Led by Chris Paton, a strategic planning expert, in this highly interactive and experiential session, we will explore some of the tools needed to plan through uncertain times.

Chris is the Managing Director of Quirk Solutions, a management consultancy which specialises in supporting organisations to become more resilient and improve success. This is done by developing clear strategies, enhancing leadership and team skills, and pressure testing or ‘gaming’ plans to ensure they are robust. Gaming plans to protect people’s lives was a key component of Chris’ former career as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Marines and advisor to the Cabinet and National Security Council on the Afghan strategy.

Chris is also a Fellow of the Strategic Planning Society and has lectured on the London Business School’s Executive Education Programme. In 2010 Chris co-authored an article on ‘How the UK’s Royal Marines Plan in the Face of Uncertainty‘ which was published in the Harvard Business Review. He also had an article published in Strategy Magazine in 2018 on ‘Strategic Agility’. If anyone has the tools, experience and knowledge of how to plan in uncertain times, it’s Chris!

This session will give you interactive experience of:

• Learning some simple, pragmatic tools to help you unlock an uncertain future
• Discovering how games can uncover the elements in your business that might prohibit your growth as we enter the Roaring 2020s
• Identifying the essential building blocks for your business recovery
• Anticipating the unknown: uncovering strategies on how to emerge stronger from unprecedented change