How We Designed AMISA's Strategy

By Ewan McIntosh, Managing Director, NoTosh

When people talk about strategy, they often focus on the final document. The pages look impressive. The language feels important. Yet the real work of strategy happens long before anything is written down. It happens when a leadership group decides what matters most, and what will be deliberately left out.

Working with AMISA on their new strategy gave us a close look at what makes strategic work succeed in complex, international education systems. There was plenty of ambition. There were diverse voices. There were moments of uncertainty. What made the difference was the way the Board chose to focus. They were willing to simplify in order to strengthen impact.

Three ideas stood out.

First, strategy is built through choice, not consensus. Early in the process, the AMISA Board faced the temptation to include everything. They resisted it. They committed to a small number of powerful priorities that would shape every decision that followed.

Second, a strategy only works if people understand it. Every element of the AMISA strategy had to be explainable in a single breath. If you need several paragraphs to explain a choice, it is not a choice at all. It is a paragraph.

Third, strategy becomes real through behaviour, not documents. The Board paid attention to what the strategy would make easier, what it would make harder, and how it would change the day-to-day actions of people in AMISA schools.

These lessons apply directly to school leadership. Strategy is not an event. It is a series of deliberate choices that shape how people think and act. The more clearly those choices are made, the more powerful the strategy becomes.

If you want to learn more, you can watch a free webinar which goes into the process in detail, recorded earlier this year with AMISA colleagues: https://learn.notosh.com/pl/2148743469

About the Author:

Ewan McIntosh, Managing Director, NoTosh (www.notosh.com) | ewan@notosh.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ewanmcintosh/