“Together we are smarter and have better ideas than any of us have individually.”
Many of you have heard me say repeatedly that “we are going to act like a system.” You have reasonably asked what that means.
The Texas A&M University System is more than a collection (or federation) of universities and state agencies. It is a team devoted to improving the lives of Texans and to helping all of our separate team members succeed. Each of our universities and agencies has expertise in certain areas. As a system, we must unselfishly share this expertise. By doing things together, we all become more effective and efficient at meeting the challenges and fulfilling the opportunities offered by a state as large, as diverse and as fast-growing as Texas.
We have very smart people with good ideas at each of the universities and agencies. Together we are smarter and have better ideas than any of us have individually. Great ideas do not emerge by keeping our ideas to ourselves. Most of our institutions face similar problems, and by working together, we can arrive at similar, although not necessarily identical, solutions that will benefit all of us. This cooperation enables us to recognize the unique needs of each agency and university, or take advantage of the brilliance in our individual “stars,” while also realizing the strength of working in synergy.
Areas in which we will act like a system include but are not limited to:
The best thing about acting like a system is collecting everyone’s good ideas. All of us will come up with more ideas for sharing and working together than any of us alone (the chancellor included).
Please share with me your ideas for acting like a system. Help us all fulfill our obligation to be good stewards of the public’s trust.
