Design change that fits a real week, not your best one Simon Breakspear1 September 2026 A while back I volunteered to bring two salads to a big family gathering. I own an Ottolenghi cookbook, so I aimed high. Three hours, two extra trips to the shops and one hunt...
The Rumble Strips of School Improvement Simon Breakspear25 August 2026 I’ve been deep in the final edits of my new book, Lean Monitoring, these past few weeks, and one idea keeps following me out of the manuscript and into my conversations with school leaders....
Feedback That Actually Lands Simon Breakspear14 July 2026 Ask a room of school leaders why they avoid an important conversation about someone’s behaviour, and the list is always the same: too busy, uncomfortable, worried about the reaction, don’t want to...
Stop taking resistance to change personally Simon Breakspear2 June 2026 Last month, I was coaching a school leader who had shared a well-researched change proposal with her team. The response was hesitation and quiet pushback. She said to me, “I don’t...
I-Mode and R-Mode Leadership Simon Breakspear5 May 2026 A few weeks ago I was bundling the kids into the Kia Sorento for the school run. My eight-year-old climbed in, clipped his seatbelt, and within thirty seconds said what he always says. “Dad, can we put it...
Most change failure isn’t an idea problem. It’s an absorption problem. Simon Breakspear20 April 2026 I used to teach Year 9 science. Metabolism is the set of processes by which a living organism transforms and regulates energy and materials to stay...
