There is an increasing focus in today's organization on measuring results and calculating return on investment. Efforts of administrators today to control organizational endeavors are essential and generally aligned with current best practices. Control mechanisms, however, ultimately prove to be only part of the puzzle. Strategic planning, encompassing such activities as planning, performance measurement, program budgeting, and the like, has proven to be very useful but limited. It is a technical fix that gets at only part of the question of organizational effectiveness and only deals with some organizational dilemmas. In the face of such realities, the notion of strategic thinking emerges to fill the gaps and overcome the limitations that experience with strategic planning has proven to exhibit. This paper presents an integration of leadership ideas, strategic thinking and traditional planning activities in an effort to make important connections and important distinctions.

This paper describes commissioned research on how a Wānanga, a Maori focused post school institution in New Zealand, perceived its strategic options following the publication of the Labour-led government's Tertiary Education Strategy 2007–2012 and the Statement of Education Priorities 2008–10 (Ministry of Education 2006). The research used a Delphi panel process that looks for consensus answers to specific research questions: How should the Wānanga respond to the policies sketched in the Tertiary Education Strategy and the Statement of Education Priorities? What is the range of issues that may need to be addressed as a result of this new policy framework? What options does the Wānanga have in addressing these issues? The Delphi process enabled a clear set of priorities to be established: provide quality teaching and learning reflecting Māori values and practices; develop a consistent internal philosophy based on tikanga and āhuatanga Māori; and provide second chance education for Māori and other learners.