Episodes
Tuesday Mar 19, 2024
#96 - Building Calm Technology and Organizations with Amber Case
Tuesday Mar 19, 2024
Tuesday Mar 19, 2024
We rarely (if ever) get to host a cyborg anthropologist on our podcast, so we are thrilled to have Amber Case join us as a special guest for this episode.
Amber, who works at the intersection of human and technology interactions, shares her journey into envisioning what a calm technology is. Calm Technology is a design philosophy that advocates for technology to integrate into our lives, enhancing our ability to focus rather than distracting us. She takes us through everyday objects that have been designed this way and leaves us challenging what’s really “transparent technology”?
We stretch the boundaries to include a conversation on organizations and governance: a leading thread is that of keeping asking questions and not drinking the kool-aid of truthiness in how we think about tech and organizing.
Tune in to this provocation that leaps into the future of technology, its impact on society, and how you can navigate these landscapes with mindful intent.
This podcast started on a personal note - Amber shared her experience being a child of engineers, and also having early exposure to the natural world - both of which she believes set the precedence for what she does today.
She takes us through a wealth of experience she gained in her multifaceted career - having been a renowned book author, TED speaker, serial startup founder, advisor, co-founder of DAOs, Research Director at the Meta Governance Project, and most recently the founder of the Calm Tech Institute.
Amber advocates for a future where technology "gets out of your way and lets you live your life."
This episode will elicit new questions for you and your career.
This episode has been occasionally recorded as “sound only”.
Key Highlights
👉 Critical intersection between human behavior and technology, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of our digital coexistence.👉 Calm Technology as an essential way to creating designs that respect human attention without overwhelming users.👉Building tools that help users focus on the task and not the tool.👉 Complexities of governance in technological and organizational contexts, with a focus on the potentials and pitfalls of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).👉 Ways to bring a shift towards innovations that serve humanity and contribute to a more equitable future.👉 Developing a questioning mindset for driving meaningful technological advancements.
Topics /chapters
(00:00) Building Calm Technology and Organizations - Intro(02:09) The start of a cyborg anthropologist(11:19) What happens as Technology fades into the background/ disappears?(19:55) Technology as facilitator vs. distractor(31:06) How to limit and grow technology(48:53) Organizations shaping itself to build better technology(59:37) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions
Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/Amber-Case/
Episode recorded on 22th February 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/contactsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo
MusicMusic from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music
#boundaryless #PDT #3EO #CyberAnthropology #CalmTechnology #HumanCenteredDesign #FutureOfTechnology #DigitalWellbeing
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
#95 - Avoiding the Agile Bureaucracy with Rosa and Hjorteland
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
In today’s episode, we are joined by João Rosa and Trond Hjorteland, two organizational consultants with a unique point of view, who take us through the depth of Open Systems Theory, and what it means to be socio-technical practitioners, passionate about transitioning democratic organizations to fast-flowing operational models.
With many years of experience in large and complex contexts, they delve into what it means to create a collaborative and democratic organization, and how to balance mission, business outcomes, and cognitive load.
Join us on this episode, as we debate the role of “purpose”, entrepreneurship, and autonomy and learn how to avoid the creation of agile bureaucracies.
Tune in, and get inspired.
In the conversation with Rosa and Hjorteland we started from an original question that Simone threw out at a small conference recently: how do we avoid building Agile Bureaucracies?
What does it mean to develop a business that achieves agility without having to exert total control on flows and processes?
With increasingly complex and dynamic environments, it becomes pivotal for organizations to recognize and adapt to change, if not stay ahead of it and rigidities are more than dangerous - even the cultural ones.
Emphasizing learnings from different methodologies like Open Systems Theory, Domain Driven Design, and Team Topologies; our guests advocate a team-centered, and democratic approach over industrial and hierarchical practices. A unique episode to look out for. Tune in.
Key Highlights
👉 Evolving socio-technical systems to enhance organizational resilience against complexity and unpredictability.👉 Integrating agile practices, Open System Theory, and collaborative sense-making to navigate complex organizational challenges.👉 Participatory culture for enabling team autonomy and fostering ownership practices.👉 Balancing strategic focus with adaptability, by leveraging external technologies for organizational evolution.👉 The role of Team Topologies in creating effective communication and collaboration structures within organizations.👉 Encouraging the shift towards a micro-entrepreneurial mindset within teams to promote innovation and autonomy.
Topics /chapters
(00:00) Intro - Avoiding the Agile Bureaucracy with Rosa and Hjorteland(00:59) Guests Introduction(02:37) Status Quo: Socio-Technical Systems(10:38) Aligning organizational design and business outcomes(20:52) Enabling entrepreneurship and building optionality(39:25) Disruptions in Industrial Organization Thinking(50:28) Theory of Organizations for a Complex World(58:40) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions
Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/Rosa-Hjorteland/
Episode recorded on 6th February 2024Get 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/contactsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo
MusicMusic from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music
#boundaryless #PDT #3EO #OpenSystemTheory #SocioTechnicalSystems #OrganizationalDesign #DomainDrivenDesign #TeamTopologies
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
#94 - Susanne Kaiser on Building the Right Things (& Building Things Right)
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
An independent tech consultant with over 20 years, Susanne Kaiser joins the podcast and shares her insights on what makes a robust socio-technical system.
Integrating takeaways from different approaches like Wardley Mapping, Domain Driven Design, and Team topologies, she helps the listeners understand how to mold systems into ones that are adaptable to change, how to invest in the right things, and how to avoid wasting resources on things that do not make a competitive advantage.
We further touch upon topics like building in bounded contexts and unbundling the right way. This episode has an ocean of information, which can help listeners achieve better strategic awareness of their company, products, and initiatives. Grab a coffee cup and a notebook and listen. In this episode, Susanne takes us through what it means to operate a business with a strategic perspective.
An organization’s evolutionary journey goes through high levels of change and uncertainty. With insights on bounded contexts and evolution, Susanne takes us through how you can enforce modularity and cohesion among the different parts of the system, to deal with such a journey.
With significant experience working as a consultant in the software development world, Susanne shares real-world examples of how organizations can create architecture and team structures that are dynamic and play to an organization's competitive advantage.
Key Highlights
👉 A holistic approach to building adaptive socio-technical systems optimized for rapid change
👉 Integration of business strategy, software design, and team organization methodologies such as Wardley mapping, Domain-Driven Design, and Team Topologies.
👉 Organizing strategic investment in core domains to maintain competitive advantage while leveraging off-the-shelf solutions for generic/peripheral subdomains.
👉 Identifty bounded contexts for enabling modularity and cohesion in software systems, supporting faster adaptation to change.
👉 Insights on cultural shifts within organizations, promoting autonomy, trust, and a micro-entrepreneurial mindset.
Topics /chapters
(00:00) Intro - Susanne Kaiser on Building the Right Things (& Building Things Right)
(01:22) Bridging three methodologies for Holistic Socio-Technical Systems
(16:19) Looking into Domain Driven Design
(24:32) What are Bounded Contexts? How do they play out for products and portfolios?
(35:35) Unbundling for a functional model/ Unbundling the right way
(41:20) Integrators & Competitive Advantages
(49:12) Closing Breadcrumbs and Suggestions
Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/susanne-kaiser/
Episode recorded on 29th December 2023Get 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/contactsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo
MusicMusic from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music
#boundaryless #PDT #3EO #SystemThinking #OrganiazationalDesign #DomainDrivenDesign #TeamTopologies
Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
#93 - Beyond the Code: Jeremiah Owyang on the New Era of AI
Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
Jeremiah Owyang, a veteran with a vantage point of Silicon Valley and current General Partner at Blitzscaling Ventures joins us for the second time on the podcast. While he is now working on identifying and nurturing AI startups, this episode reflects his art of captivating audiences. He takes us through the exponential growth of AI startups, its implications on creativity, health, wellness, and productivity, the ethical considerations surrounding its adoption, and the potential of AI to democratize professional skills. We even touch upon what’s next with AI in this thought-provoking discussion, so tune in and get listening into the future.
In this episode, Owyang demystifies complex technologies - a skill that has made him a sought-after speaker, capable of creating context and setting standards for the adoption of advanced technologies in Business, globally.
Jeremiah takes us on a journey from the inception of predictive AI to the emergence of ChatGPT the moment it was made ubiquitous. This episode is special since we go beyond the technology - through the socio-economic impacts of AI - with a bonus live demo of scenario-based voice interaction with an AI.
This episode is a deep dive into the future of AI and the sheer power of its technology from one of Silicon Valley's most influential voices. Don’t miss out.
Key Highlights
👉 AI's role in reshaping creativity and digital content, with digital influencers.👉 Democratization of AI technology beyond Silicon Valley - its global adoption.👉Addressing the balance between technological advancement and the preservation of human values and rights, with Ethical AI.👉 Consumer interaction with AI, and what the future will hold - mobile-first or wearables? 👉 A step towards artificial general intelligence (AGI) - The emergence of AI agents as autonomous systems enhancing personal and professional productivity. 👉 The role of AI in health, creating accessibility, affordability, and overall improvement in general wellness.👉 Harnessing AI for Global Betterment - elevating health and education, paralleling the Industrial Revolution's transformation; akin to trading human cognitive efforts for computational prowess.
Topics /chapters
(00:00) Intro - Beyond the Code: Jeremiah Owyang on the New Era of AI (02:29) Picture of the white-hote core of AI(12:27) AI’s Creativity and Human Creativity (18:51) Monetizing the future of AI(28:18) Authenticity of AI (39:32) AI and it’s human implications(43:39) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions
Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/jeremiah-owyang2/
Episode recorded on 11th January 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/contactsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo
MusicMusic from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music
#boundaryless #PDT #3EO #GenerativeAI, #AIFuture, #VentureCapital, #SiliconValley, #AIAgents, #EthicalAI
Tuesday Jan 23, 2024
Tuesday Jan 23, 2024
Join us on this episode as we sit down with Charles Betz, a leading authority in enterprise architecture-related research. With a career dedicated to understanding how digitally enabled organizations (should) operate at scale, Charles is the VP and Research Director of Enterprise Architecture at Forrester. Tune in as he discusses the evolution of technology, the challenges faced by enterprises as they integrate digital, and the critical and evolving role of enterprise architecture in modern business.
This is an all-encompassing episode featuring Charles Betz, the VP and Research Director of Enterprise Architecture at Forrester. With over two decades of experience in the field, Charles is a seasoned expert in enterprise architecture, digital transformation, and organizational strategy, making this a perfect episode for those looking to operate digitally enabled organizations, at scale.
With his wealth of knowledge, Charles takes us on a journey through the historical evolution of computing, tracing the path from the early days of digital challenges to the present era of cloud computing and platform capabilities. He shares perspectives on the evolving and pivotal role of enterprise architecture, a once technical role now increasingly in charge of facilitating technology alignment with product portfolios and business goals.
He introduces the concept of Outcome-Driven Architecture, emphasizing the principles of adaptability, creativity, and resilience, and prepares us as we explore together the digital landscape.
Key Highlights
👉 Distinguishing hardware and software in digital technology and the unifying capabilities of computing machines.👉 Challenges faced by enterprise architecture - the risk of bureaucracy and the need to adapt to modern platform thinking.👉 Managing multiple PNL units in organizations, and the requirement for a balance between shared governance and shared services for efficient scaling.👉 Effective portfolio management needs to meet architectural considerations👉 Outcome-driven architecture for achieving higher-level values such as adaptability, creativity, and resilience through architectural capabilities.👉Engagement models for architecture groups and their cultural values, including value, accountability, and agility.👉 Shift from a top-down approach to a value-driven perspective in managing technology portfolios.👉 Systematic and rational management of digital portfolios to optimize investments and minimize redundancy and sprawl.
Topics /chapters
(00:00) Intro - Why Enterprise Architecture is not (just) about Technology(08:20) Balancing Business Logic, Products, and Technology(11:28) Enterprise Architecture in a Decentralized World(18:39) Creating Coherence in Constraints(34:10) Shifting Roles of Enterprise Architects (39:33) Outcome-Driven Architecture Model at Forrester(46:00) Shift from top-down to value-driven perspective (49:07) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions
Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/charles-betz
Episode recorded on 17th November 2023
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/contactsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo
MusicMusic from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music
#boundaryless #PDT #3EO #EnterpriseArchitecture #DigitalTransformation #BusinessStrategy #Innovation #DigitalOrganization #DevOps
Tuesday Jan 09, 2024
#91 Rethinking Development: UNDP’s Journey from Projects to Portfolios
Tuesday Jan 09, 2024
Tuesday Jan 09, 2024
Join us as we delve into a thought-provoking conversation with Milica Begovic and Giulio Quaggiotto, current and former Head of Strategic Innovation at the UNDP, as they shed light on how they are reshaping the approach to global development by transitioning from traditional project methods to a portfolio approach. Tune in as we unpack the need for this systemic change and recognize how deep organizational shifts are required to the complexities of today's most pressing challenges.
At Boundaryless, we always believed in the power of learning from parallel avenues, and this episode with Milica Begovic and Giulio Quaggiotto sharing their experience in the development sector, is a testament to that.
Milica, known for her innovative drive, and Giulio, with his extensive experience in public sector innovation, share their insights on UNDP’s recent shift from a project-based to a portfolio approach in tackling global challenges.
They explore how to address systemic changes, emphasizing the importance of broadening strategies to create sustainable impacts.
Taking practical examples from the ground, they discuss the role of cities in driving community-focused innovation, demonstrating the power of portfolio governance in achieving shared goals.
This episode is a compelling call to action for rethinking not just development work, but also what startups and corporates alike could learn to imbibe, in an increasingly complex ecosystem.
Key Highlights
👉 Embracing a complex systemic approach over a linear project approach can ensure impactful response to the unpredictable ways of nature. 👉 The quest for coherence and the need for optionality have to co-exist while addressing dynamic complexities.👉 Organizational agility and deep structural changes are crucial to drive systemic innovation 👉 Skin in the game through co-ownership of risks and success can lead to improved sustainability of solutions👉 Coherence attracts leverage when multiple independent entities come together to solve a problem, and this ensures an increase in an individual's accountability towards the outcome.
Topics /chapters
(00:00) Intro - Rethinking Development: UNDP's Journey from Projects to Portfolios(01:31) Guests Introduction (02:35) Transition from Project approach to Portfolio approach(14:23) Trickling down of Optionality(19:26) Generating Outcomes in Emergence(23:57) Role of Skin in the Game(33:13) Building Narratives in a Portfolio Switch(40:30) Uptake of Portfolio Approach (44:27) Composability and Modularity in Portfolio Approaches(48:36) Arriving at common census in a fragmented world(55:58) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions(57:00) Closing episode
Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/milica-giulio
Episode recorded on 18th October 2023
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/contactsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo
MusicMusic from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music
#boundaryless #PDT #3EO #StrategicInnovation #Portfolios #OrgDesign
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
#90 - Enjoying Building Simple Products with Jason Fried
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
We are truly honored to host Jason Fried, co-founder of 37Signals and the mastermind behind Basecamp, and Hey for one of our deepest episodes. A leading critical voice in startup culture and product design, Jason delves into challenging conventional business approaches with a focus on simplicity, enjoyment, and nimbleness. In the second part of the conversation, Jason also hints into what he calls a Post-SaaS era that he intends to kickstart with a new suite of products called Once.
This is a landmark episode for us, as we're joined by Jason Fried, co-founder of 37Signals and the creative force behind Basecamp and Hey.
A true critical thought leader in startup culture, product design, and organizational development, Jason shares his deep insights into the transformative power that comes from challenging traditional business norms - be it bootstrapping, subtracting, restraining, or creating shorter cycles - in a world where increasingly, “more” is considered better.
As an acclaimed author of International Bestsellers - like “Rework”, “Remote” and “It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work” - Jason offers unique perspectives on customer and product strategies, intuition in decision-making, and the importance of human touch in technology.
He also shares insights on 37Signal's multi-product strategies and touches on their upcoming product "Once", which promises to be the first post-SaaS product.
This episode has got it all, and speaks on untouched conversations like never before. Don’t miss out.
Key Highlights
👉 A deep dive into approaches that challenge traditional startup culture and product design principles - bootstrapping, subtraction, simplified metrics etc.👉 Restraints as powerful enablers organizational strategy👉 A centralized product editor vs. a decentralized structure approach in an organization👉 Understanding the dynamics and strategies behind managing and growing a multi-product company👉 Short term vs. long term goals and getting buy-in from the organization👉 Why AI isn’t a magical duct tape, and how do you tackle leveraging AI's capabilities and preserving a product's unique identity👉 Understanding how friction can be either incorporated or overcome in the creative and development process👉 The Next in SaaS and what is “Once” building
Topics /chapters
(00:00) Intro - Enjoying Building Simple Products(03:17) Navigating constraints and restraints(10:39) Getting buy-in from your team (16:04) Being empathetic with customers (21:16) Building purpose in an organization(28:04) Modularity, Composability, and Integration(33:32) AI is a universal duct tape (38:45) Path to Multi Product(43:01) What “Once” was (and will be)(49:53) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions
Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/jason-fried
Episode recorded on 16th November 2023
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/contactsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo
MusicMusic from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music
#boundaryless #PDT #3EO #SaaS #ProductDesign #Bootstrapping
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
#89 - Why Building On Chain: The Case for Web3 with Jesse Walden
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
We talked Web3 with Jesse Walden, a true veteran in the crypto and blockchain space. All the conversation revolves around a deep question: why should we build on chain? Join us as Jesse shines a light on the path forward - and on the key outstanding questions for Web3.
In this episode, we discuss the future of the internet with Jesse Walden - Founder of Variant Fund and Web3 legend. Jesse - is one the most pivotal shapers of the landscape of user-owned internet - and an early-stage crypto funding pioneer - and we are truly honored to have him speak with us.
Before spearheading Variant Fund, Jesse had a notable tenure as Program Director at Crypto Startup School—one of the earliest startup accelerators in Crypto and Web3. Before this, he pioneered work at Mediachain Labs, later acquired by Spotify, which underscored his foresight in harnessing blockchain's potential.
In this deep discussion, we riff with Jesse around the fundamental elements of the question: “why should we build organizations and products on the blockchain”?
Among the depths discussed, he spoke to us on how crypto isn't merely about currencies but rather about owning a slice of the internet. He helps us revise the structural shifts that this technology affords: from independent digital asset ownership to the idea of complete contracts, and we stretch the surface of what’s only possible to build if we embrace this new perspective.
Towards the end of the conversation, we also dive into what’s the role of venture capital in a different landscape such as that of web3.
Tune in to this engaging conversation as Jesse navigates the realms of crypto, blockchain, and ownership, unveiling their profound implications for the future of the internet.
Key Highlights
👉 Redefining Digital Ownership: Exploring the shift from traditional internet usage to owning a piece of the internet through blockchain and smart contracts.👉 Complete Contracts in Web3: the importance of specifying outcomes in smart contracts amidst dynamism.👉 New Economic Value in Web3: Bottom-up innovation in Web3, and enabling economic value creation. 👉 Rebuilding Protocols in Web3: Exploring why developers are keen on rebuilding protocols rather than building upon existing ones👉 Modular Components in Web3: Building extensive and valuable networks through composability and modularity.👉 Convergence of Technologies: Exploring the intersection of blockchain computing, zero-knowledge cryptography, and AI.
Topics /chapters
(00:00) Intro - Why Building On Chain: The Case for Web3(02:04) Why should you build on blockchain?(06:55) Complete contracts versus incomplete contracts(19:37) Rebuilding a platform vs. Building atop platforms(26:47) Modularity and Monetizing Web3 (42:08) Role of AI in composing products and experiences(45:39) Breadcrumbs and closing suggestions
Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/jesse-walden
Recorded on 10th November 2023.
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/contactsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo
MusicMusic from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music