Peter Scott-Morgan

Peter Bowman Scott-Morgan (born Peter Bowman Scott on April 19, 1958) is a British/American organizational theorist, management consultant, author, and expert on the hidden inner workings of organizations and society.
In the 1980s, he invented techniques that have since been widely applied to reveal how complex social systems behave and to highlight associated systemic risks. Since he pioneered their initial use in corporate change management, his approaches have been adopted by academics, consultants, and major organizations around the world.
Based on data collated from the application of his techniques, he has published increasingly comprehensive analyses of how the world economy and international community in reality operate and the best ways to deal with in-built problems. From 2007 he has focused exclusively on addressing global threats.
Career
Scott-Morgan was born in London, UK and educated at King's College School and The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine where he gained the first PhD granted by a robotics faculty in the UK. He subsequently joined the international management consulting firm Arthur D. Little. Building on the approach he had used for his PhD research (explained as "applying the rigor of like cybernetics, systems thinking and complexity theory to like sociology, economics, and political science") Scott-Morgan devised a methodology that his company later described as "turning conventional interviewing technique on its head" in order to uncover the logic behind the (often hidden) true behavior of organizations and society. Lynda Gratton, a professor at London Business School, writes that in 1985 she became intrigued by these ideas when she first met Scott-Morgan "who at that time was beginning to develop a process which he called 'the unwritten rules of the game'."
From the early 1990s, Arthur D. Little was publishing articles about the successful application of Scott-Morgan's techniques. Former colleagues have named two of these early examples as Philips Consumer Electronics and the Argentinian national oil company YPF. The former-head of Process Review at British Petroleum has published that in 1992 his corporation's "search for best practice in the consulting world led to my meeting Peter Scott-Morgan and learning of his insights into understanding - and changing - the Unwritten Rules of the Game." He then describes how BP tested, and became convinced of, the validity of Scott-Morgan's technique and went on to apply it in several major operating centers. There are specific accounts of its early use at BP's Wytch Farm oilfield. Arthur D. Little has subsequently revealed that from the mid-1990s conducting an Unwritten Rules assignment became something of a rite of passage amongst its 3000 consultants - on the theory that "once you've fed back to a CEO ... and survived ... then you can do anything." and having successfully applied his technique in a wide variety of companies throughout North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific region, and Latin America, He has subsequently followed parallel paths in academia and business, including to the World Economic Forum, the United Nations Industrial Development Authority (UNIDO), and the US Congress.
Academia, management consulting and business
His concepts have been used as the theoretical framework for a range of academic research across different countries, and his work is cited in numerous academic papers, scholarly books, as well as specialist postings on the internet. A top academic on organizational behavior has explained that "What attracts me is the way in which rational and analytical rigor and systems thinking can bring such insight into the innermost workings of an organization." In the same interview she also gives examples of how since the early 1990s Scott-Morgan's emerging concepts "have featured strongly in my own thinking and writing". His ideas have been incorporated into a variety of management thinking and are also highlighted in various business books as well as business-related posts on the internet. In addition, several management consultancies have adopted his concepts and also reference his reputation; an expert in strategy implementation describes Scott-Morgan as "the most impressive facilitator I have ever come across". There are numerous accounts of major corporations that have applied his concepts - such as BP, Daimler-Benz, Hewlett-Packard, Lloyds TSB, and YPF. In profiles about him, Scott-Morgan is typically described in terms of his acknowledged authority on issues relating to how organizations and society really work. he is also considered a leading expert on how the future is developing and the hidden risks that industries, institutions and whole countries face as a result. Nearly one hundred international guests - including four generations of their family - gathered at Oldway Mansion in Devon. The BBC television coverage described it as a "wedding service ... was part of English legal history" and in an interview with Scott-Morgan reported him saying: "A decade before we could have been thrown in jail for just being a couple. Now the official position is that we're equal in law. We are a couple and we should be treated as a couple. People should not pay attention to race, religion or gender - they should be looking at the love."
At 8.30am on 10 December 2014, chosen as the first in Devon to do so, Peter and Francis Scott-Morgan signed the legal document which retrospectively converted their civil partnership to a marriage. Since they had been the first civil partnership in England, they are now recorded as having the first same-sex marriage in England, even though other same-sex couples have been able to marry since 29 March 2014. The registrar told them that they are now, and legally have been since 21 December 2005, husband and husband.
Publications
Scott-Morgan has authored or co-authored eight books.
*Scott-Morgan, Peter (2012). The Reality of Global Crises: Why Good Beginnings Are Ending Badly and Leaving World-Leaders Increasingly Powerless. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1470115425
*Scott-Morgan, Peter (2012). The Reality of our Global Future: How Five Unstoppable High-Tech Trends Will Dominate Our Lives and Transform Our World. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1470115487
*Scott-Morgan, Peter with Hoving, Smit and Van der Slot (2001) The End of Change: How Your Company Can Sustain Growth and Innovation While Avoiding Change Fatigue. McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-07-135700-9
*Maira, Arun and Scott-Morgan, Peter (1997). The Accelerating Organization: Embracing the Human Face of Change. McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-07-057720-X
*Ericsson, Dag with Harvey-Jones, Keen, Saffo, Scott-Morgan (1995). Virtual Integration: Information Technology the Enabler in Globalization. Unisource. ISBN 91-85292-61-3
*Scott-Morgan, Peter (1994). The Unwritten Rules of the Game: Master Them, Shatter Them, and Break Through the Barriers to Organizational Change. McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-07-057075-2
*Scott, Peter (ed.) (1986). The World Yearbook of Robotics R&D. Kogan Page. ISBN 1-85091-106-1
*Scott, Peter (1984). The Robotics Revolution: The Complete Guide. Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-13162-0

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