Credit a masterful Means for change

Science Article

After a 16-year Center career, Peggy Means steps down from strategic development role; will consult on inter-institutional projects

Colleagues say Peggy Means' ability to adapt to and relish the unforeseen is one of the keys to her success as senior vice president. Photo by Todd McNaught

Looking back at Peggy Means' 16-year career at the Center, it's easy to see why those who know her well describe her as a master planner and problem solver. As a key architect of the Hutchinson Center's ambitious five-year blueprint for its next phase of growth, there are few organizational details that have escaped her attention. So colleagues may be surprised to learn that Means, who will step down as senior vice president for strategic development at the end of this month, intends to embark on the next chapter of her life without a strategic plan.

"I'm not sure exactly what's next," Means said, although she will consult one day each week at the Center for at least the next year. "Right now, I'm looking forward to reconnecting with creative pursuits I haven't had much time for — like yoga, gardening and jewelry making — as well as with my heart and with my family."

Her ability to adapt to — and even relish — the unforeseen is exactly why Means has been so successful, said Dr. Lee Hartwell, president and director.

"She has been a major architect of much of the change that's taken place at Center since I've been here, including the formation of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) and the Cancer Consortium, strategic planning, and our new directions in fund raising," he said. " The amazing thing about Peggy is that she is always open to change and sees the need for change before other people see it. She is unconstrained by anything and looks upon problems as an opportunity to make something happen." While she is the first to credit team members for their contributions, Means has undeniably been the driving force behind some of the Center's most significant recent milestones, most of which hinged upon complex partnerships with other institutions. All of the projects, she recalls, have been fraught with potential pitfalls.

"It's been my job to think about everything that could possibly go wrong," she said. "So I have an especially great appreciation for what has gone right."

Among the projects that have gone right — one of which she is especially proud — is the formation of the SCCA, which in 1998 formally united the cancer-care activities of the Center, the University of Washington, and Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. The partnership has been critical to the Hutchinson Center's goal of extending its outstanding reputation for treatment of blood cancers to a wide range of solid-tumor cancers.

"Peggy is without question the person who most led our establishment of the SCCA," said Dr. Fred Appelbaum, director of the Clinical Research Division and the SCCA.

One of her unique attributes, he said, is the ability to forge inter-institutional relationships. "Peggy has always been a very strong advocate for the Center," Appelbaum said. "Yet she was always able to put herself in the position of the other person and was able to see where that person was coming from. That's the single skill I'll most miss."

The SCCA and the more recent research partnership established through the Hutchinson Center/UW Cancer Consortium, in which Means also played a leading role, both owe their formation to inter-institutional partnerships she helped broker in the early 1990s. At the time, relations between the Center and the University were severely strained.

"For years, we worked, worked, worked on rebuilding this relationship," Means said. "The negotiations included the university's desire to have a patient care partnership. In 1994, we signed a new affiliation."

'Heart and mind of the Center'

Means was hired in 1989 by former president and director Dr. Robert Day, serving as a vice president overseeing the Clinical Research Division's patient-care program. In 1991, Day appointed her senior vice president and chief administrative officer. She became executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1994, a role that Day urged her to continue after he retired as president and director in 1997 so that Hartwell would have the benefit of her experience and knowledge. At Means' request in 2003, she transitioned to her current role in strategic development.

"Peggy is quite remarkable," Day said. "At the time I appointed her chief administrator, the Center was growing very rapidly and clearly needed a person to take care of operations and stay ahead of curves. Peggy had a very broad grasp of what was going on and has excellent organizational planning skills. I — and our board members, many of whom are senior executives for major corporations — have always been very impressed with her talent. I remember that one of them referred to her as the 'heart and mind of the Center' — a very apt description."

The next big phase

Henry James, chair of the board of trustees, described Means as a master of anticipating problems. "She is an executive who can see around corners," he said. "What many of us will miss is her extraordinary institutional knowledge. Every institution has a 'go-to' person. As far as I am concerned, that has been Peggy."

What has inspired Means to dedicate herself so wholeheartedly to the Center, she said, is the talent of its faculty and staff and what she describes as the institution's entrepreneurial character.

"There is a spirit of possibility here, a sense of what could be accomplished," she said. "This institution is full of incredibly smart and creative people at all levels, and I fully predict that I will never experience an environment quite like this again. All of our problems get worked through by people who believe that we can make things happen — and who feel that accomplishments are made through teamwork."

Today, Means said, the Center is poised to embark on the next — and possibly the most exciting — phase of its evolution.

"The first phase began with building our scientific team," she said. "Bill Hutchinson had a rare eye for scientific talent."

The next phase, Means said, was devoted to institution building and campus development under Day's direction.

"During the last five years, we've finally had the luxury to focus on our scientific directions. Our debt capacity is at its limit, the federal research budget is no longer doubling — we've got to get the community involved in our mission and increase private support for the Center. This is as important to our development as the other phases have been. Our current strategic plan is largely focused on articulating our scientific directions in a way that the board and the community can understand, which is essential for our goal of doubling private donations."

A fund raising paradigm shift

Means predicts that these goals will present new challenges.

"We're going to have to take some risks with fund raising and think about fund raising in a new way," she said. "Just as many at the Center were skeptical of campus development, there will be resistance to building this new culture of philanthropy. But faculty and staff must have confidence that the administration and scientific leadership will manage this effectively. As with campus building, fund raising will require patience and flexibility."

As of Oct. 1, Means will transition into a one-day-a-week consulting role, in which she will primarily continue to work on inter-institutional projects. "This is a good time for me to step down," she said. "We have a strong strategic plan in place and excellent leadership. And it's time for me to take a breather."

Still, she said, "I absolutely love this place. As long as people want me to be around I'll be doing it."

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