On the page
and on stage.

It’s All In Our Imagination, 2027. His book on imagination and judgement, from the first marks on stone to generative AI.

Leadership Singularity: How Marketing Can Save the World, 2020. Written with Jonathan Cook, Patrick Novak and Virginie Glaenzer.

Atlas of Knowledge, MIT Press, 2015. Katy Börner’s atlas gives a two-page spread, pages 94 and 95, to his map “4D. The Structured Visual Approach to Business-Issue Resolution”, chosen for the Places & Spaces: Mapping Science exhibition in 2008.

Business and Financial Models, Kogan Page, 2013. Chapter 3, “Visual thinking to develop fundamental questions”, written with Sarah Gall for Clive Marsh’s book.

The Customer-Centric Blueprint, Porcupine Press, 2013. Doug Leather’s book carries his endorsement and thanks him in the acknowledgements.

Navigating from the Future, BookSurge, 2009. Charles E. Smith includes a short passage contributed by John.

Beyond Branding, Kogan Page, 2003. His chapter “What’s brand got to do with it?” in the collection edited by Nicholas Ind. An academic review in 2006 singled out his case for a system-wide view of brands.

Corporate Vices, Business Virtues, Capstone, 2002. Charles Cohen’s book carries his endorsement on the cover.

Design UK, Conran Octopus, 2002. Max Fraser thanks him in the acknowledgements.

Applied Creativity, 22 May 2026. Des Kennedy introduces his career and his method, followed by a long conversation with him.

School of the Possible, 2026. Dave Gray, author of books on visual thinking, recommends his Substack to readers.

PC Pro, December 2024. Industrial designer David Morgan recalls John, as Acorn’s head of marketing and communications, commissioning designs for a new Electron.

The Computers That Made Britain, Raspberry Pi Press, 2021. Tim Danton interviewed him for the book and quotes him as Acorn’s marketing manager at the launch of the Electron, page 171.

International Coaching Federation, Curated, 2016. An essay on the Overview Effect quotes his line on the money spent solving the wrong problems.

Miro, 29 November 2016. Miro’s blog on how Group Partners works with visual frameworks, with John’s own account.

Game-Changer, 11 July 2013. Jorge Barba’s questions to Group Partners on how visualisation gives leaders strategic ways through business challenges.

Postcards from the Edge of Football, Mainstream, 2010. Hunter Davies credits MCW with the artwork for the FA’s Football Comes Home collection, made for Euro 96. Page 212.

What Are Your Staff Trying to Tell You?, 2009. Peter Hutton writes about Group Partners and Structured Visual Thinking, which he calls John’s brainchild. Page 145.

Contract, July 2007. The American design magazine describes John and Group Partners’ visual approach to planning with leadership teams, with his own words on why it is growing.

The Play Zone, Collins, 2004. Lewis Pinault credits Group Partners’ Contextual Mapping and names John as its founder.

Scoop, January 2003. A press release names him among the brand thinkers meeting in Sweden and Amsterdam with Nicholas Ind, Chris Macrae and Tim Kitchin.

Marketing Week, 30 May 2002. Alan Mitchell builds his column round John’s line that we are moving “from vendor-efficient supply chains to consumer-efficient demand chains”.

Electronics Weekly, 5 July 2001. Reports his appointment as a non-executive director of Celoxica.

Marketing Week, October 1999. ROCQM had handled SAP’s UK business for four years, and John, as its chief executive, was part of the team in New York that pitched for SAP’s global account.

Electron User, January 1986. Quoted as Acorn’s marketing chief on the Christmas sales. Page 9.

Acorn User, November 1985. Quoted as Acorn’s marketing chief on the revival of the Electron.

The Micro User and Electron User, July 1985. Two interviews as marketing manager: on a B+ upgrade kit, and on taking the Electron into small business and speciality markets.

Home Computing Weekly, July 1985. Gives Acorn’s reasons for the new price of the BBC Micro B+.

The Micro User, June 1985. Speaks for Acorn at the launch of the BBC Micro B+ as head of marketing, Consumer Division. Pages 23 and 24.

Electron User, May 1985. As head of marketing for the Consumer Division, he backs the magazine’s call for retailers to stock Electron software, and writes to the major retailers about it.

Acorn User, January 1985. Names him as Acorn’s promotions manager.

Acorn Information, about 1983. Acorn’s customer bulletin names him as Art and Promotions Manager, the person to ask for exhibition and demonstration support.

Group Partners writing. His essays on strategy, questions, leadership and drawing, gathered on this site.

Journal of Brand Management, 2003. “Can brand leadership recover local trust and global responsibility?”, an editorial written with Chris Macrae, Tim Kitchin, Simon Anholt and others, and cited in the Journal of Product & Brand Management in 2006.

Freedom of the City of London, Guildhall, 3 November 2026. One of the City’s oldest traditions, dating from the thirteenth century.

Hess World The Podcast, 12 August 2025. “A Radically Different Approach to Strategy Formation and Leadership”, with Martin Hess.

Getting It Wrong to Get It Right, 27 January 2025. Joe Dalton’s podcast, on the future of business and how industries adapt to AI.

The Fuel Podcast, 9 September 2023. “No More Heroes: the new model agency”.

Corporate Unplugged, 15 June 2021. Episode 120, “Being a Creative in a Strategic Industry”.

In conversation with Iona Rossely, 29 August 2020. A 38 minute interview on his work and Group Partners.

Global Sustainability Network, Vatican City, February 2017. Led a recorded session at the network’s meeting at the Casina Pio IV, home of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Lagos, March 2016. Listed among the speakers at an event reported by ThisDay, 25 March 2016.

International Award Forum, Toronto, 2015. Led the Mapping the Future workshops and the feedback session at the global forum of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.

GGI Leadership Forum, 2013. Facilitated two days on the fundamentals of leadership.

Open Government Partnership, London, 24 and 25 May 2012. Ran the branding workshop for the steering committee of the international partnership.

Acorn exhibitions and demonstrations, 1983 to 1985. Acorn’s exhibitions and demonstrations were arranged through him as art and promotions manager.

Launch of the Acorn Electron, London, August 1983. At the Park Lane Hotel, as Acorn’s marketing manager, recounted by Tim Danton in The Computers That Made Britain.