Mark Stevenson

Most strategic frameworks were built for a more orderly world. Boards are now making capital decisions across climate, geopolitics, technology and the loss of trust in institutions, and these have stopped behaving as separate items on a risk register. The harder problem is no longer choosing the right answer to any one of them, but holding a workable stance when the variables move together and feeding the wrong assumptions into the rest of the strategy carries real cost.

Mark Stevenson helps governments, investors and senior leaders make decisions they can defend when climate, democracy, market risk and technology have stopped behaving as separate problems.

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Why organisations work with Mark Stevenson

Two bestselling books, An Optimist’s Tour of the Future and We Do Things Differently, that don’t theorise innovation but document it on the ground across four continents. Senior leaders get evidence of what already works, not opinions about what should.
Operating experience to back up the advice. Stevenson is Director of Strategy and Special Projects at soil health business Oath, writing from inside a venture of the kind he asks boards to study.
Cross-domain advisory range from the UK Ministry of Defence on peace and national security, to Médecins Sans Frontières on climate strategy, to GSMA on purpose. Few advisors hold credibility across that spread of rooms.
A working stance on uncertainty for leaders who can no longer rely on prediction. The “reluctant futurist” framing names the discomfort buyers feel about boardroom forecasting and offers something more useful in its place.
Stagecraft from a comedy and music background that makes serious material land. He gets a sceptical or hostile room engaged without softening the argument.

Biography highlights

Author of An Optimist’s Tour of the Future (Profile Books, translated into 12 languages) and We Do Things Differently: The Outsiders Rebooting Our World
Director of Strategy and Special Projects at soil health business Oath
Co-founder of carbon removals firm CUR8
Global Ambassador for environmental law firm ClientEarth
Former strategic advisor on peace, national security and climate change to the UK Ministry of Defence
Has advised Médecins Sans Frontières (UK/Ireland) and the GSMA on long-term strategy
Co-host of Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts podcast with comedian Jon Richardson and writer Ed Gillespie

Biography

Most boards still operate on a model of prediction. But the variables that shape strategy now move together and feed each other. Climate, geopolitics, technology and the failures of markets to price risk properly are not separate items on a register. They are aspects of the same problem.

Mark Stevenson works the seam where senior leaders have to make confident decisions without the luxury of confident forecasts. His two books, An Optimist’s Tour of the Future and the bestselling We Do Things Differently, are field reports rather than theory. Both document the people and ventures actually rebuilding broken systems in education, energy, healthcare, food and finance.

His advisory practice spans governments, NGOs, investors and multinational organisations, and covers ground few in this category can match. He has been strategic advisor on peace, national security and climate change to the UK Ministry of Defence. He is ‘Futurist without Borders’ for Médecins Sans Frontières (UK/Ireland), strategic advisor to the GSMA, and Global Ambassador for environmental law firm ClientEarth. Alongside that, he is Director of Strategy and Special Projects at soil health business Oath, working on systems change from inside a venture rather than commenting on it from the gallery.

Some of this is lived. Stevenson’s understanding of leadership under uncertainty is also shaped by his own recovery from Complex-PTSD, an experience of leading through profound personal disorientation. It is part of why his keynotes treat the emotional and relational dimensions of change as seriously as the strategic ones, and why he is unusually direct about what it costs leaders to hold composure when the ground moves.

Key speaking topics

Systems change and systems literacy
Strategic foresight under deep uncertainty
Innovation in failing systems
Future of technology and society
Climate, democracy and market risk as connected challenges
Storytelling and stagecraft for serious material

Ideal for

Senior leadership teams and boards
Strategy, innovation and foresight functions
Investors and capital allocators making long-horizon decisions
Policy makers and public sector audiences

Audience outcomes

A way to look at climate, geopolitics, technology and trust in institutions as one problem rather than four
Specific examples of innovators already rebuilding broken systems at scale, drawn from Stevenson’s own field research
A working stance on uncertainty for leaders who can no longer rely on prediction-based planning
A sharper view of where their organisation may be committing capital to outdated assumptions about how the world works

Available for

Speaking Themes

Languages

English

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Videos

Testimonials

Helps to make big picture connections and has many times translated difficult challenges, questions and debates into language that we all (not just senior management - all staff) understand and can relate to.

Melanie Stevenson

Strategic Planning Lead, Medicines Sans Frontiers UK

Mark did a spellbinding job. It was a tremendous speech met with a standing ovation. It is not often that you can hear a pin drop in a room that size – but the audience was enthralled. Wonderful!

Elliot Pullman

CEO, US Space Foundation

Mark Stevenson is an asset to anyone's team. He brings a wide diversity of thinking, coupled with a determination not to let things go if they are good ideas, and combines that with humour and extraordinary strategic insight. His links to people who are not usually available to us, and his willingness to think the unthinkable and then act on it, have proved potentially ground-breaking. I would strongly encourage others to use Mark's talents - and enjoy the experience in the process.

Lieutenant General R E Nugee CB CVO CBE

Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy Lead, Ministry of Defence

Mark always has his eye on the prize, which means taking action that creates a positive impact in the world. He doesn’t shrink from asking tough questions and challenging our industry to do better. And that is one of Mark’s gifts as a strategic advisor — he pushes us beyond our familiar territory to recognise the wider systemic context.

Arran Riddle

Content Director for Policy and Regulation, GSMA

Mark delivered a thought-provoking session at our recent event, truly holding a mirror up to the audience and the pivotal role our industry plays in shaping the future. While he didn’t shy away from presenting some uncomfortable truths (and adeptly using humour to do so) his insights were both eye-opening and necessary. The actionable tips he provided offered tangible ideas that attendees could apply in their professional and personal lives. Mark’s session was a good blend of challenging perspectives and practical advice, leaving a lasting impact on those who attended.

Maxine Berry

Marketing Office, Allianz UK

Mark was the highlight of the whole two-day event. His session was perfect from start to finish. It was absolutely the right fit for our agenda, and he did an amazing job tailoring the message to the group and really making us think. People couldn’t stop talking about how great he was.

Joseph Harrison

Associate Director, Deloitte

Mark’s though-provoking speech really engaged our audience. We had numerous compliments from our participants after the event, and the questions asked during the Q&A session clearly demonstrated that they had thought about the content - not only from a professional perspective but also from a private perspective. I also noted an energy/engagement in the room – participants taking photos and making numerous notes. One of the things that impressed was how Mark listened in to the previous presentations from some of our internal speakers and wove in a few comments on what they had said to the presentation. This added an extra level of relevance to our participants. We were also impressed with his contributions to the breakout sessions, he encouraged/challenged participants to think differently. It gave us lots of food for thought on how we should approach innovation going forward. A fabulous job!

Ernst and Young

He didn’t pull any punches and told it like it was, using blend of humour, intellect and deep insight to really provoke the audience. The feedback we’ve received has been excellent.

IAG

We were thrilled to have Mark and he received so much positive feedback from our guests. Besides his brilliant keynote which he designed perfectly for our specific conference and topics, Mark is so easy to work with. kind, humorous and easy going. I would recommend him to anyone.

Danskebank

Mark’s presentation was uplifting, entertaining and enlightening. Working in Pharmaceuticals we have a very limited view of the world and his talk delivered important messages around change, breaking rules and the importance of innovation, presented in a manner that was both humorous, practical and entertaining.

Caitriona O'Brien

Innovation Manager, Abbvie

Mark had an auditorium of 1,500 people spellbound from the outset. He captivated a discerning audience of surgeons with an informal, humorous and very personal style: his concluding points were brilliant and his final message was met with thunderous applause. I very much look forward to hearing Mark again and strongly commend him to any conference organiser in search of a stimulating and engaging speaker.

Mike Kimmons

CEO, British Orthopaedic Association

A really powerful session and encouraged people to think differently without being patronising and without over-simplifying things. It gave us time to look at things from a completely different perspective and an opportunity to consider how we might influence the bigger picture, not only just of our organisation, but of the whole health agenda in general. Mark’s ability to engage with the audience throughout was excellent and his knowledge of the subject matter brilliant. His ability to relate futurist concepts back to the work that we do was very thought provoking and helped to put everything into perspective. An excellent speaker and presenter (and very funny too)

Alison Meardon

Head of Learning & Organisation Development, NHS Blood & Transplant

Mark was the highlight of the whole two day event. His session was perfect from start to finish. It was absolutely the right fit for our agenda and he did an amazing job tailoring the message to the group and really making us think. People couldn’t stop talking about how great he was.

Joseph Harrison

Associate Director, Deloitte

Mark was an excellent, thought provoking and highly entertaining speaker, opening the annual international conference for our profession. He was just the right mix of informative, humorous, challenging and engaging. He was well prepared, rehearsed and professional. We had only positive feedback. Mark was also very giving of his time throughout the remainder of the conference. I can highly recommend him.

Simon Rowell

Partner, James & Wells Intellectual Property

Mark is an entertaining and engaging speaker and has a rare gift for making complex subjects clear and accessible without straying into glibness. We were impressed that several audience members commented that his talk spoke directly to their own desire to create change. Mark is practical yet has the capacity to inspire - you don't get both very often.

Gaia Marcus

Connected Communities, RSA

Books

An Optimist’s Tour of the Future

When unexpectedly confronted with his own mortality, Mark Stevenson began to ponder what the future holds for our species. Steven…

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We Do Things Differently: The outsiders rebooting our world

Our systems are failing. Old models – for education, healthcare, government, food production and energy supply – are creaking…