Margaret Thatcher - The Decision Lab

Margaret ThatcherThinkerIntroIntroInnovative IdeasHistorical BiographyKey QuotesBooks/Readings/Lectures/SeminarsReferencesIntroInnovative IdeasHistorical BiographyKey QuotesBooks/Readings/Lectures/SeminarsReferences

The Iron Lady

Intro

Margaret Thatcher was the Conservative Party leader from 1975 to 1990, and the United Kingdom’s first female prime minister from 1979 to 1990.1 Not only was she the first woman to hold office, but also the longest-serving prime minister with three terms, since 1827. Known as the “Iron Lady”, Thatcher was uncompromising in her politics and leadership style, especially when it came to communism in the Soviet Union. Her convictions, decisions, and overall leadership style have become known as Thatcherism; a realignment toward neolobiral policies in the United Kingdom.

Thatcher’s philosophies and policies emphasized financial deregulation, reducing the power afforded to trade unions, and the privatization of state-owned enterprises.2 She led the country to its 1982 victory in the Falklands War and revived its economy which had been declining since WWII. Beyond the specifics of her political achievements, Thatcherism included fierce nationalism, a combative approach to achieving political goals, and a fervent regard for individual interests. Thatcher’s political career was perhaps one of the most controversial during modern times: she passed away in 2013 but her legacy today remains one of the most influential and debated of contemporary political leaders.

“

I shall never stop fighting. I mean this country to survive, to prosper and to be free… I haven’t fought the destructive forces of socialism for more than twenty years in order to stop now, when the critical phase of the struggle is upon us.

- Margaret Thatcher in her speech to Federation of Conservative Students Conference (March 1975)

Case studies

From Insight to Impact: Our Success Stories

See Case Studies

Is there a problem we can help with?

See how we work

About the Authors

Dan Pilat

Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.

Dr. Sekoul Krastev

Dr. Sekoul Krastev is a decision scientist and Co-Founder of The Decision Lab, one of the world's leading behavioral science consultancies. His team works with large organizations—Fortune 500 companies, governments, foundations and supernationals—to apply behavioral science and decision theory for social good. He holds a PhD in neuroscience from McGill University and is currently a visiting scholar at NYU. His work has been featured in academic journals as well as in The New York Times, Forbes, and Bloomberg. He is also the author of Intention (Wiley, 2024), a bestselling book on the science of human agency. Before founding The Decision Lab, he worked at the Boston Consulting Group and Google.

About us

We are the leading applied research & innovation consultancy

Our insights are leveraged by the most ambitious organizations

“

I was blown away with their application and translation of behavioral science into practice. They took a very complex ecosystem and created a series of interventions using an innovative mix of the latest research and creative client co-creation. I was so impressed at the final product they created, which was hugely comprehensive despite the large scope of the client being of the world's most far-reaching and best known consumer brands. I'm excited to see what we can create together in the future.

Heather McKee

BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST

GLOBAL COFFEEHOUSE CHAIN PROJECT

OUR CLIENT SUCCESS

$0M

Annual Revenue Increase

By launching a behavioral science practice at the core of the organization, we helped one of the largest insurers in North America realize $30M increase in annual revenue.

0%

Increase in Monthly Users

By redesigning North America's first national digital platform for mental health, we achieved a 52% lift in monthly users and an 83% improvement on clinical assessment.

0%

Reduction In Design Time

By designing a new process and getting buy-in from the C-Suite team, we helped one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world reduce software design time by 75%.

0%

Reduction in Client Drop-Off

By implementing targeted nudges based on proactive interventions, we reduced drop-off rates for 450,000 clients belonging to USA's oldest debt consolidation organizations by 46%

Let's chat

Read Next

Thinker

Alfred Marshall

Thinker

Daniel Kahneman

Thinker

Steven Levitt

Thinker

Bertrand Russell

Eager to learn about how behavioral science can help your organization?

Contact us

Get new behavioral science insights in your inbox every month.

Return to Website