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About the Podcast

Benjamin Taylor, the Managing Director of RedQuadrant, engages in a thought-provoking dialogue with Joseph Paris, delving into the nuanced intricacies of organizational evolution and improvement within the public sector landscape.

Drawing from their wealth of experiences and insights, Taylor and Paris underscored the paramount importance of democratizing knowledge accessibility and fostering collaborative group dynamics as catalysts for organizational advancement. Taylor elucidated the genesis of Red Quadrant, inspired by a London cab company's GPS system, symbolizing their vision of a network consultancy akin to a dynamic film crew, partnering with domain experts as the need arises.

The discourse swiftly shifted towards the unique challenges inherent in driving operational excellence within public sector contexts, navigating the complexities of competitive tendering processes, and discerning the elusive nuances of client requisites. Taylor lamented the dearth of ethical considerations prevalent in government engagements, highlighting the exigency of infusing ethical imperatives into the fabric of public sector initiatives.

Amidst discussions on the utilization of AI and systems thinking paradigms in public sector consultancy, Taylor evinced a fervent passion for converging systems cybernetics and complexity frameworks to distill practical insights for organizational enhancement. He underscored the indispensable value of understanding the interplay between humans and their environment, leveraging cybernetic principles to craft pragmatic tools for organizational optimization.

Taylor and Paris also deliberated on the multifaceted challenges of maintaining organizational continuity and integrity amidst stewardship transitions, emphasizing the imperative of preserving institutional knowledge to avert potential programmatic disruptions.

Concluding on a note of forward-looking optimism, Taylor expounded on the evolving landscape of complexity and systems thinking, envisioning a future where operational excellence knowledge permeates frontline staff, fostering islands of coherence through well-informed systemic perspectives. As the dialogue drew to a close, Taylor's impassioned advocacy for a holistic approach to organizational development resonated as a clarion call for embracing the transformative potential of complexity science in driving sustained business evolution.

About Benjamin Taylor

Benjamin Taylor brings an authentic, human, and inclusive approach to leadership and change. With a career that spans over 20 years helping public organizations tackle complex, systemic issues, he leads RedQuadrant, a UK-based consultancy, and a social enterprise academy dedicated to supporting public service leaders through learning cohorts, tools, and events. He also serves on the advisory board of The Operational Excellence Society and as a non‑executive director for Systems and Practice in Organization; the professional body for systems practitioners.

People often know him as “Antlerboy”, a anagram of "Ben Taylor" which he uses as a unique moniker which he adopted early on to maintain a consistent digital identity.

A prolific communicator and thought leader, Benjamin publishes a regular “Transduction – leading transformation” newsletter and has contributed over 190 articles and 3 000+ posts on LinkedIn. His writing focuses on systems, cybernetics, organizational complexity, and the human-centered design of public services. He frequently reflects on the power of insight in transformation; underscoring that “It is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking than to think yourself into a new way of acting”.

Outside of consulting, he hosts workshops and podcasts (such as on Evolving Enterprises), exploring leadership, complexity, and the art of meaningful public service transformation.