If you want to sabotage your school’s strategic plan, here are some “failure strategies” that take a promising vision and send it straight into the land of forgotten binders.
Michael Christopher, ISM Consultant, IAP-L
Imagine this conversation at your school:
Head of School (meeting with the Board Chair): It’s time for us to update the Strategic Plan.
Chair: Thank you. The Board’s been so distracted by our building project, we haven’t had time to focus on it.
Head of School: Understood. I’ll check on our general goals and update you on our progress so far …
Sound familiar?
It should. A version of this conversation occurs in many schools that are in the middle or near the end of their latest strategic plan. The plan has stagnated because, frankly, it’s no longer relevant to what the board is currently working on.
So, why does this happen? Why do plans, at best, become irrelevant, and at worst, fail miserably?
If you want your school’s strategic plan to crash and burn, here are some “failure strategies” that take a promising vision and send it straight into the land of forgotten binders.
1. Skip the Implementation Plan
It’s one thing to dream big; it’s another to actually get things done. If you don’t assign responsibilities, set deadlines, or establish who’s in charge of what, your plan will become a vague wish list. Goals without accountability are just nice ideas. Your board and administration each have a role to play in implementation, and these roles must be spelled out clearly. Otherwise, your strategic plan is just sitting there, hoping for magic.
2. Ignore Financial Sustainability
A strategic plan without an accompanying financial plan is like a car without gas — it’s not going anywhere. If you don’t think about how to fund your grand ideas long term, you’ll quickly find yourself stuck. Whether it’s upgrading facilities, adding new programs, or boosting staff, everything comes with a price tag. Ensure your financial plan aligns with your strategic vision, or your bold plans will falter the moment the bills arrive.
3. Forget About Community Buy-In
You might love your plan, but if faculty, staff, parents, and trustees aren’t on board, it’s dead on arrival. Strategic plans only work when the community feels a sense of ownership and excitement about the vision. Ignore their input or fail to show why the plan matters, and you’ll be met with blank stares — or worse, resistance. Bring people into the conversation early and often, so they’re helping you row the boat, not poke holes in it.
4. Lose Sight of the Big Picture
It’s easy to get so focused on specific tasks that you forget why you’re doing them in the first place. A strategic plan needs to fit the broader context: your school’s mission, its culture, and what’s happening in the world around you. If you lose sight of the big picture, you risk implementing ideas that feel disconnected or unnecessary. Keep asking, “How does this move us closer to our ultimate goals?”
5. Set It and Forget It
A strategic plan isn’t a one-and-done document; it’s a living, breathing roadmap. If you don’t monitor progress, adjust timelines, or revisit goals regularly, your plan will quickly become outdated. Plans need updates because circumstances change — enrollment fluctuates, budgets shift, and priorities evolve. Set checkpoints to review progress, celebrate wins, and tweak what isn’t working.
In short, if you want your strategic plan to fail:
- Avoid accountability
- Forget about funding
- Alienate your community
- Lose sight of the big picture
- Let the plan gather dust
If success sounds better, do the opposite: be clear, stay financially grounded, involve your people, think big, and keep things fresh. Strategic planning is hard work, but when done right, it’s how schools make their dreams a reality.
About the Author
Michael Christopher joined ISM as an adjunct consultant in 2002 and became a full-time consultant in 2020. A co-organizer of ISM Advancement Academy, Michael specializes in strategic planning, board operations, development, and enrollment management.
Michael’s experience and expertise in the field of advancement is comprehensive. Before joining ISM full-time, Michael led the advancement efforts at Lausanne Collegiate School in Tennessee, Greensboro Day School in North Carolina, and Holland Hall School in Oklahoma. In these schools, Michael rebuilt development programs, oversaw the creation of alumni programs, established planned giving offerings, instituted major gift efforts, executed several capital campaigns, and coordinated image and identity campaigns for each school.
