As I'm sending reminders to the 80 people (!) who have signed up for this short session, I thought I would remind people here, too. So, this is the final reminder here that the session takes place next Monday, 13 June at 12:30pm UK time.  The signup link is at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEudeGprD0vH9JKdOCaj7utfGUoM5AGVu-r When you sign up you … Continue reading Systems convening, systems thinking, systems practice – Monday 13 June 2022, 12:30pm UK time →

I’m grateful, personally, to have been out of the UK for the celebration of Lizzie’s 70 years on the throne of Britain and wherever she still appears on coins and stamps. I’m happy for people to have their fun and wave their flags. The idea of celebrating an old woman with a sense of duty … Continue reading So. Platty joobs is over* What does it say about us, as a country? →

More beautifuller at https://www.getrevue.co/profile/antlerboyThis week I have been in the very, very pleasant Vancouver Island, supporting m'colleagues at Coeuraj, a systems change organisation - a great experience.So a shorter update from Montreal airport (it’s complicated)…Also our systems thinking input to the Carbon Capture Deep Dive with The Systems Change Alliance has been postponed along with … Continue reading Transduction – leading transformation – Issue #52 →

The distinction between demand, need, and supply is a critical one for business and public services. Are you focused on control? Demand? Need? Customer purpose? I keep coming back to this because it’s a powerful way to direct focus. My definition is that a service co-creates value with and for the customer, and that our … Continue reading Control, demand, need, or customer purpose? →

They say we tend to overestimate progress in the future, and underestimate it in the past. So looking back might tell us something about the future of work. Here are some things that stand out for me: we had a bar in the Town Hall for several years after I started at the council. And in … Continue reading What can the past of work teach us about the future? →

First ‘proper’ newsletter in two weeks as I was extremely ill last weekend (48 hours in bed with a bad stomach, including hallucinatory fever dreams about problematic consultancy projects that turned out to be just Category Theory - but I wasn’t really completely happy with that or confident - and now I will never know … Continue reading Transduction – leading transformation – Issue #51 →

When I was at PwC, the practice I was in won a £139m project — and it was the beginning of the end for us. https://www.celebrity-cutouts.co.uk/shop/celebrity-mask/uncategorised-celebrity-mask/bob-dylan-brown-hair-celebrity-mask/ I got up early to write this, as usual, and cradled my coffee as I pored over my writing prompts. What would be a suitable follow-up to Monday’s very successful post on … Continue reading What is success and what is failure on LinkedIn? In business? In life? →

Is a Jaffa Cake a biscuit or a cake? Is a flapjack? Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Is a worker an employee, a ‘hidden employee’, or a freelancer? These are decisions we must make — or think we must — in management all the time. And more often than not, they limit creativity, innovation, and our … Continue reading Do things fit into neat categories? →

systems change, convening, practice, leadership, sustainability, chat… SIX systems events coming up presented or facilitated by Benjamin Taylor It me! I haven’t presented or run that many public events recently, and suddenly they all come at once. Here are six in the next couple of months — with info and booking links: “Later in the bar”Mon 23 May … Continue reading systems change, convening, practice, leadership, sustainability, chat… SIX systems events coming up presented or facilitated by Benjamin Taylor →

Why do things carry on as they are in business? Why do we block innovation? And what can we do about it? I collect facetious trainer stories — the ones a cheerful slightly overweight trainer will tell with great relish as sources of insight… Take ten monkeys. Put them in a cage with a shiny metal slope. … Continue reading More monkeys and bananas in organisation →