ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the key transition issues facing an incoming or established Head of University as they grapple with how to ‘be strategic’ and ‘develop a strategy’ as a leader rather than a member of the senior team. Strategising in the adaptive context requires a process of watching and responding to changes in the environment by capturing change signals and managing a portfolio of experiments. Adaptive firms continuously vary the way they do business by trying many novel approaches and then scaling up and exploiting the most promising before repeating the cycle. The scenarios offer an opportunity for leaders to explore what and how higher education might respond to these alternative futures. The scenarios then allow one to consider the potential implications for current strategic agendas. Some stress testing can also be undertaken to assess the risks and opportunities that arise for each picture of the future.
