Breakout Strategy
Makes the case for aligning exploration, exploitation, and diplomatic reach to unlock non-linear growth. Published by McGraw-Hill.
View publication →Rockbarra is a strategic architecture for renewal. It is designed for senior leaders, founders, and institutions navigating volatility, seeking not just transformation—but elevation. Rooted in decades of international research and advisory work, Rockbarra translates timeless principles into actionable strategy systems that serve autonomy, clarity, and enduring value.
Most strategic plans decay on contact with reality. Rockbarra reframes strategy as an evolving rhythm—captured in The Lawton Loop. Organizations cycle through Reassessment, Reframing, Rewiring, and Relaunching in response to technological shifts, market disruption, and leadership transitions.
High-performing organizations align strategic action with principled intent. Rockbarra enables clarity of purpose to be embedded in decision-making, so leadership teams aren't just responsive—they’re resolute. Strategy becomes grounded in identity, not just opportunity.
In moments of uncertainty, what leaders project is not just knowledge—but presence. Rockbarra equips leaders to lead with clarity—through tools that help them make sense of ambiguity, mobilize people, and navigate both market and nonmarket dynamics with conviction.
Transformation fails without scaffolding. Rockbarra delivers repeatable tools, diagnostics, and strategy loops—so renewal isn’t a one-off project, but a systemic upgrade. Capability heatmaps, alignment audits, and strategic narrative frameworks are embedded into each stage of the loop.
Sustainable change happens when the organization’s culture, systems, and tempo are in sync. Rockbarra integrates leadership activation with capability rewiring, so transformation can be lived—not just announced.
Rockbarra is not theory. It is practice—delivered through diagnostics, advisory, and platform tools. It gives leaders what they most need in times of turbulence: clarity, conviction, and creative control. It's strategy designed for now, with roots that run deep and results that endure.
Founder & Managing Director, Rockbarra | Global Strategist | Author of Breakout Strategy | Creator of the Lawton Loop™
Thomas C. Lawton, PhD equips leaders to anticipate disruption, reset strategy, and scale through uncertainty. Drawing on decades of research and advisory work, he created the Lawton Loop™ Diagnostic, Breakout Strategy System, and Strategic Reset Pack—frameworks that align market and nonmarket priorities, restore clarity, and build resilient growth paths.
As Editor-in-Chief of Long Range Planning, he shapes global discourse on strategic agility. His eight books and sixty-plus peer-reviewed articles reveal counterintuitive patterns—when political capabilities become liabilities, why exploration firms underinvest, and how institutional complexity hides value-destroying mechanisms.
Thomas holds faculty roles at Dartmouth College, the University of London, and the Møller Institute (Cambridge). He has delivered executive education for Fortune 500s, high-growth ventures, and public agencies across Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East.
Makes the case for aligning exploration, exploitation, and diplomatic reach to unlock non-linear growth. Published by McGraw-Hill.
View publication →
Repositioned the journal to spotlight foresight-driven strategy research, elevating its global impact and editorial diversity.
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A repeatable rhythm—Reassess, Reframe, Rewire, Relaunch—that reveals hidden value levers and keeps leadership aligned.
Download overview →Rockbarra’s training portfolio converts insight into embodied leadership. Programs combine live facilitation, deep diagnostics, simulations, and strategic narrative design.
Immersive two-day experience guiding executive teams through the Lawton Loop™. Includes capability heatmaps and leadership cadence resets.
Modular labs for scale-ups navigating inflection points. War-games regulatory shifts, builds decision-right frameworks, and embeds scenario cadence.
Custom journeys for boards and sovereign agencies. Focus on corporate diplomacy, geopolitical foresight, and nonmarket navigation.
Introduce the team philosophy and cross-disciplinary experience.
Visiting researcher at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Assistant professor at University College Cork.
Post-doctoral researcher.
PhD researcher.
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