Tom Reader

Background

About Tom Reader

I am a psychologist, and study how culture underlies (and often undermines) the ability of organisations and teams to learn and be adaptive. Based at the London School of Economics, I direct the MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology and the Leading Organisational Culture programme for executives. I also direct the Culture and Risk Research Unit (CRRU): The goal of my academic research is to help organisations and teams develop cultures that are good at learning and dealing with problems. Focussing on high-risk contexts (e.g, healthcare, finance, aviation, energy), my work investigates the cultural factors that enhance or hinder how organisations cope with errors and uncertainty. For example, in terms of norms for speaking-up and listening to concerns, or practices for learning from complaints and incidents. Additionally, I specialise in culture measurement, and research how advances in AI and psychological science can be used to analyse textual and/or behavioural data in organisations (e.g, employee feedback, customer complaints, natural speech). By creating measures of culture that are firmly anchored in what people say and do, the aim is to help leaders better evaluate and understand their cultures, get ahead of emerging developments, and implement evidence-based improvements. In addition to my academic work, I provide advisory and consulting services on culture and risk to companies globally. Please see my Google Scholar page for scientific publications.