Leadership
We can describe a multi-academy trust very neatly.
There is an executive team. Central functions. Regional structures. Schools. Committees. Reporting lines and accountability.
But that is not necessarily how the organisation actually works.
Knowledge rarely moves only through formal structures. Advice, influence, challenge and problem solving often travel through relationships that sit alongside the organisation chart. Some are visible. Many are not.
That matters.
Research into social networks has consistently shown the importance of connections between people who would otherwise sit in separate groups. It also highlights the value of individuals who bridge gaps between different networks, helping information, knowledge and opportunity move across organisational boundaries.
Applied to a multi-academy trust, the implications are significant.
Two headteachers might occupy exactly the same position on an organisational chart, with the same reporting relationship and broadly similar responsibilities.
But their experience of the organisation can be completely different.
One may speak regularly with five other heads, have strong relationships with colleagues in the central team, know who to contact when something goes wrong and feel confident asking for advice.
Another may primarily interact with their own school and formal line manager.
Structurally, they are identical. Relationally, they are very different.
As trusts grow, I think one of the most valuable leadership exercises is therefore to understand the network that actually exists.
Where does advice really come from?
Who do colleagues contact when they need help rather than when the process tells them to?
Who connects education with technology, finance with operations, or schools with the central team?
Where is important knowledge repeatedly held by one individual?
And which colleagues have quietly become critical points of organisational dependency simply because they are trusted, connected and know how things really work?
This becomes particularly important as trusts mature digitally.
Technology can make communication easier and information more accessible, but it does not automatically create meaningful connection. In fact, more platforms, more channels and more information can just as easily create additional noise.
The objective should not be maximum connectivity.
It should be purposeful connectivity.
For our Digital Leadership Summit, that is what makes Connect much more than an invitation to network.
Connect is an organisational design challenge.
It is about understanding how knowledge, trust and influence move through the trust. It is about ensuring that expertise is not trapped within individual schools, teams or roles. And it is about creating deliberate connections between the people responsible for education, operations, finance, people, data and technology.
Digital maturity increasingly depends upon this.
A trust can have excellent systems and still struggle if the relationships between those systems, teams and decisions are weak. Equally, strong networks can help organisations adapt more quickly, share practice more effectively and make better use of the expertise that already exists within them.
Perhaps the most useful question is this:
If we removed every formal reporting line from the organisation chart and instead mapped where knowledge, trust and influence actually flowed, what would our organisation look like?
And, more importantly, is that the organisation we intended to build?
Jonny Wathen
CEO, TransforMATive
TransforMATive Insights brings together learning from our work with multi-academy trusts, sector leaders and partners, informed by the latest research and emerging evidence, to explore the issues, opportunities and practical choices shaping digital leadership across education.
