Roger Martin, one of the world’s most influential business thinkers and former Dean of the Rotman School of Management, joined us on this episode to talk about all things strategy.

He breaks down how organizations can keep up with the dynamism and complexity of it all: the evolution of strategy across the decades, digital transformation, decentralization’s impact, and the latest frontier, the rapid adoption of AI and LLMs. He challenges traditional approaches to strategy and impact measurement metrics like OKRs, stating, “Strategy is what you do, not what you say." In this candid conversation, he also dispels the angst surrounding AI taking over strategy roles in organizations, highlighting why AI and LLMs are valuable for rapidly synthesizing information but lack the capacity for generating unique, strategic insights that require human judgment and creativity. Join us for this conversation filled with insights. Known for his practical approach, Roger Martin—who’s authored many bestselling books, including “Playing to Win”—has guided thousands worldwide to make clear, actionable choices that drive competitive advantage. In the conversation, we also touch upon themes of risk-taking and the importance of empowering leaders to think strategically at every level of the organization. He argues that teams should be able to challenge ideas and push boundaries, all of which are vital for sparking real innovation. Key Highlights 👉 Leaders should act as strategic coaches, guiding teams to align with bigger goals and fostering a culture of proactive decision-making. 👉 Finding the right balance between centralization and decentralization empowers teams with autonomy while maintaining a unified direction. 👉 Constructive tension within teams drives innovation by encouraging open challenges to ideas, leading to breakthrough solutions. 👉 Embracing intelligent risk-taking is crucial; it allows organizations to grow and adapt rather than playing it safe and missing out on opportunities. 👉 Avoiding one-size-fits-all frameworks is crucial; each organization’s strategy should be uniquely tailored to its specific context. 👉 AI and LLMs serve as powerful tools for rapid analysis and synthesis but cannot replace, human strategic judgment. Topics /chapters (00:00) Doing Strategy in a World of Ruthless Change - intro

(00:55) Roger Martin

(02:48) Strategy Evolution over 20 Years

(07:21) Centralization vs Decentralization: Where to Apply in the Organization?

(16:03) Fragmented Decision Making and Creating Boundaries in Strategy

(24:20) Building Entrepreneurship in Organizations

(35:09) Collaboration vs. Competition in a High Resource Environment

(39:37) Creating Shared Value

(46:37) AI, LLMs, and the future of Strategy

(57:52) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://www.boundaryless.io/podcast/martin-roger/ Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast Get in touch with Boundaryless: Twitter: https://twitter.com/boundaryless_ Website: https://boundaryless.io/contacts LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo Music Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music

Have you ever wondered how visualizing complex futures can help you take actions and decisions today? Fabien Girardin and Nicolas Nova, pioneers of the practice of Design Fiction, take us on a journey into it to explain what it is for and what comes beyond it.

This episode reveals what it means to create tangible expressions of potential futures while considering its complex relationship with technology, global trends, and societal implications.

They share real-world examples of scenario building and discuss how to operationalize future thinking in organizations through the use of co-creation, AI, and other tools.

Fabien and Nicolas have spent decades guiding small and large organizations to envision and prepare for future scenarios. They are now working to expand the design fiction practice beyond its initial decades of practice.

Their work has helped organizations move beyond abstract predictions by engaging with diegetic and relatable prototypes, creating thousands of tools for strategic reflection. Taking the example of the “IKEA Catalog for the Future,” they highlight how everyday objects can become evocative representations that make future concepts more accessible.

This episode will serve as a comprehensive guide to visualizing imagination, including insights into AI's potential role as a creative accelerator in building such prototypes.

Tune in to discover actionable methods to help you navigate the complexities of the future before it happens.

Discount Code for Listeners!

Fabien and Nicolas have been kind enough to offer all our listeners a 20% Discount for the Manual of Design Fiction Book (Paperback Edition):

Discount Code: BOUND-7BDS4

Link to the shop with discount: https://books.girardinnova.com/discount/BOUND-7BDS4?redirect=%2Fproducts%2Fthe-manual-of-design-fiction

Disclaimer: this is not an affiliate link, Boundaryless doesn’t monetize your book purchase.

Key Highlights

👉 Design Fiction shifts future thinking from abstract complexities to tangible prototypes, making it easier for organizations to grasp the potential impact of future scenarios.

👉 Using mundane, everyday objects is important to bring complex technological and societal changes to life while making it more relatable.

👉 Building a "Design Fiction muscle" involves integrating future thinking as a regular practice within organizations rather than relying on occasional workshops.

👉 AI is transforming future prototyping by accelerating the process and providing a larger perspective for creative explorations.

👉 To stay ahead of disruption through continuous improvement, it’s important for organizations also to involve diverse perspectives.

👉 Design Fiction can go beyond product and service prototypes to also reimagine organizations themselves.

Topics /chapters

(00:00) Quote

(00:53) Guest Introduction

(02:17) Introduction to Design Fiction

(06:12) Changes of Design Fiction over the decades

(10:56) Methods in deploying Design Fiction

(15:36) Being “Diagetic”

(18:27) Use Cases, Competitive Advantage, and Motivations for Design Fiction

(21:03) Operationalizing Design Fiction Capabilities

(27:05) What’s the hard part in adopting Design Fiction

(30:56) AI in Design Fiction

(37:09) The Implications of Design Fiction

(41:52) Future of Design Fiction

(45:00) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://www.boundaryless.io/podcast/Girardin -Nova

Episode recorded on Oct 01, 2024

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Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music

Philippe De Ridder, co-founder and CEO of Boards of Innovation joins us for a conversation on the Autonomous Age and the Age of Creative AI.

In this episode, he discusses his popular opinions on how AI will enable unprecedented productivity gains across industries and impact all business arenas, starting from knowledge work.

He also shares his perspectives on the fusion of AI and human creativity and how organizations can leverage it to redefine workflows, product development, customer research and overall business strategies.

We explore how yesterday’s creator will become tomorrow’s curator and why it is essential always to keep humans at the core -- especially with AI innovation.

As a popular innovation consultant, Philippe is a veteran who has worked with both Fortune 500 companies and agile startups, helping them craft bold strategies for the future.

In the episode, he challenges us to think about how innovation, often heralded as a core human endeavor, is increasingly being automated. From using AI to generate product ideas to testing them with synthetic consumers, he highlights the shift towards real-time innovation and its impact on markets and organizations.

Talking about how AI is reshaping decision-making in innovation and across various business functions, he highlights the importance of adopting a "future-back" approach, where companies envision their role in a radically changed world and work backward to integrate necessary capabilities today.

As leaders face several societal implications and tough decisions due to the increasing integration of AI across the organization, this episode can serve as a backbone upon which they can strategize.

Tune in, as this episode will stretch your idea of what AI can achieve already today in your organization. Simply mind blowing.

Key Highlights

👉 Innovation, often considered a highly human-driven process, can now be automated mainly with AI, from generating product ideas to testing them with synthetic consumers in real-time.

👉 AI-driven tools enable rapid product development, drastically reducing timelines from months to minutes, allowing organizations to innovate continuously.

👉 In the future, leadership will need to navigate a world where not just teams but even products operate autonomously, requiring a shift in how control and strategy are managed.

👉 Organizational structures must evolve, as traditional, siloed departments will struggle to adapt to a world where processes and decisions happen almost instantly.

👉 The role of humans is shifting from creators to curators, as AI becomes more involved in decision-making.

👉 As AI revolutionizes business functions, companies must move beyond efficiency gains and focus on reimagining their workflows and operating models from the ground up.

Topics /chapters

(00:00) Title - intro

(00:58) Philippe De Ridder Introduction

(02:14) Can Innovation be automated?

(11:23) AI in Qualitative Research

(14:28) Autonomous AI integrating in Organizations

(22:19) AI Systems guiding Organizational Strategy

(33:25) Autonomous Functions and the Age of Abundance

(38:23) Consumer Participation in Autonomous Products

(41:55) Socio-Technical Impact

(47:54) Perception of Value

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://www.boundaryless.io/podcast/ridder-philippe

Episode recorded on Sep 12, 2024

Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at ⁠https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast⁠

• Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/boundaryless_⁠
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• LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo⁠

Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: ⁠https://blss.io/Podcast-Music

John Cutler, a veteran thought leader and practitioner in product management, joins us for the first episode of Season 6 of the Boundaryless Conversations podcast.

John is popularly known for his work on product development, collaboration, and systems thinking, and has worked with some of the most advanced product-centric organizations like Toast, Amplitude, and Zendesk.

Based on his wealth of experience, John runs a thought-provoking newsletter, “The Beautiful Mess”, where he shares deep insights and revolutionary ideas in product and organizational development.

During this podcast, we touched on how a founder’s belief systems shape product strategies and organizational structures, the differences between single-product versus multi-product companies, and how it’s important to consider the various frames through which one designs an organization’s dynamics.

John also covers the implications of rapid growth versus maturity in organizations and how technology, particularly AI, is reshaping product and organizational thinking.

Throughout the conversation listeners will also get some special nuggets on what he looks for, when he first meets with leaders and entrepreneurs and this shapes the work in the related organizational context.

This episode - one of the best ones yet - is full of insights on the challenges faced by organizations as they scale, and it’s a precious reminder to avoid being elitist in driving organizational change.

Tune in for a rich discussion and don’t miss out on the shifting paradigms in organizational structure and product leadership.

Key Highlights

👉 Successful product management requires navigating diverse leadership belief systems and adapting to organizational messiness.

👉 In organizational design, we often get stuck in certain perspectives, such as treating teams like architecture. To build a better organization, it’s crucial to challenge these and explore different frames—such as the political or community dynamics.

👉During rapid growth, efficiency often takes a backseat to speed. As companies plateau, introducing standardization and modularization becomes essential for achieving agility.

👉AI can remove cognitive limitations, enabling teams to recontextualize data and serve customers in a more personalized manner, thus breaking traditional barriers in product management.

👉Autonomy must come with accountability to ensure teams remain aligned with organizational goals.

👉In B2B SaaS companies, it's important to shift from viewing individual features as separate products and understand that the entire company is the product.

Topics /chapters

(00:00) Understanding why the Company is the Product - Intro

(00:40) The Beautiful Mess

(01:57) Onboarding Entrepreneurs

(11:15) Managing Organizational Messiness

(23:09) Alignment in a broad portfolio

(30:25) Where do you start designing an organization?

(39:56) Modulating a customer-centric approach

(44:09) Tech Impact on Organizational Design

(50:53) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://www.boundaryless.io/podcast/cutler-john

Episode recorded on Sep 6, 2024

Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at ⁠https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast⁠

• Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/boundaryless_⁠
• Website: ⁠https://boundaryless.io/contacts⁠
• LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo⁠

Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: ⁠https://blss.io/Podcast-Music

We want to invite you to listen to our show, the Boundaryless Conversations Podcast, on its upcoming Season 6.

On this podcast, tech insights meet deep dives into geopolitics, culture, and policymaking, exploring the fabric of tomorrow's world.

Here you can listen to stories from people at the forefront of innovative product and platform development and learn about building resilient and adaptive organizations that can stay ahead through change.

The Boundaryless Conversations Podcast will help you stay informed, avoid echo chambers, and be the change-maker in your organization.

The new series of the podcast is coming up on October 1st.

Subscribe to our channel on Youtube  @Boundaryless-pdt-3eo  and drop us a review

In the meantime, remember to think Boundaryless!

We reviewed all the 20 episodes from Season 5, and shared some much needed look back and key highlights.

While the learnings are an abundant treasure trove, we handpicked a few and categorized them into 4 sections: 

• Dystopian aspects of current socio-technological trends with Sangeet Paul Choudary, James Currier, John Robb  and Jeremiah Owyang
• Visions that resist the dominance of powerful technological forces with Alex Komoroske, Kelly Sarabyn and Scott Brinker, Jesse Walden , Jason Fried and Arvind Gupta
• Doctrine and organizing for a multiplicity of teams and products with Craig Strong, Teresa Torres, Charles Betz, Susanne Kaiser and Cliff Berg
• Visionary perspectives that think beyond the rules and push boundaries with Yolanda Martin, João Rosa and Trond Hjorteland, Indy Johar, Milica Begovic and Giulio Quaggiotto, Mark Lambertz and Amber Case

This wrap-up is a quick look back into what happened all season, and will give you a peek what to expect for the next one. We hope that these episodes have brought you value in re-imagining ecosystems as you know it, and trust that you will continue to support us in the seasons to come.

Topics /chapters

(00:00) Season 5 Wrap-Up - Intro

(00:43) Dystopian aspects of current socio-technological trends

(05:11) Visions that resist the dominance of powerful technological forces

(10:52) Doctrine and organizing for a multiplicity of teams and products

(15:41) Visionary perspectives that think beyond the rules and push boundaries

(22:50) What's Next: Embrace a Boundaryless Future

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://www.boundaryless.io/podcast/season5-wrap-up

Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/boundaryless_
• Website: https://boundaryless.io/contacts
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo

Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music

James Currier, co-founder of NFX and veteran venture capitalist, joins us as our final guest for Season 5 of the Boundaryless Conversations podcast. 

In this gripping discussion, we go through the current and future states of Venture Capital and startups, the role and impacts that AI will have in these ecosystems, and the incumbents' seemingly dominating position in this market. 

James takes us through NFX’s investment strategy and breaks down what it means to be living in a world of AI omnipresence. He covers how AI impacts investment size and deals and shares key ideas about integrating startup solutions into the customer’s workflow as a key defensibility - and thus value - driver.

Tune in for fascinating and deep insights into the future of ventures.

Currier is a five-time Founder and an angel investor in companies such as DoorDash, Lyft, and Patreon. Before becoming an investor, he co-founded Tickle, one of the internet’s first successful user-generated companies. 

With his deep understanding of the mechanisms driving innovation and growth in the tech industry and his passion for mentoring founders, he shares a wealth of knowledge on this podcast episode. 

One of the key elements of our conversation is the significant advantages that incumbents hold in the future of markets impacted by AI in various industries. He touches upon some tried and tested strategies that help startups create sustainable competitive advantages, whether they operate in traditional or emerging industries. James also shares his thoughts on the risks and opportunities of emerging markets such as China and India.

This episode is really packed with strategic insights.    Key Highlights

👉 AI is not a revolutionary new platform but a powerful addition to existing technologies, driving productivity and creativity.

👉 If incumbents leverage their established infrastructures and resources, they have a significant upper hand in the AI race.

👉 Incumbents are likely to capture a much greater share of the AI-driven market than they did during the mobile revolution.

👉 True defensibility of a startup lies in embedding products into customer workflows and creating network effects rather than relying on intellectual property.

👉 The future of venture capital is shifting towards smaller and more frequent exits rather than billion-dollar unicorns, challenging traditional investment models.

👉 A government’s increased involvement in tech industries could potentially stifle innovation, leading to slower progress and bureaucratic challenges for startups.

👉 Looking beyond the glamour of being a startup founder or a VC is realizing that it involves a significant emotional and financial sacrifice.    Topics /chapters

(00:00) Funding Ventures through the GenAI Age - Intro

(00:59) Introducing James Currier

(06:10) Protagonists of the Investment Market 

(09:38) AI impacting the consumer and business landscape

(12:52) What’s the Investment Strategy for AI companies?

(18:47) The Consumer Side 

(24:07) Changes in incumbents

(26:38) Global Transitions in VC Investments

(32:10) Invariant Heuristics in a company’s fund-raising capability

(41:55) Breadcrumbs from James Currier

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://www.boundaryless.io/podcast/currier-james

Episode recorded on May 10, 2024

Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/boundaryless_
• Website: https://boundaryless.io/contacts
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Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music

“Viable System Model” expert Mark Lambertz joins us on today’s podcast to help us unfold organizing in complex ecosystems. 

Mark, a long-time Agile practitioner and a renowned expert on the Viable System Model has a deep understanding and a curious mindset toward all things organizing. We met Mark as an Organizational Coach at Bosch, where he’s driving the adoption of key concepts of the VSM. From his extensive experience, Mark has helped us understand how to use the VSM lens to build autonomous and self-sustaining organizational systems. 

He takes us through the model’s components and practical applications and compares it with other organizational frameworks that we use widely, more specifically, Boundaryless’ Rendanheyi-inspired implementation of the Platform Organization with the 3EO Framework. 

The conversation - where we discover a lot of resonance between the two perspectives - is filled with valuable insights from the ground and helps you move towards a more inclusive model that balances operational efficiency with strategic adaptability.

Tune in, and don’t miss out. 

As one of the first attempts to use cybernetics in organizational management, the Viable System Model was conceived by Stafford Beer in his book - “The Brain of the Firm” in the 70s.

Mark connects the dots in this podcast and explains why cybernetics is important for building adaptive organizations. The podcast highlights the importance of viewing organizations as adaptive, complex ecosystems emphasizing decentralization, coordination, and collective and emergent strategic planning. 

He takes us through the depths of VSM, explaining how it starts with an outside-in perspective, focusing on the environment, and then further breaks down the 5 systems within VSM. 

In this conversation, you get practical insights into incorporating a VSM informed perspective in your organization, helping you stay dynamic and ever-evolving.

Key Highlights

👉 The Viable System Model (VSM) is crucial for understanding and designing organizations that sustain themselves through complex environments.

👉 VSM emphasizes starting with an outside-in perspective, focusing on the environment, customers, and markets first.

👉 VSM incorporates a form of hierarchy based on responsibility and inclusiveness, aiming to preserve the whole while allowing for local interests and self-organization.

👉 VSM includes five key systems to ensure organizational adaptability: operational units, value production, tactical management, future planning, and organizational identity. 

👉 VSM has a fractal nature meaning each operational unit contains its systems, mirroring the larger organizational structure. 

👉 The Rendanheyi/3EO model complements VSM by emphasizing decentralized decision-making and enabling constraints.

👉 The future of organizational design is evolving, with an increasing emphasis on creativity, optionality, and diversity. 

Topics /chapters

(00:00) Decoding Viable System Model - Intro

(01:27) Introducing Mark and VSM

(13:12) Hierarchies and Structures in VSM

(16:13) Fractal Structure of VSM

(22:12) Orchestrating the organization, market, and VSM

(27:20) Culminating learnings from VSM, Rendanheyi, and 3EO 

(39:46) Using the VSM Framework  

(44:09) Coming of Age of Organizational Design and Development

(47:45) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions 

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://www.boundaryless.io/podcast/mark-lambertz

Episode recorded on May 10, 2024

Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at ⁠https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast⁠

• Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/boundaryless_⁠
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• LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo⁠

Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: ⁠https://blss.io/Podcast-Music⁠

Yolanda Martin Olivas, Global VP of Design, ClearScore, joins us on this episode to talk about the challenges and strategies involved in building platform capabilities within organizations. 

From her experience of building platforms at companies like Farfetch, Hearst, Canonical, Kaluza, and ClearScore etc., she takes us through the realities (sometimes difficult) of what it’s like to enable platform transformation and growth.

She argues for organizations to rethink the “growing through acquisition” approach while reiterating the need to focus on a strong infrastructure layer.

As a passionate learner, practitioner, and enabler of platform design; Yolanda is one to take tune into. 

Being one of the earliest learners of the Platform Design Toolkit, Yolanda has been a staunch practitioner of the platform business model and has played a pivotal role in enabling it in several organizations. 

In this episode, we talk about organizational motivations to shift towards platform design models, primarily driven by the need for economies of scale and new growth opportunities, and why focusing on your “why” is important. 

From her experience as a Design Director, she further shares practical advice on fostering a broader ecosystem perspective among design teams. She underscores the need for strong leadership commitment to enable this. 

In this conversation we get insights into what made organizations “make it or break it”, so tune in, and get ahead of the curve. 

Key Highlights

👉 Building platform capabilities is complex, time-consuming, and resource-intensive. Organizations, need to make a special commitment to platform design and implement exclusive strategies targeted toward this, not simply extending their existing practices.

👉 Successful platform transitions often start with integrating internal operations before enabling it to external partners.

👉 Design leaders play a crucial role in guiding organizations through platform transitions by fostering a broader, ecosystem-wide perspective; which does not look at design problems in a silo, but as a cog in a larger ecosystem.

👉 The lack of a mature platform infrastructure can make growth efforts expensive and inefficient. 

👉 There is a high risk in prematurely diverting investment from platform infrastructure to other growth avenues, such as acquiring and creating brands.

👉 Effective platform transitions require targeted education and training for different parts of the organization, tailored to their involvement in the platform’s development stages.

Topics /chapters

(00:00) Navigating Platform Transitions - Intro

(00:58) Introducing Yolanda Martin

(02:50) Building platform capabilities inside organizations?

(11:05) Adapting to platformization changes

(15:55) Design Leadership for Platformization

(20:53) Stories of Transition

(27:23) What did not work for Farfetch platform?

(32:35) Building or Buying the Ecosystem?

(37:05) Looking beyond User-Centered-Design

(43:34) What helps the organization re-arrange?

(48:19) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://www.boundaryless.io/podcast/yolanda-martin

Episode recorded on March 20, 2024

Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at ⁠⁠https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast⁠⁠

• Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/boundaryless_⁠⁠
• Website: ⁠⁠https://boundaryless.io/contacts⁠⁠
• LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo⁠⁠

Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: ⁠⁠https://blss.io/Podcast-Music⁠

Indy Johar, Mission Steward of Dark Matter Labs, joins the podcast to help us rethink how we organize ourselves and our systems, addressing inadequacies of traditional business models that are no longer sufficient for managing complexities.

Bringing light to how “risk management should be localized, with decision-making power and accountability being as close to the problem as possible,” Indy argues for an organization that encourages participants to be citizens rather than employees and fosters continuous and accountable learning among individuals.

Tune into this episode and learn from Indy, a veteran in building mission-driven organizations, who has always stayed ahead of the curve.

Indy - who joins the podcast for the 3rd time - besides stewarding the mission at Dark has also recently joined RMIT University, teaching no less than “Planetary Civics”, a testament to his influence in the space of social innovation.

As always, Indy comes with a profound understanding of designing complex organizations for the 21st century, from his hands-on experience in creating radical innovations in governance, architecture, and social systems, particularly in sustainability and collaborative economy. 

He starts the podcast with philosophical considerations about the nature of complex organizations and then highlights the need for a radical shift toward a learning-centered organization.

In the conversation, we question the traditional metrics of productivity and value, and further advocate for new metrics that account for collective intelligence and systemic contributions rather than individual output. 

There was no better way to celebrate our 100th episode because this one is a landmark. Grab a notepad and pick a pen, because there’s much to pin down.

Key Highlights

👉 Organizational structures in a complex world, and a shift from command-and-control to systemic learning and adaptability.

👉 Decentralized risk management and the need to localize decision-making to enhance responsiveness and effectiveness.

👉 Dark Matter Labs' mission-driven approach, emphasizing partnerships over traditional consultancy to enable sustainable change.

👉 Need for a paradigm shift in how value is defined and measured within organizations, moving towards incorporating multi-dimensional success indicators.

👉Redefining organizational roles to encourage craft and citizenship, where individuals contribute to the organization's decision-making processes. 

👉 Rethinking legal structures governing organizations, moving towards frameworks that support distributed risk and empower collective action.

Topics /chapters

(00:00) Learning Centered Organizations for the 21st Century - Intro

(01:40) Introducing Indy Johar

(10:31) Value of Learning as a Strategic Advantage

(14:41) Accelerating Learning and Modifying Organizational Agendas

(19:23) Structure in a post-managerial economy

(24:46) The Design of Dark Matter Labs

(34:50) Citizenship inside Organizations

(42:25) Citizen or Employee?

(47:56) Money making machine to avenues of value 

(55:47) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://www.boundaryless.io/podcast/indy-johar-2

Episode recorded on March 19, 2024

Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at ⁠⁠⁠https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast⁠⁠⁠

• Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/boundaryless_⁠⁠⁠
• Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://boundaryless.io/contacts⁠⁠⁠
• LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo⁠⁠⁠

Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: ⁠⁠⁠https://blss.io/Podcast-Music⁠⁠

Kelly Sarabyn and Scott Brinker from HubSpot take us through their latest report on the State of Platforms in 2024. 

HubSpot has always considered industry education as central to developing its business and brand, and - in combination with some of its partners - released this great report earlier this year.

The report profoundly covers how firms now adopt platform strategies to thrive in a digital economy ranging from app ecosystems to services marketplaces. Having spearheaded this, Kelly and Scott shared some insider information with us. 

During the conversation, they highlight the evolution of platforms, from mere technical infrastructures to complex ecosystems, and then further delve into how understanding the intricacies of platform models is crucial for tech companies and all businesses looking to leverage the interconnected nature of modern markets.

Some of our ardent followers will know that this is the 2nd time we have Scott, Vice President of Platform Ecosystem, at HubSpot. Kelly, instead, works as a Platform Ecosystem Advocate, at the same company. 

We are thrilled that they wanted to share the key learnings from co-authoring the “State of Platforms 2024” report - a tremendous piece of work that examines the evolving dynamics of the platform businesses, with a keen focus on the B2B SaaS industry.

In the conversation we explored the implications of evolving platforms for business strategy and operations, emphasizing the necessity for companies to continuously adapt and leverage these opportunities effectively, regardless of the role and business model. Our guests further touch upon how companies need to modulate around proliferation and nichification, integrations across sectors, and even look into these retributions' ethical and social aspects from a community-building perspective. 

Key Highlights

👉 Deep Dive into B2B SaaS Platforms by analyzing the top 50 SaaS companies’ adoption of platform business models.

👉 Integration as a critical strategy for enhancing user experience and the platform's value proposition.

👉Industries that have fallen short in their platform game, and where their future is headed.

👉The challenges with outsourcing integration, and why the quality of integration makes or breaks your product’s market fit.

👉The platform industry as a continuously evolving ecosystem, and its implications on business.

👉How companies need to adapt their structure to support platform models.

👉Analysis of the broader implications of platform strategies on society and ethical considerations in platform management.

👉The potential of using ecosystems as a distribution strategy, and why even non-tech companies should consider integrating digital services into their offerings.

Topics /chapters

(00:00) The State of Platforms in 2024 - intro

(00:58) Introducing Kelly Sarabyn and Scott Brinker

(01:58) State of Platforms Report 2024

(10:09) Patterns of Platforms in 2024

(13:19) Outdated Metrics and Practices of Platforms

(16:10) Who should be thinking about Platforms today?

(20:24) Being a part of ecosystems as a distribution strategy

(23:57) Organization Structures Designed for Platforms

(27:31) Who should understand platforms in your organization?

(33:15) Proliferation and Nichification

(38:43) What is the key to unlock the future?

(45:17) Transformation in the Services Ecosystems

(51:29) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://www.boundaryless.io/podcast/kelly-scott

Episode recorded on August 7, 2023

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Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://blss.io/Podcast-Music⁠⁠