State of Readiness | Benjamin Taylor; MD of RedQuadrant
State Of Readiness
Video Version 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...
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State of Readiness | Ron Crabtree; CEO of MetaOps Inc and MetaExperts
State Of Readiness
Video Version About the Podcast In the realm of strategic business discussions, Ron Crabtree, a seasoned entrepreneur, assumed the mantle of authority. With a keen understanding of the trials and tribulations inherent in business scaling and talent acquisition within dynamic environments, he underscored the necessity of fostering robust professional networks and discerning between strategic and tactical hiring approaches. In collaboration with the esteemed Joseph Paris, they delved into the pivotal role of effective facilitation in propelling organizational...
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State of Readiness | Michael Webb; President @ Sales Performance Consultants, Inc.
State Of Readiness
Video Version About the Podcast I have known Michael Webb for several years. He has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Operational Excellence Society almost since its inception and led the Operational Excellence Society Chapter in Atlanta. We start the podcast by discussing the application of operational excellence and continuous improvement principles to sales and marketing activities. Paris made note of the challenges due to the personality-driven nature of sales and getting salespeople to document processes and how there might be a...
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State of Readiness | Scott Lushin; Senior Manager, Global Operational Excellence @ Donaldson
State Of Readiness
Video Version About the Podcast My guest today is Scott Lushin, Senior Manager of Global Operational Excellence at Donaldson Company, Incorporated. In this episode, Scott takes us through his professional journey. Starting off in retail automotive and the restaurant business, it is obvious that has two passions; problem solving and leadership. Although his passion for problem-solving made itself readily apparent in his early life, his skills in leadership made themselves known later and over time. Scott started his journey right out of high school at an automotive...
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State of Readiness | Ben Guttmann; Author of "Simply Put"
State Of Readiness
Video Version About the Podcast Hello and welcome to another edition of State of Readiness. I am your host, Joseph Paris. My guest today is Ben Guttmann, Author of “Simply Put; Why Clear Messages Win―and How to Design Them.” We start the conversation going back to high school where Ben was fortunate enough to have attended a high school that had a business department and offerings for those who were interested in business goings-on. It's here where Ben got hooked on marketing. We share our ideas on communicating, mostly born of experiences. Why do people...
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Jesse DePriest; President, Jesse DePriest Consulting, LLC
State Of Readiness
Video Version About the Podcast Hello and welcome to another edition of State of Readiness. I am your host, Joseph Paris. My guest today is Jesse DePriest, President of Jesse DePriest Consulting, LLC; Privately held consultancy specializing in Lean including; strategy development and deployment, leadership development, process design and analysis, process improvement, problem solving, teamwork. I have known Jesse for several years and his story is as American as Apple Pie. Jessie grew up on a dairy farm in Alaska where he was the youngest of 10...
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Daniel Varroney; President & CEO of Potomac Core
State Of Readiness
Video Version About the Podcast Hello and welcome to another edition of State of Readiness. I am your host Joseph Paris. My guest today is Daniel Varroney, President and CEO of Potomac Core; a consultancy specializing in helping trade organizations transform into strategic partner for industry and professions. I have known Daniel for many years; having first met him when I was a member of the New York City Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) which is an organization of professionals serving the mergers and acquisitions ecosystem and he was its...
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Innocent Hadebe; Director of Business Excellence for Chick-fil-A Corporate
State Of Readiness
Video Version About the Podcast Hello and welcome to another edition of State of Readiness. I am your host Joseph Paris. My guest today is Innocent Hadebe, Director of Business Excellence for Chick-fil-A Corporate. I met Innocent like a meet a great many people and that would be through LinkedIn. Of course my initial attraction to Innocent was that we were like minded professionals pursuing Operational Excellence. But it was not until we met face to face in Orlando at an Operational Excellence conference where I was able to really understand Innocent and...
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Manuel Ugarte; Director and Strategic Accounts Manager of the United States Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC)
State Of Readiness
Video version About the podcast In this edition of “State of Readiness”, I welcome Manuel Ugarte, Director and Strategic Accounts Manager of the United States Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC). The US Army’s CCDC mission is to provide the research, engineering, and analytical expertise to deliver capabilities that enable the Army to deter and, when necessary, decisively defeat any adversary now and in the future. And the CCDC’s vision is to be the scientific and technological foundation of the...
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Ofra Kalechstain, CEO of Matics
State Of Readiness
Video version About the Podcast Today I invite Ofra Kalechstain, CEO of Matics, to “State of Readiness”. Ofra started off her career as a computer programmer at SciTex where she helped develop applications for aiding in oil and gas exploration. Afterwards, she worked for over 26 years at Paradigm where she moved-up through the ranks until becoming the Executive Vice President of Product Development until 2014. She then turned her attention to being an active investor in start-ups. She took a particular interest in one of her investments,...
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Video Version
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.
Executive Contact: Benjamin Taylor
Title: Managing Partner
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antlerboy/
Company: RedQuadrant
Website: https://www.redquadrant.com/
Company Type: Private Limited Company
Year Founded: 2018
Practice Areas: Public Service Transformation