To understand vision, we need to clarify what the term means ...

What is a Strategic Vision ?

Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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DEFINING VISION

One definition of vision comes from Burt Nanus, a well-known expert on the subject. Nanus defines a vision as a realistic / credible / attractive future for a team, committee, or organization. Let's dissect this definition further:

Realistic: A vision must be based in reality to be meaningful.

Credible: A vision must be believable to be relevant. To whom must a vision be credible ? Most importantly, to the members of the team, committee, or organization. If the members of the team / committee / organization do not find the vision credible, it will neither be meaningful nor serve a useful purpose.

Attractive: If a vision is going to inspire and motivate those in the organization, it must be attractive. People must want to be part of this future that's envisioned.

Future-Focused: A vision is not in the present, it is in the future.

What is a Strategic Vision ?

Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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The right strategic vision -- one that is a realistic, credible, attractive future for that organization -- can accomplish a number of things for the organization:

It attracts commitment and energizes people. When people can see that the team is committed to a vision -- it generates enthusiasm about the path the team intends to follow, and increases the commitment of people to work toward achieving that vision.

It creates meaning. A vision allows people to feel like they are part of a greater whole, and hence provides meaning for their work. The right vision will mean something to everyone on the team if they can see how what they do contributes to that vision.

It establishes a standard of excellence. A vision serves a very important function in establishing a standard of excellence. In fact, a good vision is all about excellence. The authorTom Peters talks about going into an organization where a number of problems existed. When he attempted to get the organization's leadership to address the problems, he got the defensive response, "But we're no worse than anyone else!" Peters cites this sarcastically as a great vision: "Acme Widgets: We're No Worse Than Anyone Else!" A vision so characterized by lack of a striving for excellence would not motivate or excite anyone about that team.

It bridges the present and the future. The right vision takes the team out of the present, and focuses it on the future. It's easy to get caught up in the crises of the day, and to lose sight of where you were heading. A good vision can orient you on the future, and provide positive direction.

What will a Strategic Vision provide ?

Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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3 Questions for developing a compelling vision for your West Valley College committee:

What are the 3 to 4 key words that our Strategic Vision Statement should include ?

Can we capture these key words in one key paragraph that communicates our vision for 12-13 and beyond ?

Does our new vision statement pass the R-C-A-F test criteria, to ensure long-term success + sustainability?

Defining a Strategic Vision

Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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3 Questions for developing a compelling vision for your West Valley College committee:

What are the 3 to 4 key words that our Strategic Vision Statement should include ?

Defining a Strategic Vision

Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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3 Questions for developing a compelling vision for your West Valley College committee:

Can we capture these key words in one key paragraph that communicates our vision for 12-13 and beyond ?

Defining a Strategic Vision

What should our Strategic Vision be ... to inspire our committee (+ perhaps the greater West Valley community) ?

Describe in 50-100 words the desired 2012+ Vision Statement for your new committee

Possibilities:

o

o

o

o

9 Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.com

All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

The strategic vision for our West Valley College group is to shift to a culture that ensures comprehensive and shared campus-wide responsibility for equitable student access and goal attainment. Our work will:

Facilitate campus dialogue + information dissemination

Develop intentional interventions for students experiencing challenges

Be guided by + apply centralized data collection and empirically-based best practices

Explore innovative ideas that result in measurable outcomes

... which leads to improved student, faculty, and staff self-awareness, empowerment and success identity

... this will likely require a more coordinated and less-siloed committee structure with focused sub-groups / task forces aimed at specific topics -- temporary or permanent challenges -- to be solved.

... the new committee structure will be organized to achieve the vision outlined above.

Early Draft

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Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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3 Questions for developing a compelling vision for your West Valley College committee:

Does our new vision statement pass the R-C-A-F test criteria, to ensure long-term success + sustainability?

Defining a Strategic Vision

Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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... is our Strategic Vision statement draft:

Realistic ? A vision must be based in reality to be meaningful.

Credible ? A vision must be believable to be relevant. To whom must a vision be credible ? Most importantly, to the members of the team, committee, or organization. If the members of the team / committee / organization do not find the vision credible, it will neither be meaningful nor serve a useful purpose.

Attractive ? If a vision is going to inspire and motivate those in the organization, it must be attractive. People must want to be part of this future that's envisioned.

Future-Focused ? A vision is not in the present, it is in the future.

Process Check : does our draft of a Strategic Vision meet these 4 success criteria ?

Update: 05/25/12 © 2012 Chasm Institute Contact: Michael Eckhardt meckhardt@chasminstitute.comAll rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.

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Professional Background of Program Leader

Michael Eckhardt – Managing Director & Senior Workshop Leader at Chasm Institute, is a veteran of Hewlett-Packard, Pepsico, and Price Waterhouse. An MBA graduate of Harvard Business School and Wall Street Journal Award winner, Michael Eckhardt is a recognized expert in strategic visioning & high-tech market success. He provides clients in the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific with strategy workshops & marketing tools for gaining (and also sustaining) leadership positions in highly-competitive markets.

Michael Eckhardt has worked with over 90 technology-based businesses in 19 countries. Founded in 1993, clients include: Cisco, HP, USSCO, Intel, AT&T Wireless, QAD, Agilent Technologies, LMC Data Systems, Autodesk, Plantronics, Mentor Graphics, Adobe Systems, and other high-tech leaders.

His 3 primary areas of focus are target market success, predicting customer reaction to new product intro’s, and driving effective market messaging.

Chasm Institute’s senior team has worked on market strategy for winning programs, services and solutions in North America and worldwide. Eckhardt has provided over 1000 workshop days to executive and their teams in the past 10 years. He has also edited + contributed to several of author Geoffrey Moore’s best selling high-tech strategy books.

Michael Eckhardt, together with Senior Workshop Leaders Betty A. Sproule and Marc S. Rose, have provided the Advanced “Go-to-Market Success Workshop ” and these two highly-rated advanced workshops: “Winning in New Markets ” “Defining a Strategic Vision ”

... to high-tech product teams throughout Silicon Valley, the U.S., and worldwide. For more information please click on: www.chasminstitute.com