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Real Work · Real Impact

Case Studies
by Sector

Six examples of measurable behaviour change, across policing, justice, energy, healthcare, creative industries and tech.

Why These Six

Different Sectors,
Same Method

Each case below is a real engagement. We anonymise client outcomes where confidentiality requires it, and quote published feedback where available. The pattern across sectors is consistent: change the format, change the result. See the full engagement walkthrough →

Public Sector · Policing The Death of Jane Doe, immersive crime scene investigation
Case Study 01
Met Police Lewisham · The Innocence Project

The Death of Jane Doe

The challenge: Police officers and frontline staff routinely encounter people in mental health crisis but receive limited training in how stigma and snap judgements distort their interventions. Standard awareness training was failing to shift on-the-job behaviour.

Sidestream Approach
Immersive crime-scene narrative built around a fictional victim with schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder
Participants meet, and interrogate, actors playing real conditions, scripted with clinical advisors
Structured debrief targeting specific cognitive biases (anchoring, fundamental attribution error)
🏆
CorpComms Award winner, recognised by judges for combining theatre and behavioural science to address mental health stigma at a level conventional training never reaches.
"When else can you have an honest talk with someone living with a serious mental health condition, except through immersive theatre?", Programme Participant
Legal · Justice The Accused, courtroom immersive experience on gender bias
Case Study 02
HM Courts & Tribunals · Goldsmiths University

The Accused

The challenge: Decades of policy training has not removed gender bias from the legal system. Decision-makers, barristers, juries, HR leaders, still apply double standards under pressure, often without realising it.

Sidestream Approach
1950s courtroom reconstruction using real trial transcripts of Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in the UK
Participants serve as jurors, deliberate live, then watch the verdict play out
Behavioural debrief mapping their decisions back to real-world workplace bias patterns
600+
Participants reached across multiple iterations · Goldsmiths Public Engagement recognition · ongoing demand from public sector legal teams.
"A gripping and thought-provoking experience that made me reflect on how much, or how little, has changed for women in the workplace and beyond.", Audience Member, The Accused
Energy · Utilities Sellafield Simulation, week-long energy strategy ecosystem
Case Study 03
Sellafield Region · Energy Transition Stakeholders

The Sellafield Simulation

The challenge: Energy transition decisions involve regulators, nuclear experts, NGOs, investors and unions, each with conflicting incentives. Policy workshops fail because no one experiences the negotiation pressure or the consequences of getting it wrong.

Sidestream Approach
Week-long live simulation with participants assigned roles across the energy ecosystem
In-game currency (ISOTOPES) measuring influence and reputation in real time
Mid-week disruption: nuclear leak + political shake-up forcing rapid renegotiation
Multi-day
High-stakes diplomacy compressing months of stakeholder negotiation into a multi-day immersive, exposing alliance dynamics and strategy gaps no Excel model could surface.
"The closest thing to real-world business diplomacy I've ever experienced.", Programme Participant

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Tech · Media Future-Proofing Entertainment, AI regulation scenario week
Case Study 04
Entertainment Sector Leadership Team

Future-Proofing
Entertainment

The challenge: Senior leaders in entertainment knew AI was coming, but couldn't agree on what regulation, talent development or commercial strategy looked like under five different futures. Disagreement was being misread as inertia.

Sidestream Approach
Multi-day scenario week with five plausible AI-regulation futures pre-built
Live-actor regulators, journalists and union reps disrupting the leadership team's plans in each scenario
Cross-scenario synthesis identifying robust strategies vs. bets that only work in one future
5 futures
Stress-tested in days, not quarters, turning abstract AI anxiety into concrete decisions the executive team could rally around.
"It compressed three years of board debate into one week, and we came out aligned for the first time.", Senior Leader, Entertainment
Creative · Scale-ups MARVELous Ideas workshop, pitch coaching for London startup
Case Study 05
London-Based Creative Startup

MARVELous Ideas

The challenge: A scale-up team had to pitch a Marvel-series concept to a major studio, but their pitches kept dying in the room. Investor feedback was polite. Their founders couldn't see why.

Sidestream Approach
"Pitch and tear-down" workshop with professional actors playing sceptical studio executives
Real-time behavioural feedback on body language, framing, persuasion patterns
Iterative rounds where each pitch is rebuilt and re-tested against the same actor-panel
3 rounds
To a confident, investor-ready pitch, and a repeatable framework for every future fundraise. The team now run their own pitch-rehearsal ritual internally.
"We finally heard what investors weren't telling us. The actors were brutal, and that's exactly what we needed.", Co-Founder, London Scale-up
Higher Education · Leadership Top of the Cops, immersive 1980s punk gig leadership simulation
Case Study 06
Goldsmiths · UCL · Cross-Sector Leaders

Top of the Cops

The challenge: Mid-career leaders rarely get to practise crisis management with anything at stake. Tabletop exercises are sanitised; real crises are too late to learn from. The gap costs organisations dearly when it matters.

Sidestream Approach
Live 1980s underground punk gig with real bands, rival factions and an eco-protest brewing
Participants step into rotating leadership roles as the night escalates
Decisions tracked: ethics, reputation, control under pressure, debriefed against published crisis-leadership models
100%
Of cohorts requested follow-up · participants describe it as the most memorable leadership intervention of their career.
"An 80s punk gig as a masterclass in leadership and reputation management? Pure genius.", Cohort Lead, Top of the Cops

See It in Action

Five Minutes Inside
an Immersive Session

Reading about behaviour change and seeing it are different things. The clip captures an actual Sidestream debrief, actors holding character, participants visibly shifting, the moment the room realises the lesson is about them.

"The judges loved the creative approach to building awareness, well executed and an excellent mix of theatre and immersive work."

, Helen Dunne, CorpComms Awards Panel

"When else can you have an honest talk with someone living with a serious mental health condition, except through immersive theatre?"

, Programme Participant, The Death of Jane Doe
Book a Live Demo Call
Sample clip · click to play
0
Week 0 · Discovery
Sponsor Alignment & Free Diagnostic Call

A 30-minute call to understand the people problem in your own words. We tell you honestly whether we are the right fit before any cost is incurred.

What Sidestream Does
  • Listens to the problem in your words
  • Shares relevant case-study patterns
  • Confirms fit, or refers you elsewhere
What You Need to Have Ready
  • The executive sponsor & budget envelope
  • A rough cohort size & level (manager / leader / exec)
  • Any failed previous interventions to learn from
1
Weeks 1–3 · Diagnostic
Consulting & Baseline

We measure what's really happening, so you have a benchmark to compare against later. This is what separates a Sidestream engagement from a one-off workshop.

What Sidestream Does
  • Validated psychometric tools (e.g. team psychological-safety index)
  • 1:1 leader interviews (45 min each)
  • Two structured focus groups across levels
  • Baseline report mapped to COM-B targets
What Your Team Does
  • Nominates 4–6 leaders for interviews
  • Distributes the survey link & nudges completion
  • Briefs participants on confidentiality
  • Identifies any sensitive topics to handle carefully
2
Weeks 4–8 · Design & Production
Bespoke Scenario Build

We build the immersive intervention. Your team has light-touch involvement here, but two key alignments matter.

What Sidestream Does
  • Drafts narrative, character dossiers, facilitation plan
  • Casts professional actors from our trained ensemble
  • 5 internal QA simulations to test pacing & logic
  • Produces all materials, props & on-screen media
What Your Team Does
  • Reviews narrative for sector authenticity (1 hr)
  • Confirms venue, catering & AV requirements
  • Decides the communication strategy: blind cohort or briefed?
  • Issues calendar invites with the agreed framing
3
Weeks 9–12 · Delivery
On-Site Immersive Experience

The day participants will still be talking about. We arrive a day early for full dress rehearsal, non-negotiable for production quality.

What Sidestream Does
  • Full on-site dress rehearsal day
  • 3–4 hour live immersive experience
  • Structured debrief with COM-B-mapped reflection
  • Co-facilitator support for complex cohorts
What Your Team Does
  • Hosts space and looks after logistics
  • Ensures sponsor presence at debrief (critical signal)
  • Captures own observations for post-event review
  • Releases manager toolkit ahead of week 13
4
Weeks 13–16 · Embedding
Manager Booster & Behavioural Rituals

Behaviour change dies in week 4 without reinforcement. This is where most consultancies leave you, and where we stay.

What Sidestream Does
  • Two virtual booster sessions (60 min each)
  • Manager toolkit walkthroughs
  • Helpline access for difficult applications
What Your Team Does
  • Line managers run weekly 15-min behavioural rituals
  • HR captures qualitative shifts in 1:1s
  • Sponsor reinforces at all-hands or town halls
5
Weeks 17–24+ · Measure & Scale
Post-Intervention Audit & Wave 2

90 days post-launch we re-measure against the baseline. The number you cared about in week 0 is the number we report on.

What Sidestream Does
  • Re-runs validated baseline measures
  • Delivers behaviour-change impact report to sponsor
  • Recommends Wave 2 cohorts or programme extension
What Your Team Does
  • Co-presents results to executive leadership
  • Decides scaling: which cohorts go through Wave 2
  • Embeds the programme into onboarding / promotion criteria
Case Studies

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