Strategic Schools

In this episode, Simon explores how leaders can embed improvement work so deeply into structures, norms, and culture that it lasts long after they’ve moved on. He shares a mindset shift from leading change to leading a legacy, offering practical cues for making your work durable, sustainable, and adaptable. True impact comes not from being indispensable but from making the work irreversible - able...

In this episode, Simon unpacks the vital leadership disposition of adaptive persistence - the ability to stay committed to long-term goals while flexibly adjusting to challenges. Drawing on insights from Professor Viviane Robinson and real-world improvement work, he explores how calm, steady leadership helps teams navigate setbacks without losing direction. It’s not just about grit - it’s about kn...

In this episode, Simon explores the power of “looping for understanding”, a simple technique to improve communication, build trust, and avoid misunderstandings. Simon unpacks how listening attentively, paraphrasing, and checking for understanding can transform everyday leadership conversations. A practical, people-focused skill every educational leader can use to foster stronger relationships and...

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 still make the journey. He unpacks how working in 5 to 8 week action cycles can help teams stay focused, reduce overload, and make consistent progress. Instead of overplanning years in advance, learn to make realistic, intentional decisions for the term...

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 lessons from fitness and recovery, he unpacks how leaders can tune into their team’s capacity, avoid burnout, and build sustainable momentum. Learn how to work in the right zone of improvement - challenged but not overloaded. An ideal listen for anyone lea...

Many school improvement plans are overloaded from the start. In this episode, Simon explores how to integrate The Pruning Principle into your planning cycle - by subtracting before you add. Learn how to reduce unrealistic commitments, embed subtractive strategies, and create space for what matters most. A practical guide to shifting from planning theatre to focused, sustainable improvement. Explor...

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 meeting cadence, duration, and structure can unlock major time savings and boost focus. Learn how to run low-risk pruning experiments with your team - and start creating margin for the work that matters most. Explore the Book and Resources 📘 Get The Pru...

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 unsubscribing from email lists, he offers practical, low-stakes ways to reclaim clarity and focus. Learn how small acts of personal pruning build momentum, reduce overload, and shift your sense of agency - one strategic subtraction at a time. A timely li...

In this episode, Simon Breakspear unpacks the sunk cost fallacy - a powerful cognitive bias that keeps educators clinging to ineffective programs simply because they've already invested time, money, or energy. This hidden trap can block the strategic pruning needed for real progress. Learn how to spot it, talk about it, and move on - so you can redirect resources toward what will truly make a...

In this episode, Simon reads from Chapter 2 of The Pruning Principle, his recently released book, exploring how ancient horticultural wisdom — yes, pruning olive trees and grapevines — can offer a fresh lens for tackling overload in education. Discover how strategic subtraction can help schools flourish by focusing energy where it matters most. Explore the Book and Resources 📘 Get The Pruning Pri...

Explore the idea of "frenzied stagnation" - the state where educators are busier than ever but making little meaningful progress. In this episode, Simon unpacks the "additive trap" in schools: the relentless habit of doing more without letting anything go. Tune in to reflect on your own context and begin noticing where subtraction might unlock greater clarity, impact, and susta...

Leading complex improvement requires learning, making mistakes, offering alternative perspectives and asking when we aren’t sure about the next steps. To enable this, we need a safe platform for interpersonal risk-taking. In this episode, Simon hones in on the interpersonal construct of Psychological Safety. He explores its importance to team effectiveness and unpacks simple approaches to enhance...

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 they are in. In this episode, Simon shares his concept of Team Health. He explains what it is, why it matters, and how we can all play a role in deliberately enhancing group dynamics and processes.  Simon Breakspear website Twitter Facebook

In this episode, Simon shares one of his favourite tools for helping teams reflect, learn and adapt: The Retrospective. This simple routine involves teams systematically working through a series of questions at the end of an improvement cycle. Simon unpacks the why, what and how of running a retrospective. Great teams make better mistakes in every cycle of work. The retrospective will help you do...

What if the answer was less? In education, we naturally tend to try to solve problems and improve things by adding additional programs, initiatives and responsibilities. Too often, we overlook subtraction as a strategy for improvement. In this episode, Simon provides some provocative frames to use as a team to explore doing less. In a time of systematic exhaustion, the pursuit of less may be just...

Building social proof is a crucial step in any school change journey. When individuals see that others within your context have embraced the change and experienced positive outcomes, they are more likely to feel confident and motivated to follow suit. Social proof serves as evidence that the proposed change is feasible and beneficial. In this episode, Simon explores why developing ‘social proof’ c...

We are looking for ways to better structure and organise our work during long-term improvement projects. The Kanban approach to team rapid action planning can provide enhanced clarity, motivation and transparency about what needs to be done and where things are up to. Simon shares the core components of the Kanban approach and provides guidance on how educational teams can harness the benefits of...

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 into working in shorter, more responsive cycles of implementation work. Simon explains how you can constrain the scope of projects and focus on manageable chunks by being strict from the outside about the time the cycle will run for and the bandwidth av...

How can you build and sustain momentum through complex improvement journeys? In this episode, Simon identifies the overlooked role of leaders in sustaining momentum through improvement work. He unpacks simple strategies leaders can take to rebuild their team's energy, belief and motivation.  Simon Breakspear website Twitter Facebook

What are the essential things that only you can do? In our overwhelmed and overloaded state, we often lose the ability to prioritise effectively. Simon unpacks a simple framework for pausing and identifying what matters most right now. The most effective leaders never get everything done. Instead, they identify their Must Do's and relentlessly pursue them.  Simon Breakspear website Twitter Fa...

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 are learning. In this episode, Simon explores the importance of setting up a regular rhythm of celebrating and course-correcting.  Simon Breakspear website Twitter Facebook

How can we more effectively understand and respond to change resistance? Attuning with empathy can provide fresh insights into what’s really happening for those who are experiencing the change on the ground. In this episode, Simon explores simple framework leaders can use to develop a theory of resistance and identify the next best steps.  Simon Breakspear website Twitter Facebook

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 running disciplined, fast experiments of educational change before scaling up. Simon shows why starting small, moving fast, and failing well is a powerful approach for working out how to make an evidence-informed idea work in your unique context.  Si...

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 reframing of how we can approach the work in front of us. He shows how shifting from ‘We Have To” to ‘We Get To’ can unlock new focus and energy for change. Simon Breakspear website Twitter Facebook

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 of schools and classrooms. The goal shouldn’t be to get everything right from the beginning.  But rather to set ourselves up to learn our way forward and make better mistakes every term.  Simon shows why building a culture of curiosity and learning fro...