A strategic safari: Steps and strategies that initiate and sustain traditional strategic and future -based planning in selected California school districts

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the strategies that selected superintendents use in traditional strategic and future-based planning to initiate and sustain an ongoing change process in their organizations. This study also identified and described those strategies that these superintendents judge to be effective to create and develop the organization's capacity to initiate and sustain ongoing change processes.;Methodology. An exploratory, descriptive study was conducted with eight superintendents who were selected through a nomination process. A matrix from the literature that focused on the four planning steps in traditional strategic and future-based planning was used to anticipate the examples of behaviors and strategies these superintendents used in practice. Qualitative data from face-to-face interviews were used to identify, classify, and then create frequency tables containing examples of strategies reported by these superintendents.;Findings. Superintendents in this study: (1) develop relationships with individuals and groups outside their organization to increase strategic alliances; (2) involve people with diverse perspectives to develop and empower the entire organization around a common vision and core values; (3) develop ongoing professional training to encourage continuous learning and help people build capacity for continuous change; (4) use shared decision-making and self-organizing teams to implement flexible governance, interdependency among work groups, and develop entrepreneurial behavior; (5) use open communication systems with a high incidence of dialogue and coaching to create a better understanding and promote commitment toward the vision of the organization.;Conclusions. (1) Superintendents who used both traditional strategic and future-based planning found traditional strategic planning cumbersome, ineffective, and to create barriers for change. (2) A leader's communication behaviors link all phases of strategic planning and are necessary to successfully initiate and sustain an ongoing change process. (3) Leaders who want to build capacity in their organizations develop a learning culture and a system of rewards and incentives to reinforce new behaviors aligned with the strategic plan.;Recommendations. Provide forums and training programs for educational leaders to develop and expand their knowledge, skills, and capacity to select effective traditional and future-based strategies that initiate and sustain ongoing change in their organizations.