John Knell

Dr. John Knell is one of the UK's leading thinkers on the changing face of work and organisations and is co-founder of Intelligence Agency.

John has worked with a wide range of corporate clients, including Microsoft, Tesco, Astra Zeneca, Eversheds, Lloyds TSB, Manpower, and Siemens. Intelligence Agency's current clients include AWE, Arts and Business, Bristol Old Vic, Creative Scotland, EEDA, The UK Film Council, NESTA, and PwC.

John's recent client work has ranged across high level public policy work particularly in the arts and creative economy sphere, strategic reviews and strategy development, thought leadership development, top team facilitation, executive advice and support, and a wide range of public speaking and event facilitation activities. Current and recent client work includes:

• A change consultancy project with AWE, focusing on top team effectiveness and organisational agility
• Developing a forward business for the Bristol Old Vic working with their new Executive Chairman and Board
• Working with Suffolk Constabulary on their mission, vision and values
• Advising Creative Scotland on their creative economy strategy. Creative Scotland will publish John's analysis during Summer 2008
• Helping Arts and Business deliver a new commercial strategy to market
• Ongoing intellectual and policy input into Arts Council England's public value inquiry
• Developing a provocation narrative about the future of theatre for the Independent Theatre Council which will be published in Summer 2008
• Designing an international research project on the future of Vocational and Educational Training for Edexcel
• Developing a provocation narrative about the future of film for the UK Film Council, entitled 'Hugging Hollywood and Hoping to Heaven' which will be published in Summer 2008
• Some work on leadership transitions in the public sector for the Cabinet Office
• Strategy development for the Board and Director of Creative Scotland
• Developing a strategy for the cultural and economic transformation of the East of England for Arts Council East and EEDA
• Developing a new forward business case for Western Australian Ballet as it attempts to become a world class ballet company
• In November 2007 John undertook a two week residency in Perth on the invitation of the Western Australian Government to work with all of the funded cultural organisations in the region on their forward strategy
• John is one of the lead investigators (working with Alan Blackwell and his team from Cambridge University) on a new £80K research project funded by NESTA exploring interdisciplinary innovation
• John is acting as the lead rapporteur for a Demos project on skills and the UK labour market funded by City and Guilds and is co-author of their recently published provocation 'Confronting the skills paradox'

In terms of recent thought leadership work undertaken by John — a think piece commissioned by Mission, Models, Money — entitled The Art of Living exploring what a more intelligent arts funding system might look like was published in March 2007; he was involved in the design and delivery of a thinking seminar series for Creative London on the future of London as the world's creative hub, which lead to the recently published provocation London's Creative Economy: An Accidental Success?, co-authored with Kate Oakley; and in 2006 Arts Council England published John's think piece, entitled Whose Art Is it Anyway? The report explores whether personalisation and choice are going to transform the future trajectory of the arts in the United Kingdom.

Prior to launching Intelligence Agency, John was Director of Research and Advocacy at The Work Foundation, where he played a key role in transforming that organisation into an authority on work issues. His writings on the impact of the new economy on the labour market have been instrumental in shaping emerging attitudes to employee relations, and he has authored numerous reports on work, organisational change, and public policy.

John is a regular contributor to the Top Management Programme for senior civil servants run by the Cabinet Office, and is also a frequent public speaker and media commentator on workplace and public policy issues.

John began his career as an academic at the University of Leeds where he undertook his doctoral research, and he retains strong links with leading research centres. He lives in Cambridge with his wife and two children and has a consuming passion for all kinds of music.

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