Dear L+D . . . "The One About Strategic Planning"

Dear L + D,

Full confession...I am in a jam. Truthfully, we are reaching out to start a strategic planning process. We meant to reach out six months ago, but six months just turned into today:) We need help, and we were hoping to get your proposal, and get two other proposals from other firms, so that we can make a thoughtful decision. But we need to start tomorrow, and this email is the first thing we have done to start this process. Oh, also, we need to increase our enrollment and net tuition revenue, build an Innovation Center, inspire our teachers to change - quickly - mobilize our fundraising base, re-do our look-book, hire a part-time Spanish teacher to teach every third Tuesday, and now that I am thinking about it, we should probably take a quick peek at that mission statement and revamp our schedule.

We were thinking that in order to do all of this by June, we might also need to work on the the culture of our administrative team...you know, do some trust falls or something like that. Ahhhh… you can see what I mean. Is the first week of December always this crazy? Also, I am not sure if you can help with this, but our school counselor is crying in the hallway, and kids are starting to gather. Should I worry? I have been unable to sleep, and every time I finally drift off, all I see is this image below. Anyways, would love to connect and check into options.

Signed,

Stressed and Strategic

Dear Stressed and Strategic,

Wow! Is that all? I wonder if you have considered tackling climate change or possibly raking the California forests.

Well, you have come to the right place. Bad news first...we are not able to start tomorrow. We are a small niche firm that only has room for 8-10 larger school-partnership projects a year, so we are careful in our process to select the right partners. Truthfully, no matter what type of project we are working on, our process is highly experiential, human, and we ask teams to engage with their community in a way that requires real work, so we like to make sure that schools that hire us really understand what we do. So take a look at the following list of opportunities for schools! If you think you are interested in any of these opportunities, be sure to fill out this form and we will get into touch!

Future-focused strategic design: This process, rooted in design theory usually occurs over the course of 12-18 months, and allows schools to look forward strategically. Whether a school is looking for a written document called a Strategic Plan or a set of strategic principles that will guide their work, this process is not just about the product. Our process is both proprietary and transformative in nature.

Building Cultures of Collaboration: Whether a school wants to focus on their administrative team, their leaders, their teachers or possibly even their entire community, culture is of paramount importance. We have all heard that culture eats strategy for breakfast, and we agree. Leadership + Design works with schools over the course of a year to build, change or re-design how their teams collaborate, understand their relationships and ultimately work to grow capacity, invigorate truthful and honest communication and make connections.

Re-Imagining Time: Time is strategic, and how and why a school organizes it is of vital importance. L+D works with schools to reimagine time, and engage with their community as they build a new daily schedule. Again, the process is as important as the product, and this process can take anywhere from 12 -18 months.

Leadership Development, Individual and Team Coaching: Whether an individual looking for a process of reflection, learning and growth or a team needing to explore group dynamics and learn to work more effectively together, Leadership + Design partners with individuals and groups over the course of a school year to set goals, reflect and move leadership capacity forward. Our process builds capacity as well as moves teams and individuals in their leadership work.

Now the good news, if you think that any of the above partnership projects might be a good fit for your school in 2019-20, we have created an early sign-up for those schools that are interested in getting prepared to start next year.

We start projects in August, and January, so please take some time to fill out this form if you are thinking of any of this work for next year. While filling out this form is not all you would need to do to hire us, it does allow us to follow up with you between now and when you want to start, so that you are able to feel good about both the process and result.

The BEST news is that all of the projects described above have the potential to increase your enrollment, your net tuition revenue, and will also help you focus on and build the programs that are most effectively aligned with who you are and why you exist. Further, our process of partnering with schools is a product in and of itself. So, definitely complete this form , and then we would also recommend that somebody go out and check in with your counselor. As you heard last month, crying is normal, even for counselors, but it might still be good to check in before she gathers too much of a crowd. 8th graders possess many skills, but consoling crying counselors in the hallway is still a growing competency in that age range. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

L+D