No Secrets! Innovation Through Openness

Gerard Fairtlough was trained as a biochemist, graduating from Cambridge University in 1953. He worked in the Royal Dutch/Shell Group for 25 years, the last 5 as CEO of Shell Chemicals UK. In 1980, he founded the leading biopharmaceuticals company Celltech and was its CEO until 1990. In the latter part of his career, he was involved in the start-up of several high-technology businesses, as a non-executive director or as a 'business angel'.He was advisor to various government and academic bodies, one of his roles being Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Select Committee in Science and Technology.In 2005, he founded Triarchy Press to contribute to the emerging discourse on organisational theory in practice.Gerard's writing on the theory of organisations and of innovation is influential because he could demonstrate that his ideas work. His publications include Creative Compartments (1994, Adamantine Press), The Power of the Tale (co-authored with Julie Allan and Barbara Heinzen; 2001, Wiley) and The Three Ways of Getting Things Done (2007, Triarchy Press), in which he outlines his 'Triarchy Theory' of organisations.