Living Systems

What Living Systems does

Living Systems is a privately held UK-based consulting firm headquartered in Windsor, founded in 2000 by Ian Byrne (Founder & CEO), operating with a headcount in the 11-50 range. The firm specialises in leadership development, team development, and organisational transformation services delivered to senior leadership teams and HR/OD functions at global enterprises. Its work is anchored in a proprietary methodology centred on Collective Intelligence — the capacity for organisations to feel, think, and act as one — and operationalised through distinctive frameworks including the Head, Heart and Hand approach (mental, relational, and task agility), System Dynamics Mapping™, Real-Time Facilitation, and Action Inquiry. Service lines span executive coaching, leadership and manager development programmes (Manager Excellence Programme, Leader as Coach Programme, Feedback Culture Activation Programme), strategic offsites, leadership team coaching, transformation planning, and large-group organisational interventions, supplemented by two immersive experiential products — The Quest for Collective Intelligence (launched July 2022) and Starship Academy — that combine immersive theatre, escape rooms, virtual reality, and leadership psychology.

The firm operates an enterprise professional services model, engaging senior executives through diagnostic conversations before formal programme design and delivering interventions on-site at client locations, at partner venues, or at Living Systems-hosted facilities. Pricing is consultation-based with no publicly disclosed fee structure; engagements are structured as multi-year contracts or project-based retainers. The client base spans large global enterprises across technology, financial services, telecommunications, sports/retail, software, media, and nonprofit sectors, with named testimonials from senior executives at global fintech, telecoms, banks, sports brands, and technology organisations. Geographic delivery is described as global with explicit EMEA presence, evidenced by named clients across Europe, Asia, and the US. The go-to-market relies on content-led demand generation through case studies, white papers, and SEO-driven web resources, with bottom-of-funnel conversion via direct consultation contact.

Living Systems is a bootstrapped, founder-led private consultancy with no disclosed external investors, funding rounds, M&A activity, or public listing. There is no disclosed revenue, headcount figure, or formal incorporation jurisdiction, and the operating model has remained stable as a boutique consultancy over its 25-year history. Strategic activity in recent years has focused on productising immersive learning experiences, building measurement partnerships (e.g., Temporall for organisational connectivity analytics), and broadening the leadership development portfolio into manager-level programmes to deepen enterprise wallet capture.

Name

Living Systems

Legal name

Living Systems

Website

https://living-systems.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Living Systems is a UK-based consulting firm that delivers leadership, team, and organisational development programmes to global enterprises. It anchors its practice in a proprietary Collective Intelligence methodology spanning executive coaching, strategic offsites, and immersive learning products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Windsor

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Leadership Development Services: Executive coaching, leadership assessments, and development programmes for individual leaders and senior executives. Services include Manager Excellence Programme, Leader as Coach Programme, and Feedback Culture Activation Programme. Revenue is generated through project-based engagements or retainers with client organisations.
2. Team Development Services: Team effectiveness work including leadership team coaching, ways of working improvements, strategic planning facilitation, and transformation planning. Working with leadership teams on live priorities, real decisions and team dynamics. Revenue generated through workshops, offsites, and ongoing coaching engagements.
3. Organisational Development Services: Large group interventions including cross-functional alignment workshops, strategy mobilisation events, and whole-system transformation programmes. Combines large-scale facilitation with real-time system insight and distinctive collaboration methodologies. Revenue through strategic consulting engagements.
4. Immersive Learning Programmes: Experiential learning products including The Quest for Collective Intelligence (one-day immersive team events) and Starship Academy (multi-day Immersive Development Journeys). Can be delivered at client offices, partner venues, or Living Systems-hosted locations. Revenue through programme fees per event or cohort.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Living Systems is a leadership, team, and organisational development consultancy that sells consulting engagements and programmes to enterprise clients. Its core offerings include executive coaching and leadership development, strategic offsites and leadership team coaching, and large-group organisational development and culture change interventions. The firm also delivers signature immersive learning experiences (The Quest for Collective Intelligence and Starship Academy) that combine experiential theatre, escape rooms, virtual reality, and leadership psychology.

Product overview

Living Systems is a leadership, team and organisational development consultancy offering a portfolio of programmes and methodologies centred on developing Collective Intelligence. Their core services span three areas: Leadership Development (including Executive Coaching, Manager Excellence Programme, Leader as Coach Programme, and Feedback Culture Activation Programme), Team Development (including Strategic Offsites, Team Effectiveness, and Transformation Planning), and Organisational Development. These are supported by distinctive methodologies including the Head Heart and Hand Approach, Real-Time Facilitation, and System Dynamics Mapping™. The company also offers two flagship immersive programmes: The Quest for Collective Intelligence (a one-day experiential team event) and Starship Academy (an Immersive Development Journey for high-stakes leadership challenges). All offerings are grounded in the concept of Collective Intelligence - the capacity for organisations to feel, think and act as one.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Quest for Collective Intelligence: A fully immersive team development experience that combines immersive theatre, escape rooms, virtual reality technology and leadership psychology to turbocharge teamwork through collaborative challenges.
• Starship Academy

Products and services

• Leadership Development & Executive Coaching Development programmes for individual leaders that build ambidextrous capacity across three dimensions (heart, head and hand), combining systems thinking, executive coaching, experiential learning, and action learning for senior executives.
• Strategic Offsites & Leadership Team Development Programmes for senior leadership teams to strengthen alignment, improve decision-making, and deliver results through leadership team development, strategic facilitation, transformation planning, and executive coaching.
• Organisational Development & Culture Change Large group interventions enabling leaders and teams to mobilise strategy, align execution across functions, and build the adaptive capacity required for sustained organisational change.
• Team Effectiveness Integrates team assessment and coaching, ways of working, and executive coaching to shift how leadership teams actually operate on live priorities, decisions, and dynamics.
• Transformation Planning Integrates transformation strategy, system dynamics, and collective leadership to develop shared vision and common plans while building cross-functional cohesion.
• The Quest for Collective Intelligence A one-day fully immersive team development experience combining immersive theatre, escape rooms, virtual reality technology, and leadership psychology to turbocharge teamwork, break down silos, and overcome reactive tendencies.
• Starship Academy Flagship Immersive Development Journey that drops teams into high-stakes missions to build leadership capability, connection, and trust under pressure, followed by rich debriefs and targeted coaching.

Quantifiable outcome

• Revenue and profit doubled for a global sporting brand following transformation programme
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• TemporallsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiving Systems has partnered with Temporall, a specialist in organisational analytics, to offer impact measurement for The Quest for Collective Intelligence programme. Organisations can use Temporall's enterprise connectivity benchmarking to measure increases in organisational connectivity and collaboration following the immersive learning intervention.
• Leading Thinkers and Builders in Immersive Theatre, Escape Rooms, Gaming, and Learning & DevelopmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiving Systems collaborated with world-leading thinkers and practitioners in immersive theatre, escape rooms, gaming, and learning and development to create The Quest for Collective Intelligence—an immersive team development experience combining these disciplines with leadership psychology.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Bain & Company (Organization Practice): Top-tier management consultancy with a dedicated Organization practice advising on operating models, culture and team effectiveness. Comparable at the senior leadership team and enterprise transformation level.
• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): Major non-profit leadership education and research institution offering leadership development programmes, team coaching, and executive education. A peer through delivering leadership development and team effectiveness to enterprise clients globally.
• Korn Ferry: Global organisational consulting firm with a substantial leadership development and executive coaching practice. Directly comparable offering through Korn Ferry Hay Group's leadership development, team effectiveness, and culture change programmes.
• McKinsey & Company (Organization Practice): Global management consulting firm whose Organization practice delivers leadership development, team effectiveness and culture change engagements at the largest enterprises worldwide.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Executive search and leadership advisory firm with a Heidrick Consulting arm providing leadership assessment, team development and culture consulting services to large enterprises.

Direct peers

• Lane4: UK-based boutique consultancy specialising in leadership and team development using a performance psychology and experiential learning approach. Comparable as a smaller, methodology-led UK firm serving enterprise leadership teams.
• DDI (Development Dimensions International): Specialist in leadership development and assessment, offering manager and executive development programmes, leadership team facilitation and culture change. Closely comparable methodology-centric boutique in the leadership and team development space.
• BTS Group: Strategy execution-focused consultancy specialising in leadership development, team effectiveness and experiential learning simulations. Closely comparable through experiential/simulation-based team programmes and measurable business outcomes.

Emerging players

• Table Group (Patrick Lencioni): Boutique consultancy built around Patrick Lencioni's team effectiveness frameworks. Comparable as a methodology-led team development firm serving senior leadership teams with proprietary IP.

Regional players

• Simsion (formerly Simcoach/Simply Get Results): Specialist consultancy providing leadership, team and culture consulting to mid-sized and large organisations in Australia/NZ and globally. Comparable methodology-focused practice serving enterprise clients.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ByLivingSystems

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Living Systems