The notion of localism and decentralization in national policy has come increasingly to the fore in recent years. The national succession planning strategy for headteachers in England introduced by the National College for School Leadership promoted "local solutions for a national challenge". This article deals with some aspects of the tensions inherent in seeking to achieve large-scale policy goals by taking a localizing approach. The concepts of complex adaptive systems are used as a framework within which to analyse and interpret the design and impact of the strategy. An insight offered is that responses to any strategy or initiative are always local. Some propositions are made about the circumstances in which desired results might be expected to emerge, the distinctive behaviours that may be required of leaders and some reflections on the nature of the succession planning challenge.