Chicago Medical School

The Chicago Medical School won the prestigious Richard Goodman Strategic Planning Award for 2007.

The criteria for winning are rigorous and challenging. The winner must:

1. Describe a process in use that is at the leading edge of the field or an actual pioneer in approaching a strategic planning process in a totally new and unique way
2. Or... be a very creative extension of a tried and true process
3. The process must be shown to directly help improve the performance of the organization
4. There must be a definitive way in which the strategic plan and strategy are implemented and a method of interim assessment

1. A very creative use of an e-college course platform called Desire to Learn (D2L) to help collaboration of a large and divers group of stakeholders, some of which were geographically distant
2. Creative surveying and polling to quickly surface three Key Strategies, several Directional Strategies and Goals and Objectives
3. The creative use of a Scorecard via a web page in the Desire to Learn (D2L) system for measurement and interim assessment and guidance via a Red, Yellow, Green system
4. The use of a high performance team culture
5. The use of an agreed method of prioritizing goals, objectives and initiatives
6. A clear statement as to who their customers and stakeholders are and a way to measure their assessment of performance
7. A clear process for execution and interim assessment
8. A clear process for measuring the direct impact of this winning process on CMS's performance.

All of this led to what the committee agreed were Bold and Aligned Directional Strategies that had clear measurement, execution, flexibility and performance assessment characteristics.

The Committee thanks the CMS for its fine submission and hopes this process will continue to contribute to CMS's performance and strategic position among its peer schools. Congratulations on a job well done!