Stuart Thomas

Principal Consultant

I joined IOD PARC in 2017 and am a principal consultant. My work is about ‘point-in-time capturing’ and sense-making the narratives of how organisations are operating; how they are implementing their strategies and running their programmes. Within this practice, I don’t just look at the mechanics of the organisation – the policies and practices that are seen on the ‘surface’. Instead, I try to consider what is going on ‘below the surface’; in the recursive patterns of behaviour, the shared unwritten rules, the drivers and motivations, and the collective emotional patterns and relationships of the people within and between the organisation and its partners.

Increasingly, I work with organisations in the climate and environment space, who, themselves, try to work or think about transformative and systems change. Within this arena, I believe the innovation and disruption we need are fundamentally behavioural rather than technological. I see the need to address the systemic failures in our cultural and social systems that continue to incentivise and enable ongoing damage to our planet. Recent clients include WFP, Wellcome Trust, and EIT Climate-KIC.

I have been carrying out research and evaluation for over 15 years. I have an MA (Distinction) in International Development, a BSc (First Class) in Psychology, and a Foundation in Group Analysis from the Institute of Group Analysis.