Make a difference! Does it really?

The concepts of ‘make a difference’ intrigued me as I have written strategic plans for 12 years and thinking about it I wonder if any of them have ‘made a difference’

Often Strategic plans are what you do to get a ‘tick’ from the Ministry of Education and to share at the first meeting of the year with the Board of Trustees however for the document to ‘make a difference’ I would have to think about my whole understanding of my leadership role.

When a strategic plan is used as I have been using them, it is a safe and uncomplicated process. It can be written in a night, it can be written through the eyes of an adult and can be written using flash language and concepts that no one understands.

From the first session I had with my cohort I realised that I needed to change my thinking and drill down deeper if I was going to create a living document that was going to ‘make a difference’.

Up until this year I had used all of the correct templates and followed all the correct flow charts however never really made the connection between the words and the people and resources.

A strategic plan that is really going to drive a school and the community needs to have that connection. It needs to clearly follow a process and needs to be honest if it is going to make any inroads to developing planned and effective change.