Robert Poynton divides his time between an off-grid house in rural Spain and Oxford, where he is an Associate Fellow of Green Templeton College and the Säid Business School. At Oxford University his work is practical, not academic - he designs and runs executive education programmes, helping senior leaders understand and work with complex change via a playful approach drawn from the methodology of improvisational theatre. His own clients include the BBC, Chanel, Merck and Unilever.

He is also co-founder of Yellow Learning and On Your Feet, an improv-based consultancy in Portland, OR. He has spoken and led workshops at The Skoll World Forum, The D-School at Stanford University, Singularity University, and The DO Lectures. He is the author of Do Pause (2019) and Do Conversation (2024).