# Designing Conditions for Flourishing
I have built my career around one consistent question: how do we design environments where people can flourish, not by relying on individual willpower, but by shaping the conditions that make good practice more likely?
That systems lens emerged early in my work in sport and education. Participation was never simply about motivation or buy-in. It depended on whether the culture, the routines, the language and the expectations surrounding people genuinely made inclusion possible. My publication, Keeping Enjoyment at the Heart of Key Stage Two Physical Education, which was my first piece of published writing at the beginning of my career, crystallised that shift in thinking. It argued that enjoyment is not incidental to participation; it is structural. When systems crowd out joy, confidence and belonging, engagement fades. When we design deliberately to protect those experiences, participation becomes sustainable. That insight moved me from focusing on delivery to focusing on design.
In higher education, I carried that perspective into programme leadership. As a Senior Lecturer and Programme Manager, I led the redesign and validation of a degree programme, balancing regulatory requirements, professional accreditation, financial constraints and student experience. I approached it as structured change. Outcomes were defined first. Work was sequenced using disciplined planning tools. Responsibilities were aligned to colleagues’ strengths so that change was rigorous yet sustainable.
The measurable improvements that followed mattered, but the deeper shift was cultural. Colleagues could see a coherent rationale for change. Students experienced clearer alignment between teaching, assessment and professional preparation. The programme became intentional rather than reactive. I found this work particularly rewarding because it demanded both precision and care. It required technical competence, political awareness and empathy in equal measure.
Over time, my work increasingly sat at the intersection of inclusion, wellbeing and organisational policy, particularly where systems inadvertently disadvantage neurodivergent people. I founded and chaired a Neurodivergent Staff Network and used a combination of lived experience, institutional data and employment-law informed reasoning to surface patterns that had previously been treated as isolated issues. My role was not simply to advocate, but to translate. I connected stories to evidence, evidence to risk and risk to practical, defensible change. The aim was not symbolic inclusion, but structural fairness.
My systems focus is also visible in my published work on reducing sedentary behaviour in the workplace using behaviour change theory. There, I treated behaviour not as a personal failing but as the product of capability, opportunity and motivation. If behaviour is shaped by environment, norms and prompts, then change requires redesign. That principle guided my applied workplace interventions, where structured needs analysis, environmental assessment and co-designed solutions were used to improve wellbeing and performance in demanding operational contexts. It was a steep learning curve early on. Good intentions were insufficient; evidence and evaluation were essential. That discipline strengthened my later leadership.
Across roles, my effectiveness has depended on communication that is credible, calm and accessible. I have delivered training and facilitation at scale, translated complex theory into applied practice and built partnerships that endure because they are rooted in respect and shared purpose. The most meaningful feedback I receive is not about delivery volume but about confidence gained. Time and again, individuals who had been labelled as “too much” or “not suited” describe feeling capable and understood. Enabling people to see themselves differently, and then perform differently, runs through my work.
Today, that through-line continues across interconnected arenas. As a Neighbourhood Connector, I design and synthesise qualitative, relational and narrative community insight, identifying patterns beneath surface activity and supporting cross-sector coordination grounded in trust. I look for fragmentation where others see busyness, and for leverage points where others see complexity. As a researcher and educator, I continue to examine neuroinclusive teaching practices within sport and management contexts, ensuring that participation and belonging are central to professional formation. Through my neuroinclusion consultancy, I translate lived experience, evidence and policy into practical training and organisational development that embeds sustainable inclusion into everyday practice. As a Quality Assurance Assessor with CIMSPA, I scrutinise standards and systems with rigour and fairness, strengthening professional integrity across the sector. As a trustee of Inclusion Gloucestershire, I contribute to governance, risk oversight and strategic sustainability.
Across each of these roles, the purpose is consistent. I advocate for those who are underrepresented. I strengthen systems so that capability can surface. I design environments where inclusion is built in, not retrofitted. I integrate insight, governance and relationships so that good work does not depend on heroic individuals but on coherent design.
I do not see my career as a collection of roles. I see it as a progression towards clearer responsibility: to help organisations understand why things work, how to improve them and how to embed them so that flourishing becomes structural rather than accidental.
Testimonials:
“Matt inspired me to progress in my career. I genuinely don’t think I would have completed my training without his guidance and encouragement.”
“His sessions were exceptional. The passion he brings to inclusivity changed the way I think about my own practice and directly influenced my professional development.”
“Matt’s support helped me understand myself in a way I never had before. He reassured me when others dismissed me, and gave me strategies to build confidence and succeed.”
“For the first time, I felt truly believed in. Matt constantly pushed me to achieve while also recognising the barriers I faced. That combination changed my outlook completely.”
“His welcoming and personal approach underpins everything he does. It makes people feel safe, motivated, and able to learn.”
“Matt builds people up and leaves them more confident to chase their goals.”
“He is a credit to his organisation, not just for his knowledge, but for the way he supports and empowers individuals and their families.”
External assessor feedback: “A well-designed and well-run programme. The awareness and application of theory to practice were evident throughout, and Matt’s subject knowledge and pedagogic expertise clearly came through.”
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