Culture People Choose: Inside the O2 Playbook

To mark Laughology’s 20th birthday, we’re launching a special anniversary webinar series featuring the friends, thinkers and legends who’ve shaped how we lead, learn and build brilliant workplace cultures.  

And we’re starting with two leaders whose track record in culture transformation speaks for itself... Our friends & legends, Ann Pickering and Mark Evans. 

If you’ve ever wondered what truly makes an organisational culture work — not as a glossy strategy document, but in real conversations, real decisions and real daily behaviour — this is the session you’ve been waiting for. 

Featuring two of O2’s most influential former leaders — Ann Pickering (CPO & Chief of Staff) and Mark Evans (CEO) — together with Laughology’s own CEO and Head of Happiness Stephanie Davies, this conversation will open up the O2 Playbook: the leadership habits, cultural principles and people-first decisions that made O2’s culture not just resilient, but commercially successful. 

After all, Ann and Mark know what it takes to build a culture people choose to be part of. Between them, they helped shape a workplace culture at O2 that became a benchmark for people-led leadership across the UK and the international O2 brand.  

A place where clarity, connection, performance and genuine humanity coexisted, even through rapid growth and major transformation. 

Why This Matters 

You might be wondering why conversations about culture feel particularly urgent right now. 

It’s because leaders across every sector are facing the same challenging questions: 

• How do we build cultures that people genuinely choose to be part of? 

• How do clarity, communication and trust turn into performance and outcomes? 

• What does leadership look like when it cuts through complexity rather than adds to it? 

This session brings those questions to life through, not theories or trends, but the lived experience of leaders who’ve navigated change, empowered people and built cultures that truly worked. 

From Ann’s guiding principles — clarity over complexity, leadership as service, communication that builds trust and authenticity that strengthens teams — to Mark’s experience steering O2 through growth, transformation and a landmark merger, this is culture from the inside out. 

But it doesn’t stop there. Laughology partnered with O2 for years on leadership and culture development, including the award-winning Big Chats, Little Chats programme, so yes — we’ll be sharing what we learned along the way, too. 

What You’ll Discover 

• The leadership principles Ann believes matter most — clarity, communication, empowerment and authenticity 

• Mark’s inside perspective on building a culture that people choose, not endure 

• Why psychological safety, trust and genuine human connection outpace any strategy deck 

• How culture drives outcomes, innovation and performance 

• How O2 pioneered flexible working long before it was mainstream 

Perfect For 

HR, OD and L&D professionals, senior leaders, transformation leads and culture shapers who want to build high-performing, psychologically safe, human-centred workplaces where people can thrive — and choose to stay. 

Your Takeaways 

• Insights from two remarkable leaders with real-world experience 

• Practical culture-building tools grounded in clarity and connection 

• A deeper understanding of what makes culture stick — and what makes people choose to stay 

• Simple, practical, people-first ideas you can apply immediately 

In short, this anniversary session isn’t about looking back; it’s about learning from people who’ve genuinely lived and led great culture. You’ll get honesty, real insight and simple, practical ideas you can put into action the very next day. 

Grab your spot today!