Don’t waste the reboot. Make this ‘next normal’ better than the last. Presented by The Yak Collective Originally published on Medium: May 1 · 4 min read Join me to learn and help define what spoopy consulting is — see below. Something exciting is happening; the fringes of organisational and business thinking and advice are becoming self-aware. Like … Continue reading Why you need spoopy consulting and how to do it
Author: antlerboy - Benjamin P Taylor
An invitation to the RedQuadrant tool shed
An invitation to the RedQuadrant tool shed There are currently no cohorts in the tool shed - and it is probably time for an upgrade. If you're interested in learning with me, please email for a chat benjamin.taylor@redquadrant.com Over nearly twenty-five years of service transformation, 17 as a consultant, and thirteen years of … Continue reading An invitation to the RedQuadrant tool shed
What does ‘the power to transcend paradigms’ mean?
Epistemic status — just a rushed response when what I wanted to say became too long for a tweet stream. On Twitter, Simon Parker asked: https://twitter.com/SimonFParker/status/1232946521752186881 (Simon's tweets are protected, but you can join the thread on Matthew's response below). Matthew Mezey (and others — worth a look a the tweet thread) replied: https://twitter.com/MatthewMezey/status/1232951665285832704 My … Continue reading What does ‘the power to transcend paradigms’ mean?
@antlerboy’s podcast plans
Originally published in Medium: Dec 10, 2019 · 1 min read I’m finally announcing the launch of TWO podcasts in 2020: Transduction: the systems, complexity, and cybernetics podcast and Joy and work: the (public) service transformation podcast, leading transformation who *must* I have as a guest? Let me have names — and email addresses — please — or email … Continue reading @antlerboy’s podcast plans
Look on the local government fees and charges, ye Open Data people, and despair!
Originally posted on Medium: Oct 2, 2019 · 5 min read Or… I didn’t need flying cars, but is a coherent and consistent data schema really too much to expect? my frustrated tweet Well. I have literally not got words strong enough to explain my sincere and deep dissatisfaction at the state of local government data. It’s, not … Continue reading Look on the local government fees and charges, ye Open Data people, and despair!
public service — who’s in charge?
Originally published on Medium: Apr 13, 2018 · 6 min read By Eugène Delacroix — Self-photographed Sailko 2016–11–05 22:26:31, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64515646 I’ve been thinking about this a lot, lately. We are doing a small piece of work on local systems change, and I wrote this a long, slow journey home from a PSTA transformation academy where we are … Continue reading public service — who’s in charge?
What is ‘commissioning’?
many models of commissioning Originally published on Medium: Oct 31, 2017 · 6 min read Jeff Sussna asked this as a ‘dumb question’. Which is a great question. Commissioning means many things to many people — it’s probably a bit like asking ‘what is agile’. Much of the value of commissioning, I believe, is that it is an emerging … Continue reading What is ‘commissioning’?
Meta-contextuality, Bongard games, systems thinking, consultancy, transformation
Originally published on Medium: Oct 16, 2017 · 1 min read I presented at SCiO (www.scio.org.uk) on Bongard games and concepts of meta-contextuality — slides (with spoilers!) at the dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jvsv50okntx6tw6/2017-10-16%20Metacontextuality%20and%20bongard%20games%20v1.1BT%20for%20circulation.pdf?dl=0 This is an element of the RedQuadrant Leading Transformation blended training — watch this space! Vide-o: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI5sFwR1dCc& This was a curated and stirred presentation drawn mainly … Continue reading Meta-contextuality, Bongard games, systems thinking, consultancy, transformation
On the new guerrilla initiative hype/enthusiasm cycle, the uses of naivety, and becoming a Jedi
Originally published on Medium Aug 11, 2017 · 2 min read A couple of recent conversations, and noticing a recurring pattern, have got me thinking. I have observed loads of movements come and go in public services, enthused usually by a methodology or similar ‘thing’: TQM, KM, joined-up government, eGoverment, zero based budgeting, lean, service design, agile, digital, etc … Continue reading On the new guerrilla initiative hype/enthusiasm cycle, the uses of naivety, and becoming a Jedi
Why I was wrong to call John Seddon ‘you old bastard’, even though he probably deserved it
Originally published on Medium: Mar 9, 2017 · 5 min read TL: DR even being ‘clever’ and calling out bullies on their own terms creates a negative atmosphere for public debate. It can feel fun, but it lowers us all. Hmm, I wonder if there are any lessons on a world level here? John Seddon has intentionally used … Continue reading Why I was wrong to call John Seddon ‘you old bastard’, even though he probably deserved it






