When "strategic" becomes an adjective
Three different reads crossed my desk this week that all circled the same problem: the word "strategic" has become a verbal tic that empties real strategy of meaning. School leaders attach it to everything — strategic communication, strategic enrollment, strategic facilities — until nothing is actually strategic. These pieces, taken together, make the case for reclaiming strategy as a discipline, not a decoration.
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Kill 'Strategic' to Save Strategy
Bovolon identifies five parasitic meanings the word "strategic" has picked up — and makes a compelling case that only one is worth saving. If you've ever sat through a board meeting where everything was labeled "strategic," this is the essay that names what you were feeling. The diagnostic alone is worth the read; the prescription is even better.
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What's Changed the Most for Strategy in the Past 44 Years
Martin argues strategy has become more deterministic — organizations now try to plan their way to certainty instead of making genuine choices under uncertainty. This maps directly to what I see in school strategic plans that are really just operational to-do lists wearing a strategy costume. His point about the difference between planning and strategizing is one I return to with every client.
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Most Boards of Directors Are Polite Theater. Here's How to Avoid That.
Beshore's piece is about corporate boards, but every sentence applies to independent school boards too. The "polite theater" framing is exactly right — boards that confuse attending meetings with governing, and governing with approving whatever the head recommends. If your board's strategic planning committee hasn't had a real argument in the last year, this essay explains why that's a problem.
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What CEOs Are and Aren't
A clean, short piece on the actual job of a CEO — which is not to do everything, but to ensure the right things get done. For heads of school, this is a useful mirror: are you the chief strategist, or have you become the chief everything officer? The distinction matters more than most leaders want to admit.
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Business Strategy with Hamilton Helmer (Author of 7 Powers)
Helmer's "7 Powers" framework is built for tech companies, but the core insight travels: durable advantage requires a real benefit to the people you serve plus a barrier that prevents others from copying it. For schools, this reframes the conversation from "what makes us different" (which every school answers with "community") to "what makes our difference defensible." That's a harder, more useful question.
