👋 Sam Fitzpatrick

We can't [...] until [...] Two weeks of rewrites. Some stories hold us together. Others hold us back.

#️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ is about rugby, systems change, and stories. It's aggressively on-brand for me.

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

We can't [...] until [...] Two weeks of rewrites. Some stories hold us together. Others hold us back.

#️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ is about rugby, systems change, and stories. It's aggressively on-brand for me.

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

If I were advising the government, these are the sorts of swat teams I'd be promoting.

www.instagram.com/reel/DG1YWSW...

Thanks for reading, Madeleine, much appreciated! 🙏

🇺🇸 Uncommon, unsettled, unresolved I went to New York City looking for answers and all I got was a brand new bunch of questions to mull over and over and over and over and over and over and over

#️⃣2️⃣4️⃣ is a messy set of reflections following a recent study tour to NYC with the @leadeast100.bsky.social and @leadyorks100.bsky.social folks.

More questions than answers.

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

Please hold, your future is important to us A fresh look at schools through the lens of queueing theory—exploring how visible and invisible waits shape young people’s experience, and what we might redesign with care and intent.

#️⃣2️⃣1️⃣ is about queueing theory.

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

How to build a mandate for change (when no one’s asking for one) No crisis? No permission? No problem.

#️⃣2️⃣3️⃣ is about (creating a mandate for) change

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

The false economies we can’t afford Making space for what really matters

#️⃣2️⃣2️⃣ is about false economies

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

Please hold, your future is important to us A fresh look at schools through the lens of queueing theory—exploring how visible and invisible waits shape young people’s experience, and what we might redesign with care and intent.

#️⃣2️⃣1️⃣ is about queueing theory.

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

#️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ is an attempt to put some shape on an alternative.

bsky.app/profile/sam-...

Re-designing school trusts from first principles Deliberately structured to remove friction, unlock potential, and make it easier for the people closest to children to do their best work.

This piece is part provocation, part blueprint.

It’s an argument against inheritance and habit—and a call for coherence, imagination, and purposeful trust design.

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

The problem with Brutalism, Brasília and blueprints Schools are complex systems—let’s stop managing them like machines

#️⃣1️⃣9️⃣ is about why we need to stop managing schools as if they were machines.

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

Preface: Beyond The Blueprint Schools are complex, adaptive systems yet we manage them as if they were machines. This series explores how trust structures can evolve—moving from control to enablement, from compliance to coherence.

#️⃣1️⃣8️⃣ is about my plan for the next three articles. I want to explore how trusts can better support schools (*if* we accept the proposition that schools aren't linear, predictable machines but, rather, complex, adaptive ecosystems).

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

Preface: Beyond The Blueprint Schools are complex, adaptive systems yet we manage them as if they were machines. This series explores how trust structures can evolve—moving from control to enablement, from compliance to coherence.

#️⃣1️⃣8️⃣ is about my plan for the next three articles. I want to explore how trusts can better support schools (*if* we accept the proposition that schools aren't linear, predictable machines but, rather, complex, adaptive ecosystems).

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

A service designer, a behavioural economist and a mediator walk into Parents’ Evening… What would Parents' Evening look like if we designed for the edges?

#️⃣1️⃣7️⃣ is about parents’ evening (but really it’s about inclusive design).

samfitzpatrick.substack.com/p/a-service-...

Apollo 13 & the linear illusion Leading in a polycrisis

#️⃣1️⃣6️⃣ is about complexity. If these are properly complex times we’re living in, we need to lean in and lead differently.

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

The allure of behavioural solutions Matryoshka dolls, Bronfenbrenner and systemic change

#️⃣1️⃣5️⃣ is about the allure of behavioural solutions (over and above systemic ones)

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

A service designer, a behavioural economist and a mediator walk into Parents’ Evening… What would Parents' Evening look like if we designed for the edges?

What would parents' evening look like if we designed it for the people who weren't there?

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

It's such a generous and helpful resource this, Ed. It's bookmark #1 in my browser! Thank you 🙏

A service designer, a behavioural economist and a mediator walk into Parents’ Evening… What would Parents' Evening look like if we designed for the edges?

What would parents' evening look like if we designed it for the people who weren't there?

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

The allure of behavioural solutions Matryoshka dolls, Bronfenbrenner and systemic change

#️⃣1️⃣5️⃣ is about the allure of behavioural solutions. How they're great, and all, but we can't let them crowd out other approaches to problem solving.

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

Forced rhubarb (and the tyranny of short-termism) Why do immediate pressures crowd out long-term thinking? How and why do we let that happen? Is it inevitable? Immutable? Can we... hack it?

#️⃣1️⃣4️⃣ is me trying to work out how and why the immediate crowds out the important.

open.substack.com/pub/samfitzp...

Beyond the obvious This is a short(ish) personal reflection on how challenging it can be to look 'beyond the frame' (even when I've expressly said that is what I want to do 🙄)

#️⃣1️⃣3️⃣ is a bit of a personal reflection on why it's hard to look 'beyond the obvious'

samfitzpatrick.substack.com/p/beyond-the...

What can we learn from 'toxic' brands? Change alone isn’t enough—how leaders tell the story of that change determines whether it succeeds and sustains, or not.

💬 Picture this: you’ve just taken over a school where the brand—if it can be called that—is toxic. Morale is low, parents are whispering, and students are disengaged.

Plus, Tim Messenger from The Sandford Citizen is on your back.

#️⃣1️⃣2️⃣ is about brand recovery. And why just fixing stuff isn't enough.

bsky.app/profile/sam-...

What can we learn from 'toxic' brands? Change alone isn’t enough—how leaders tell the story of that change determines whether it succeeds and sustains, or not.

If you’re a school leader grappling with tough challenges—or just curious about how storytelling intersects with leadership—I’d love for you to read, reflect, and share your thoughts. 🙏

https://buff.ly/4hjo77N

Drawing on lessons from brands like Apple and Airbnb (the two organisations that first came to mind when walking my dog!), I wanted to explore why 'narrating change' is so essential and how school leaders can use 'narrative as a resource' to rebuild trust, reshape culture, and redefine success.

Because the story you tell will determine how people experience, interpret, and ultimately support the transformation. Without a compelling narrative, even the best-intentioned efforts can be misunderstood, resisted, or ignored.

What do you do?

Well, you know what to do to fix it. And you will. The provocation in this article is that 'just fixing it' isn’t enough.

Why?

What can we learn from 'toxic' brands? Change alone isn’t enough—how leaders tell the story of that change determines whether it succeeds and sustains, or not.

💬 Picture this: you’ve just taken over a school where the brand—if it can be called that—is toxic. Morale is low, parents are whispering, and students are disengaged.

Plus, Tim Messenger from The Sandford Citizen is on your back.