Tom Curren is the founder of Change the Rules, and founder of Hawthorne Consultants, a firm specializing in the integration of strategy and organization change.
For more 20 years, Tom Curren has been developing a successful practice in aligning top teams, improving strategy execution, and shifting organizational cultures. He works primarily at the CEO and Division President level as a consultant, “thought partner,” coach and facilitator. He has done substantive work in media, oil and gas exploration, leisure products, health care, home building, financial services, retail, travel and industrial products.
For 13 years, Tom served as the Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning and Business Development at Marriott Corporation, where he contributed significantly to Marriott’s long-term growth. During Tom’s tenure, sales increased from $1 billion to $7.5 billion, with a compound profit growth rate of 17%. Tom was a member of the Finance Committee and considered one of the top 10 executives in the corporation. He created and introduced Courtyard by Marriott, currently a $ 500+ million business and the most preferred brand in the moderate lodging market.
Tom has also been employed by McKinsey & Company, first as an Engagement Manager in the New York Office, and subsequently as a Fellow at the McKinsey Change Center, where he helped pioneer more comprehensive ways to improve performance and strategy execution.
Tom began his career learning about marketing at Compton Advertising as an Account Executive on Procter and Gamble’s soaps and detergents business.
He has served as an officer in the United States Navy, managing 120 employees at a naval station and operating off the coast of Vietnam on the USS Tappahannock.
Tom holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton Graduate Division at the University of Pennsylvania, with honors and a double major in marketing and finance. He has a B.A. from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.