Strategy development at MBO Zadkine Startcollege
The application
Jethro Bos, director of MBO Zadkine Startcollege, and his team of sixty professionals were faced with the following challenge: how to create and maintain enthusiasm for long-term goals among education professionals, who work day in and day out with young people with a short-term perspective?
Flatland’s Simone Heemskerk advised using the power of visualisations. Both in the final product and in the process. Flatland designed a programme of content as well as facilitated the session, where all findings and conclusions retrieved during the strategy two-day session were visualised on the spot. “And that way, after two days you have a visual final product that everyone recognises and wants to rally behind.“
''My fellow executives are impressed with the way strategy, tactics and operations are made visible in context.''
The solution: getting concrete through visualisation
Every single drawing in the school plan tells its own story. And so the school plan possesses many stories showing the ideas, opinions and findings of all professionals. All these stories make one complete picture of the strategic objectives. So that everyone sees it as common goals.
During the strategy sessions, new, creative insights were gained and shared, so that everyone present sees the same picture of the future. Relevant topics were discussed and critically questioned. Developments and possible scenarios became visible and abstract strategic goals, such as innovation, were given concrete meaning. Because you cannot keep thinking and talking in abstract terms. A visualisation compels very well to become concrete.
Working together on a shared picture creates a clear basis for making choices together. Such as drawing up action plans, implementation programmes or determining the strategic options.
Jethro underlines this from practice:
“In Zadkine Startcollege’s school plan, the many separate drawings lead to one visual end product. And that one really does justice to the strategy two-day process. A clear framework for managers and advisers to work on ambitions in the school plan.“
The result
Result: a visual reminder keeps the topic on the agenda
”The world is changing and society is not engineerable or predictable. As an organisation, you have to stay on top of this constantly. Strategic objectives and actions are adjusted. But the visualisation we made together during our discussion at the strategy two-day event is for several years. It contains the essence of our change and therefore remains recognisable for all employees. Hence, the visual has become the capstone of our interactive school plan,” Jethro says.
The final product of the two days was processed into a school plan containing the strategic objectives for the coming years, elaborated in themes and ambitions. In an interactive form: a clickable online document in which all topics can be viewed separately. And updates can be made so that the school plan is always up to date.
The visual is visibly hung up (in addition to online) in the school, making it a constant reminder for everyone. The participants of the strategy sessions co-own the outcomes and contribute to success in the follow-up.
Visual Designer
