The fundamental decision I make each day is around how to direct my attention. As a headteacher, I have more autonomy over how I choose to spend my time than anyone else in the school. It is both a blessing and a curse. I can choose to fill my days with meetings, observing teaching, doing … Continue reading Live with complexity, attend to the complicated
Category: Leadership
Problems require resolutions
Have you noticed how many of the problems we face in schools never actually get solved? Think about student behaviour, attainment gaps, workload or mental health... conceiving of these as problems for which we will find 'solutions' is daft. We don't solve these problems in the sense of solving a crossword puzzle, or fix them … Continue reading Problems require resolutions
Replicating leadership
As I write, Roy Batty is dying. The humanoid anti-hero of the film Bladerunner sits facing his adversary, the assassin known as Decker, and utters one of the most compelling monologues in movie history. During his brief existence, Roy is on a quest to escape his destiny – to be more than a ‘replicant’ of … Continue reading Replicating leadership
Why style should go out of fashion
Part of the accepted wisdom of leadership is that successful leaders vary their style according to the situation they are facing. The classic version of 'situational leadership' was developed by Hersey¹ and Blanchard throughout the 60's, 70's and 80's. The basic premise is that effective leadership is task-relevant i.e. leaders respond to the nature of the … Continue reading Why style should go out of fashion
The Two Forms of Expertise
When we think of experts (you know, the ones we've had enough of, according to Michael Gove) we might think of a specialist surgeon, a researcher into climate change, or a Nobel prize winning physicist. Perhaps we'd think of a more everyday expert, like a financial advisor, or that talented mechanic who worked out what … Continue reading The Two Forms of Expertise
Leading beyond what is known
There are some things that you know to be true, and others that you know to be false; yet, despite this extensive knowledge that you have, there remain many things whose truth or falsity is not known to you. We say that you are uncertain about them. You are uncertain, to varying degrees, about everything … Continue reading Leading beyond what is known
The untethered skills of leadership
Is there a definable group of skills that leaders should possess? Most people who give this question any thought would say yes - it is easy to come up with a list of skills we identify with leadership. However, I find the idea increasingly problematic. In essence, this is what I think troubles me about … Continue reading The untethered skills of leadership
In-between days
“A map can never replicate the ground itself. Often our mapping sessions would induce us to bite off more than we can chew. At home we would plot a route over terrain that would, in reality, turn out to be sucking bog, or knee-high heather, or a wide boulder-field thick with snow. Sometimes a landscape … Continue reading In-between days
There’s No Such Thing As Leadership
The essence of my talk at ResearchED Rugby 2019. Do you have a leadership position in a school? If so, think about the last day you were in work. For what proportion of the day were you leading? 100% (its everything I do!), 70%, 30%... less than 10%? And what were you doing that constituted … Continue reading There’s No Such Thing As Leadership
Green Eggs and Ham
Green Eggs and Ham was published in 1960. It is a children's book, written by Dr. Seuss and contains only 50 words; a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, … Continue reading Green Eggs and Ham
Matthew Evans 