Schools love a fresh strategic plan. Can I get an Amen?

Every few years, a new one rolls out - polished, promising, and packed with big ideas. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: most schools don’t stop to ask whether the last plan actually worked before drafting the next one.

Instead, they hit the reset button, treating strategy like a brand-new experiment instead of a learning process.

And that’s a problem.

Without a structured review, strategy formation turns into a guessing game. Schools risk repeating the same mistakes, overlooking incremental progress, and- let’s be honest - just shuffling the deck chairs rather than steering the ship forward.

So, why does this happen? And more importantly, how can schools stop running in circles and start building on what actually works?

The Strategic Amnesia Problem

Most schools assume that because they wrote a strategy document, they’ve done strategy. But strategy isn’t about making plans—it’s about making progress. Without reflection, schools fall into two common traps:

1. Survival Mode Thinking – The daily grind of running a school drowns out strategic reflection. By the time a new planning cycle begins, leaders are so focused on the next big thing that they forget to check whether the last big thing worked.
2. Fear of the Post-Mortem – Reviewing the past means confronting hard truths. Schools may avoid serious reflection because it risks exposing unfinished projects, disappointing results, or strategic blind spots.

The result? A cycle of strategic amnesia, where each new plan is built on assumptions rather than evidence.

The Simple Fix: Review Before You Plan

The good news? There’s an easy way to break the cycle. It’s called an After-Action Review (AAR)—a structured process that turns reflection into strategy fuel.

The AAR Framework: Beyond the Victory Lap

Most schools are great at celebrating wins. They hold end-of-year presentations, issue glossy reports, and high-five their successes. But celebration isn’t the same as reflection.

An AAR digs deeper and asks four blunt but necessary questions:

1. What was supposed to happen?
   (What did we actually set out to do?)
2. What actually happened?
   (Did we nail it, miss it, or land somewhere in between?)
3. Why did it happen that way?
   (What forces—internal or external—shaped the outcome?)
4. What should we do next time?
   (How do we get sharper, brighter, and more effective?)

Unlike a token debrief, an AAR isn’t about assigning blame. It’s about extracting real insights so the next plan is more imaginative, not just shinier.

Turning AAR Insights into a Strategic Edge

Once schools start using AARs, the real challenge is ensuring those insights don’t gather dust. Here’s how to keep them in play:

1. Separate Execution from Strategy

Not every failed initiative means the strategy was terrible. Was the idea flawed, or was the execution off? Schools need to be brutally honest about whether a goal was unachievable or just poorly implemented.

2. Create a ‘What We Learned’ Report

Before writing a new strategic plan, leadership teams should consolidate key takeaways from past AARs. This document should be required reading before the next planning cycle begins.

3. Make ‘Review First’ a Non-Negotiable Step

Before launching a new plan, schools should dedicate time to structured reflection. This might involve a retreat, a structured survey, or a no-holds-barred discussion on what’s actually working—and what’s just wishful thinking.

Using Richard Rumelt’s Strategy Evaluation to Review Past Plans

Before implementing a new strategy, school leaders should take a step back and critically assess whether their previous plan was built on a solid foundation.

Richard Rumelt’s four criteria for assessing strategic soundness provide a structured way to do this, helping schools identify whether past strategies were effective, realistic, and aligned with internal capabilities and external realities.

By applying these principles before drafting a new plan, schools can avoid recycling flawed approaches and instead develop an informed and actionable strategy.

1. Consistency – Was the last strategy internally coherent, or did different initiatives pull in competing directions? For example, a school may have set a goal to foster student-centred learning while simultaneously increasing standardised testing benchmarks. If these priorities weren’t carefully aligned, they may have undermined each other, leaving teachers caught between two opposing mandates. Reviewing for consistency helps schools identify conflicting goals and refine their approach to ensure alignment in future strategies.
2. Consonance – Did the strategy align with external realities, such as shifting education trends and stakeholder expectations?
3. Feasibility – Were the goals realistic given the school’s resources, culture, and constraints?
4. Advantage – Did the strategy create a meaningful competitive or operational edge for the school?

Applying these filters to the last plan provides a sharper assessment than a simple “Did we achieve our goals?” review. It forces leadership to acknowledge whether the strategy itself was sound or whether they were trying to execute a flawed blueprint.

By pairing Rumelt’s criteria with an After-Action Review, schools can determine what happened and why and use that insight to build a smarter future plan.

Has Your School Actually Reviewed Its Last Plan?

Want to know if your school is genuinely learning from past strategy? Run this quick litmus test:

• Is there a documented review of the last strategy’s outcomes?
• Have you identified patterns in what worked and what didn’t?
• Do staff and stakeholders feel they have a say in reviewing past initiatives?
• Are the lessons from past plans explicitly referenced in the new strategy?

If the answer to any of these is “no,” you’re likely operating on hope rather than evidence.

The Missing Link in School Strategy

Schools are built on learning, yet many fail to learn from their own strategic history. Embedding structured review through After Action Reviews turns strategy from an abstract document into a real driver of improvement.

The best strategy isn’t just forward-looking—it’s reflective. Schools that embrace this won’t just churn out another five-year plan; they’ll build a smarter, sharper culture of continuous improvement.

Before your next strategy cycle begins, ask: What did we actually learn?