Peter Scott Morgan

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 'hard' sciences like cybernetics, systems thinking and complexity theory to 'soft' sciences 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 [the sensitive results] back to a CEO ... and survived ... then you can do anything."

In 1994, having by then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and having successfully applied his technique in a wide variety of companies throughout North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific region, and Latin America, Scott-Morgan published a bestselling book on his concepts entitled The Unwritten Rules of the Game. He has subsequently followed parallel paths in academia and business, occupying a variety of senior-executive positions and continuing to develop and publish his ideas. Since 2007, independent of any organization, he has chosen to focus exclusively on global systemic threats.

Impact and reputation

Scott-Morgan is reported as having authored over one hundred articles and refereed papers and having given more than a thousand speeches, presentations and workshops in over thirty countries including to the World Economic Forum, the United Nations Industrial Development Authority (UNIDO), and the US Congress. His ideas have impacted academia, management consulting, and business, and he is widely recognized as a world expert.

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 [to Scott-Morgan's concepts] 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, Citibank, Daimler-Benz, Hewlett-Packard, Lloyds TSB, Philips, the UK National Health Service, and YPF.

Undisclosed clients

Scott-Morgan has consistently tried to keep confidential the name of any organization that consults him. Indeed, apart from a few corporations prior to 1993 (whose identities have been revealed by others), there seems almost no disclosure of any of the organizations he has personally advised. Nevertheless, a widely reported incident in 2004 provides a rare insight into the nature of his direct clients and his reputation amongst them. In relation to the actions taken when a major ethics scandal broke at Allied Irish Banks plc., Dermot Gleeson, the chairman, testified in an appearance before the Irish national parliament that: "We commissioned a well-known international expert, Dr. Peter Scott-Morgan ... who has done this type of work for a number of very large companies in the world. He is the world expert on corporate culture." 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. Based on his having gained confidential insights into a wide-ranging sample of the world economy, 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.

Personal life

Since 1979, Scott-Morgan has lived with his partner Francis. They joined their surnames in 1991. In 1993, they formed the basis of a new US Immigration policy when they set legal precedent by getting official acknowledgment that as an unmarried couple they were entitled to unlimited independent travel to and from the US despite both being the same gender and Francis (unlike Peter) not being an executive on temporary transfer between offices. Later, retaining their British citizenship, both became naturalized US citizens.

In 2005, in parallel with other couples around the country, Francis and Peter Scott-Morgan became the very first civil partners in England, granting them the legal rights of a married couple. Nearly one hundred international guests – including four generations of their family – gathered at Oldway Mansion in Devon. Given the perceived historical significance of the event, the registration was officially witnessed by the Mayor of Torbay (Nicholas Bye) and his dignitaries. Unusually, the whole one-hour ceremony as well as the reception that followed it was attended by TV, radio and press. A newspaper journalist wrote that being present "was a privilege" and stated that although it was not the couple's original intention to take the "brave decision [to go public] with a sometimes suspicious and disapproving outside world, ... by welcoming the prying eyes of the press and TV cameras, they grasped homophobic prejudice by the throat and throttled it." The BBC television coverage described it as a "wedding service ... [that] was part of English legal history" and in an interview with Scott-Morgan reported him saying: "A decade before [we met] 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.