What a joy to feature the always interesting Lee Bryant in this week’s episode. Our conversation ranged from how organisations need to adapt in a VUCA world, to creating a coalition of the willing, to the causes behind a widescale breakdown in trust – and how we can rebuild it.
We had a few issues with the connection so hope you’ll forgive the odd sound glitch. We think it’s worth sticking with to hear Lee’s insightful, forthright and often funny comments.
Lee’s background is fascinating, and you can read about some it below. But if you ever get the chance to ask him more in person, grab it!
Lee Bryant is a technologist and organisational designer driven by a strong belief in the empowering potential of connected networks and systems. He has been playing with words and computers since the age of 10, and published his first code aged 11. Pre-Internet, he wrote and researched in the field of International Relations, working as a consultant for the Bosnian government in London and Sarajevo during the war, and later for specialist NGOs.
In 1996, he co-founded one of the first successful online agencies to focus on building online knowledge communities, and and in 2002, Lee and his team founded a new company, Headshift, to focus on the emerging area of social software applied to improving organisational effectiveness. Headshift was a pioneer of the European social software industry, and was acquired by a larger US firm at the end of the decade.
Since then, Lee has focused on the organisational design side of the challenge posed by digitisation, writing about and researching the future organisational operating systems and the role of automation in a post-management firm. He consults and collaborates with leading organisations around digital transformation, organisational development, agility and learning through his new company Postshift.