In Parts 1 and 2, we explored why traditional strategic planning often fails: long lists of objectives, abstract values-based pillars, and a tendency to overemphasize prestige metrics or unit-level plans. We also discussed the power of trade-offs and strategic bets as a way to surface priorities, ma...

In Part 1, I distinguished between strategy, planning, and strategic planning. Not because those distinctions are academic, but because collapsing them into a single exercise often leads to a substantial misinvestment of time and attention. In practice, strategic planning in higher education often p...

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 ...

Killing Sacred Cows — Part 3 of a series examining the unspoken norms, taboos, and protected assumptions in academic research that are rarely questioned, even when they undermine effectiveness and resilience. This series names those assumptions, puts them up for debate, and asks whether they still d...