Strategic Schools
Episodes
Ep. 31: Transforming Change into Culture
20 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Simon explores how leaders can embed improvement work so deeply into structures, norms, and culture that it lasts long after they’v...
Ep. 30: Adaptive Persistence
29 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Simon unpacks the vital leadership disposition of adaptive persistence - the ability to stay committed to long-term goals while flexi...
Ep. 29: Looping for understanding
22 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Simon explores the power of “looping for understanding”, a simple technique to improve communication, build trust, and avoid misu...
Ep. 28: Focus on the Next 5-8 Weeks
15 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Simon shares why school improvement is more like night driving than building a bridge - you can’t see the whole road, but you can s...
Ep. 27: Working at a Natural Pace
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Simon explores why effective school improvement isn’t about going fast or slow - it’s about finding a natural pace. Drawing on le...
Ep. 26: Streamlining Improvement Plans through Pruning
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Many school improvement plans are overloaded from the start. In this episode, Simon explores how to integrate The Pruning Principle into your planning...
Ep. 25: How to find 1 additional week per year
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
By trimming just one hour of meetings per week, you could reclaim a full work week each year. In this episode, Simon explores how small shifts in meet...
Ep. 24: Embracing Personal Pruning
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Simon shares why the best place to start pruning isn’t at the system level - it’s in your own life. From deleting unused apps to ...
Ep. 23: The Sunk Cost Fallacy
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Simon Breakspear unpacks the sunk cost fallacy - a powerful cognitive bias that keeps educators clinging to ineffective programs simp...
Ep. 22: The Pruning Principle Explained
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Simon reads from Chapter 2 of The Pruning Principle, his recently released book, exploring how ancient horticultural wisdom — yes, ...
Ep. 21: The Additive Trap
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Explore the idea of "frenzied stagnation" - the state where educators are busier than ever but making little meaningful progress. In this ep...
Ep. 20: Psychological Safety
23 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Leading complex improvement requires learning, making mistakes, offering alternative perspectives and asking when we aren’t sure about the next step...
Ep. 19: Team Health
16 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s time to move beyond the notion of heroic educational leadership. Improvement is a team sport, and leaders need to purposefully team the teams t...
Ep. 18: Running Retrospectives
09 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Simon shares one of his favourite tools for helping teams reflect, learn and adapt: The Retrospective. This simple routine involves t...
Ep. 17: Less
02 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What if the answer was less? In education, we naturally tend to try to solve problems and improve things by adding additional programs, initiatives an...
Ep. 16: Building Social Proof
25 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Building social proof is a crucial step in any school change journey. When individuals see that others within your context have embraced the change an...
Ep. 15: The Power of Kanban
18 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are looking for ways to better structure and organise our work during long-term improvement projects. The Kanban approach to team rapid action plan...
Ep. 14: Working in Cycles
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Working in 5-8 week cycles can unlock new progress and momentum. At Strategic Schools, we help teams to get out of yearly implementation plans and int...
Ep. 13: Build Momentum
04 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can you build and sustain momentum through complex improvement journeys? In this episode, Simon identifies the overlooked role of leaders in susta...
Ep. 12: Identify your Must Do’s
28 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What are the essential things that only you can do? In our overwhelmed and overloaded state, we often lose the ability to prioritise effectively. Simo...
Ep. 11: Celebrate & Course-Correct
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Improvement work is often a long-term endeavour. In the messy middle, our teams can lose track of the progress they are making and the lessons they ar...
Ep. 10: Attune with Empathy
21 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can we more effectively understand and respond to change resistance? Attuning with empathy can provide fresh insights into what’s really happeni...
Ep. 09: Running Experiments
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If we are going to be successful in leading organisational change, we need to start small. In this episode, Simon explores the critical importance of ...
Ep. 08: We Get To
14 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can you motivate yourself to engage in challenging work even when you don’t feel like doing it? In this episode, Simon explores a powerful ref...
Ep. 07: Praise Worthy Failures
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Are you and your team ready to learn from failure? Simon argues that improvers test and sharpen their ideas by trying things out in the real world o...
Ep. 06: Your Don't Do List
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can we tap into the power of doing less? Simon explores our tendency to become overloaded and outlines a practical approach to setting and keepi...
Ep. 05: Tracking Lead Indicators
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What should we first expect to see? Simon unpacks a simple framework for focusing on the most important lead indicators in our change efforts. He argu...
Ep. 04: Workload Mapping
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can future pacing the term ahead help us to create greater levels of sustainability in our workflow? In this episode, Simon outlines a simple rout...
Ep. 03: Cracking the Clarity Code
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can we gain enhanced clarity in our improvement thinking? Simon unpacks 4 key questions that educational leaders can use to test, refine and sharp...
Ep. 01: Make things easier
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How should we respond to resistance? In this episode Simon explores a radical shift in how we can approach the natural resistance all leaders will exp...
Ep. 02: The 4D Reset Framework
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What can we do when we are overloaded and becoming overwhelmed? Simon examines and applies the 4D reset framework that he uses when coaching leaders a...