26 November, 09:00 - 18:00
How do we future proof our organisations, our partnerships, and our societies in an era of constant change? As uncertainty grows – from shifting geopolitics and climate pressures to fragile supply chains and AI driven disruption – the need for calm, confident, and practical leadership has never been greater.
This year’s Outer Thinking focuses on what it really takes to build organisations that can adapt, absorb shocks, and still move forward. Grounded in Swedish leadership traditions of collaboration, trust, and long term thinking – and enriched by the UK’s diversity, pace, and pragmatism – we’ll explore how leaders can activate strategies that stand the test of time, not just the next quarter.
Join us for a day of energising ideas and meaningful connections with peers who are facing similar choices about the future. Be part of Outer Thinking – and help shape what future proof, human centred leadership looks like in practice.
About Outer Thinking
Outer Thinking is a full day summit dedicated to future focused leadership from a Swedish–British perspective. It brings together more than 200 business leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians, and academics from Sweden and the UK to look beyond business as usual and explore how we lead – together – through what’s coming next.
Make it a two-days experience of insights and celebration
Joining us for the Annual Christmas Luncheon? Make it a two-day experience by starting with Outer Thinking – a day of strategic discussions and new connections before the celebrations begin. Tickets for the Annual Christmas Luncheon are sold separately.
Featured Speaker
Tom Standage is Deputy Editor of The Economist and editor of its future-gazing annual, The World Ahead. He joined The Economist as science correspondent in 1998 and was subsequently appointed technology editor, business editor and digital editor. He is the author of seven history books, including “Writing on the Wall” (2013), “The Victorian Internet” (1998) and the New York Times bestsellers “A History of the World in 6 Glasses” (2005) and “An Edible History of Humanity” (2009). His latest book, “A Brief History of Motion”, was published in 2021. Tom studied engineering and computer science at Oxford University and has written for other publications including the New York Times, the Guardian and Wired, taking a particular interest in technology's social and historical impact.
Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle St, London, Greater London, United Kingdom, W1S 4BS
Bookings are non-refundable, but at the discretion of the organiser, you can change the name of the person attending. For this, please contact events@scc.org.uk.
Book your ticketsHighlights from Outer Thinking: Swedish-British Summit 2025
See highlights from our annual Flagship conference, offering thought-provoking and contemporary exploration of leadership, bringing together an inspiring assembly of 200+ business leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians, and academics from both Sweden and the UK.
Photo gallery
See photos from Outer Thinking 2025 here.
“I wanted to come back to Outer Thinking, because last year was a really great opportunity to talk about leadership and leadership styles. So I talked a lot about authenticity. And actually, I’ve really had a fantastic feedback on that. People say that they’ve been compromised by that in the past, and they’ve now really learnt to speak up. So I want to come back to evolve that really now and start to talk about how we move things forward even more.”
“I’m quite amazed with what we’ve already spoken about and the breadth of all the topics, and I really hope to bring new connections, and possibly even collaborations, when we leave here today.”
“I think that it’s been really enlightening to be able to listen from people from different industries, sharing their perspectives on how best to collaborate, and everything from fashion, academia and also environmental concerns. But when we overlay that with the uncertainty that we’re facing in the world today, I hope that this serves as a catalyst to allow us all to come together to deliver the purposes that we all really believe in.”
“I think we have addressed lots of very important issues, and some of them we might not have addressed enough before. So I would like to see many different partners and stakeholders collaborate and help navigating and mitigating the risks of global challenges and coming together to do so. That is my hope.”
“Outer Thinking to us really means that you think about things from different angles. And I think we, in our industry, are good at sometimes thinking outer angles, but I think many times we just follow the mainstream, and we need to challenge that and I think Outer Thinking for us really means coming with new, bright ideas from really nowhere, and from other industries to see what we can do better in our industry.”
