Sir Michael Barber is the Chairman and founder of Delivery Associates. He is the world’s leading authority on Deliverology®, having created the first Government Delivery Unit in the UK.
Sir Michael Barber is a world leading expert on government delivery, delivery units, education systems, systemic innovation and education reform.
In 2001 he established the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit in No. 10 Downing Street, which drove delivery of domestic policy priorities for the Prime Minister.
Since then he has worked with numerous governments around the world to enable them to deliver more effectively. His book on this subject, How to Run a Government, was published by Penguin in 2016.
Sir Michael Barber is a world leading expert on government delivery, delivery units, education systems, systemic innovation and education reform. In 2001 he established the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit in No. 10 Downing Street, which drove delivery of domestic policy priorities for the Prime Minister. Since then he has worked with numerous governments around the world to enable them to deliver more effectively. His book on this subject, How to Run a Government, was published by Penguin in 2016.
Over the past two decades his research and advisory work on education has focused on school improvement, standards and performance; system-wide reform; effective implementation; access, success and funding in higher education; and access and quality in schools in developing countries.
Where he led Pearson’s worldwide programme of efficacy and research, playing a particular role in Pearson’s strategy for education in the poorest sectors of the world, particularly in fast-growing developing economies. He was the chairman of the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund.
Prior to Pearson, he was a Partner at McKinsey & Company and Head of McKinsey’s global education practice. He co-authored two major McKinsey education reports: How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better (2010) and How the world’s best-performing schools come out on top (2007). He is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter.
He previously served the UK government as Head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit (from 2001-2005) and as Chief Adviser to the Secretary of State for Education on School Standards (from 1997-2001). Before joining government he was a professor at the Institute of Education at the University of London. He is the author of several books including Instruction to Deliver; The Learning Game: Arguments for an Education Revolution and How to do the Impossible: a Guide for Politicians with a Passion for Education.
