Using Business History to Make Sense of a Changing World
I help leaders and organizations uncover the historical patterns behind today’s challenges, transforming insights from the past into practical strategies for the future.
History is not just about understanding what happened. It is one of the most powerful tools we have for understanding what is happening now. As an Associate Professor, business historian, and speaker, I help leaders and organizations use the past to navigate the present and prepare for the future. My work explores how businesses, industries, and economies respond to moments of transformation, disruption, and uncertainty. Drawing on historical evidence, contemporary challenges, and real-world case studies, I reveal the patterns, decisions, and strategic lessons that continue to shape business today. Audiences leave my presentations with new perspectives on leadership, strategy, resilience, and change, as well as practical insights they can immediately apply in their own organisations.
Sample Talk
How Victorian Gentlemen’s Clubs Shaped Modern Organisational Culture
From Gentlemen’s Clubs to Modern Boardrooms: How Networks, Trust, and Belonging Shape Business Success
Explores the surprising connections between Victorian social institutions and contemporary organisational behaviour, showing how informal relationships and exclusive networks continue to shape opportunity, influence, and leadership
Dr Marrisa Joseph 