Strategy, Part 1: The Word of the Year in Higher Ed in 2025

If you’re a regular reader of Community Insights, you know I’m not a fan of higher education’s obsession with “strategic planning” as a method for setting direction. If you’re new here, you may want to revisit our discussion on the difference between strategy and strategic planning. The distinction is critical, especially as the world becomes faster, more fragmented, and less predictable.

In the consulting world, “strategy” is suddenly everywhere. It feels like the word of the year, the buzzword in boardrooms, and the topic on everyone’s LinkedIn feed. But unlike many trendy phrases that flare and fade, the focus on strategy isn’t hype. It’s a reflection of the reality leaders face today. Life in higher education is coming at us fast. Policies shift overnight (literally), funding environments change without warning, and the political, social, and economic context is increasingly volatile. In this environment, simple planning just doesn’t cut it.

Strategy helps us make deliberate choices amid uncertainty, focusing resources where they matter most and creating optionality and open doors for the future. Planning, by contrast, is most useful for managing predictable, near-term tasks. Strategy becomes essential when the terrain itself is unpredictable.

The difference is important. Planning is backward-looking: it assumes a known, predictable environment and a reasonable level of control. Strategy is forward-looking: it assumes uncertainty, ambiguity, and the inevitability of change. Planning asks, “How do we execute this well?” Strategy asks, “What are the right moves to make in the first place and why?” 

The former can be delegated; the latter cannot. When leaders are short on time and pulled in many directions, strategy requires informed thought partnership, sometimes from outside the institution, to see beyond the immediate horizon, connect the dots, and support smarter, bolder choices.

In higher education, there is often an assumption that “strategic planning” is synonymous with “strategy.” It is not. Strategic planning emerged as an attempt to marry two needs: the big-picture choices strategy provides and the concrete actions planning requires. In theory, it promised to translate long-term direction into coordinated execution. In practice, the concepts are frequently collapsed into a single exercise that overemphasizes plans (because we can check those off) and underweights strategic choice. Planning tells you what you will do in the next quarter or year; strategy defines where you should aim when the rules of the game themselves may change. Institutions that blur this distinction risk becoming reactive, defensive, and ultimately irrelevant.

Current conditions marked by speed, fragmentation, and instability demand strategy. Leaders need time and support to think strategically about positioning for the unknown future. They need to understand trade-offs, anticipate risks, and identify opportunities others may overlook. They need partners who can challenge assumptions, provide alternative perspectives, and equip them with the right data to act decisively.

That is the work I do with leaders in research-focused institutions: helping them move beyond immediate pressures and position their organizations for futures that are more volatile and less predictable than those universities have historically had to navigate. For much of higher education, sustained uncertainty is relatively new. Building resilience, operational strength, and strategic readiness is now what determines whether institutions can adapt, or simply react.

So, as we continue in this era of speed, uncertainty, and fragmentation, remember planning is for events. Strategy is for the future. The question is whether your department or institution has the time to think strategically and whether you have the right partners to help make it happen.

Are you a leader overwhelmed by the pace and volume of change? I can help you manage the cognitive load by providing informed thought partnership, tools like the Research Policy Atlas, and guidance to focus on the better decisions in an unpredictable world. Let’s work together to make strategy a practice, not just aspirational or something you wish you had more time for.
 

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More thoughts on the power of coaching:
Atul Gwande on how a coach (or thought partner) can get you unstuck
Watch the full video: How to break the hidden limits of expertise