The importance of concepts over terminology

Pilot Outputs

"We had to take account of the mission, vision and values of our parent organisation. It may be the case that these areas are outside of the remit of the people using the kit - this needs to be made clear when using the kit by whoever is coordinating the use of the kit so that time is not wasted trying to change what cannot be changed - however mapping 'what this means for us' was a useful exercise. The question we asked was: "Given the values of our parent organisation what is the unique contribution that Beaumont College can bring?". We thought the section on mission, vision and values helped clarify a number of issues for the team and in completing the exercises focussed people's attention on 'future talk' which was energising and helpful. It brought to light shared assumptions which were interesting to articulate given the different range of experiences of different team members.

The exercises also brought to light the complexity of aligning the Colleges strategy with that of the parent organisation. Going through the process helped to reinforce once again the importance of clarity in this key area, particularly with regard to governance. A particular point of interest to the Principal was feeding back to governors on the use of the InfoKit and how sophisticated the process was and how it had already begun to develop confidence and competence in the leadership team in handling concepts like mission and vision."