School leaders receive many suggestions from other leaders, teachers and support staff for what can be improved in their school. In some instances, people are taking action themselves, often on their own, as they try to 'fix' things and make our schools 'better'. Invariably, despite so many good ideas, intentions and initiatives, schools are oftentimes... Continue Reading →
The education revolution, so much has been said about what needs to change: we must have more flexible school structures, we must change learning spaces, learning should become more personalized and accomplished to name a few of the things being called for by so many. As school leaders, at times, we can feel that we... Continue Reading →
Here’s an interesting question. As an educational leader, if you were to be away from your school for one day, a few days, a week, a month, or longer, how would your school cope? Perhaps we consider the shorter periods of absence and make plans just before we leave for a conference or other school... Continue Reading →
A challenging part of leading change is overcoming inertia and resistance that may prevent the change from going anywhere and a retaining of the status quo. Sometimes change agents are surprised when tension develops and people do not wish to go with the desired flow or direction. It takes an investment of time from the... Continue Reading →
Change is constant, we know that, but it is something that all leaders struggle with at times, especially if you're leading it. A lot of change falls over. Nitin Nohria and Michael Beer write in their article, Cracking the Code of Change: "The brutal fact is that about 70% of all change initiatives fail." This... Continue Reading →
As many schools, in the northern hemisphere anyway, begin to prepare for a new school year, much discussion is given to planning and setting goals to be achieved. Significant time is spent in team meetings, energised by having had a break and enthused about what we can do to make our schools better this coming... Continue Reading →
A lot of schools have strategic plans or school improvement plans, many school leaders see a commitment to some kind of strategic planning as important for school success. It is interesting that, for a variety of organisations, despite strategic planning and plans for change, 70% of such efforts fail. There are a number of reasons... Continue Reading →
Back in 2006 I came across an article in the Harvard Business Review about 'The Wisdom of Deliberate Mistakes'. Initially, I was pushed towards finding out more about the this term deliberate mistake by my wife who at the time said to me something along the lines of, "sometimes you have got to let your... Continue Reading →
When leading change in schools, the timing and pace of the change process is all important as well as the amount of change placed on the table. Given that school's work in distinct academic years, it can appear easier to bring in changes at the beginning of the school year, as the changes can be... Continue Reading →
