How We Work: Three Questions to Guide Organizational Strategy

Just say the words "strategic plan" and watch the room sigh in unison. For many organizations and schools, this process feels overwhelming, time-consuming, and disconnected from daily realities. Strategic plans aim to provide a shared purpose and clear direction, but the terms "strategy" and "plan" aren’t the same and, when combined, may cause confusion. Strategy sets the vision of where an organization is heading, while planning is the roadmap outlining how to reach those goals.

At GOA, we recently embarked on a strategic visioning process. Our mission has always kept us grounded, allowing for agility and responsiveness in a shifting educational landscape. Yet, as we initiated this new chapter, we intentionally paused to first clarify our identity and define our core values. Inspired by Gino Wickman's book, Traction, we refined our approach by focusing on three central questions: How do we gather? How do we grow? How do we collaborate?

We started by reconsidering how we bring people together. Using a collaborative, cross-team design process, we reimagined our retreats, both virtual and in-person, guided by staff input, organizational priorities, and intentional design principles.

Our goal was to create gatherings that did more than share updates or discuss tactics. We focused on cultivating belonging, surfacing meaningful strategic discussions, and strengthening collaboration across teams. Each retreat intentionally blended reflection, hands-on learning, cross-functional dialogue, and moments of fun and celebration.

For schools, PD days, division meetings, and all-faculty gatherings can become transformative when thoughtfully designed. These touchpoints offer powerful opportunities to deepen relationships, inspire fresh thinking, and emphasize collective purpose. The key is balancing strategy with human connection, shaping spaces where your team not only learns together but also feels seen, valued, and reconnected to the “why” behind your shared work.

In parallel, we reset our professional development approach to empower individual growth while advancing our collective purpose. Over several months, we engaged a cross-functional working group to combine outward-looking research on professional learning models with inward-looking insights gathered from team feedback and climate surveys.

Our updated growth framework is designed to serve both the team member and the organization, clarifying how people can develop their strengths, pursue meaningful goals, and connect personal development to institutional priorities. We are building structures that promote belonging, highlight individual strengths or “superpowers,” and embed growth as a continuous, shared practice, not just an annual exercise.

For schools, professional development is most effective when it's created with the people it serves, not just for them. When you align personal goals with organizational needs, you create a dynamic where individual growth and collective progress reinforce each other, strengthening the fabric of the school community.

We also reimagined how we work together across teams, building new collaboration structures that emphasize clarity, adaptability, and shared ownership. We aimed to create a project ecosystem that balances efficiency with transparency, ensuring the right voices are involved at the right moments, from discovery to reflection.

We approached this work through a lens of curiosity. We built a formal “discovery” phase into every project, intentionally slowing down to ask more questions than we answer early on. We also reframed feedback as an ongoing cultural practice, not just a checkpoint at the end, and clarified decision-making roles to help teams navigate ambiguity with confidence.

For instructional leaders, the takeaway isn’t to simply replicate our structures but rather to reflect on key questions that will help refine your own: Where in your processes can you create space to listen more deeply before acting? How can you surface the often-hidden tensions between collaboration and feedback? And where might you simplify or sharpen roles to unlock more meaningful contributions?

By sharing our evolving approach, we hope to spark fresh thinking and encourage schools to experiment boldly. With intentionality and openness, school leaders can design systems of growth, collaboration, and connection that energize their team and align with their strategic vision.

For more, see:

• GOA as a Lab School: Innovation Through Practice

• Empowering School Leaders: Rubrics for Reflection and Action

• 2025 Education Trends and Predictions: Pathways, Curiosity, and Co-Creation in a Blended World

GOA is a nonprofit learning organization that reimagines learning to empower students and educators worldwide. In partnership with our global network of 150 schools, we provide interactive, relationship-driven courses, expert resources, and innovative thinking that help to expand and elevate academic programs. Together, we help students and educators become open to the extraordinary.

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