No 10 Downing Street Appoints ?What If! Guru Kris Murrin

?What If! guru Kris Murrin has taken on a senior role at No 10 as the director of David Cameron’s implementation unit.  She will be responsible for ensuring that the prime minister’s policies are effectively delivered and that the staff are working well together.  Kris’s credentials are founded in her work at ?What If! – one of the largest independent innovation companies of our generation.  Clients include Coca Cola, Pfizer, Nike and HSBC to name but a few and during Kris’s time at the company she also co-authored Sticky Wisdom: How to Start a Creative Revolution at Work.  The Chairman and Chief Enthusiast at ?What If! Matt Kingdon  recently addressed leaders in the UK leisure and hospitality industry  and has been busy working on their Top Dog programme – a 3 month programme of executive education for business leaders.  The company was voted the best place to work in 2004 and 2005 and Alan Yentob at the BBC has been full of praise for the company’s approach, “I’ve seen ?What If! in action and it works!”.

?What If! has spawned a succession of innovative leaders and Kris Murrin is not the first.  Chris Barez-Brown  joined ?What If! in 1998 and as Head of Training he was involved at every level from the grass roots up in the development of marketing, branding, innovation and creativity.  Chris released his best-selling book How To Have Kick-Ass Ideas: Get Curious, Get Adventurous, Get Creative in 2006 and Tim Smit, the co-founder and CEO of the Eden Project, is a huge fan, “Chris’s book is a champagne-in-the-veins tonic for jaundiced people who desire to revive the technicolour from a monochrome life”.  Chris has set up his own company Upping Your Elvis which focuses on bringing energy, creativity and engagement to business.  His street-smart approach has proven very successful and as a keynote speaker he specialises in an interactive, fun and lively approach, leaving audiences energised and inspired.  Chris’s keynote talks, like his book, are both practical and inspirational and he has been described as a “modern day prophet” by the Global Director for Insight, Ideas, and Creativity at Coca Cola, Keith Wilmot.

So, Sir Humphrey may be turning in his grave at the thought of such innovative practices seeping through 10 Downing Street, but the staff will no doubt be much happier and more productive bunnies than the eternally-stressed Bernard...long-live innovation!