Podcast appearances and mentions of matt ballantine

What if embracing randomness could unlock better decision-making in your work?In this episode, I welcome back Matt Ballantine, a returning guest known for his insightful and playful take on work and life.  This time, Matt dives into the concept of randomness and how it can be a strategic tool in navigating complex problems that defy traditional solutions.From engaging discussions on how randomness applies to decision-making to his creative uses of tarot-like card decks for ideation, Matt demonstrates that randomness is not just chaos—it's a pathway to innovation.He also shares how randomness has played a role in his projects, like the 100 Coffees initiative, which connected him with people in unexpected ways and reinforced the idea that unstructured, agenda-free time can lead to powerful outcomes.In our discussion, we explore practical applications of randomness in business settings, why organizations may resist these approaches, and how embracing randomness could unlock creative potential and solve cloud-like challenges.To see the cards that Matt and I talked about: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8Sf6zrsKoL74VxjZ6Guest BiographyMatt Ballantine describes himself as a curious explorer of ideas with a background in technology, organizational culture, and creative problem-solving. Currently an account manager at Equal Experts, Matt's work spans various roles that emphasize unconventional approaches to strategy and innovation.He is known for his thought-provoking projects, like the 100 Coffees initiative, which challenged norms of structured networking and led to surprising insights. In addition, Matt has been exploring the intersection of randomness and decision-making, using creative tools such as card decks inspired by tarot to facilitate out-of-the-box thinking.Find Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattballantine/Follow him on Twitter/X: https://x.com/ballantine70AI-Generated Timestamped Summary[00:00:00] - Opening & IntroductionChristian welcomes back Matt Ballantine to discuss randomness, highlighting Matt's previous appearance and his exploration of randomness in work and life.Matt shares how randomness can be a strategic advantage when addressing complex, unpredictable problems.[00:02:00] - 100 Coffees Experiment RecapMatt recounts his "100 Coffees" project from 2023, which involved meeting 138 people for unstructured, hour-long conversations to spark serendipitous insights.He notes the challenge many people face in allocating unplanned conversation time due to hyper-optimized schedules.[00:04:12] - Organizational ImplicationsMatt reflects on how the absence of informal interactions in modern work setups, like back-to-back virtual meetings, has stripped valuable opportunities for unstructured exchanges.[00:07:13] - Current Projects & RandomnessMatt discusses his current work as an account manager at Equal Experts, which operates without traditional hierarchical structures.He introduces his project, the "Business Meerkat" deck, a tool for exploring business problems using randomness, and his ongoing research and writing on the theme of randomness.[00:08:50] - The Clock and Cloud AnalogyDrawing from Karl Popper, Matt contrasts "clock-like" (predictable, analyzable) and "cloud-like" (complex, unpredictable) problems. He suggests randomness as a strategy for navigating cloud-like problems.[00:10:32] - Definitions of RandomnessMatt distinguishes between mathematical randomness (equal probability outcomes, like dice rolls) and perceived randomness (unforeseen events).[00:15:00] - Human Behavioral Dynamics & ComplexityMatt and Christian discuss how perfect information in human systems, like traffic, can create new problems due to human reactions, illustrating the complexity of cloud-like problems.[00:17:36] - The Spectrum of ControlOrganizations often lean towards deterministic approaches, believing in total control. However, randomness introduces new approaches to handle unpredictable outcomes.[00:19:00] - Biological AnalogyT-cells in the immune system exemplify natural, evolved randomness through their adaptive protein shuffling. Netflix's A/B testing process is cited as a parallel in using randomness strategically.[00:22:00] - Risk and Decision-MakingChristian and Matt discuss how decision-making involves inherent risk and unintended consequences. Randomness can offer fresh perspectives when facing uncertain, multi-faceted decisions.[00:24:26] - Business ApplicationsMatt explains how his tarot-inspired "Business Meerkat" cards help teams analyze problems by introducing random prompts, fostering unexpected insights and collaborative thinking.[00:31:50] - Group Dynamics and Random InputRandom input encourages active participation and mitigates power dynamics in meetings, allowing genuine, spontaneous collaboration.[00:37:26] - Comfort with UncertaintyMatt acknowledges that adopting randomness can be intimidating but argues that it's crucial for those tackling complex, cloud-like problems.[00:45:16] - External Thinking ToolsMatt highlights how humans use external tools (e.g., notebooks, cards) to process and enhance thinking, making randomness a valuable external input for creative processes.[00:48:00] - Childlike ExplorationChristian reflects on how educational and workplace norms stifle the playful, exploratory thinking that randomness can reinvigorate.LinksMatt's previous appearance on the show: https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/matt-ballantine-on-the-human-side-of-technology/Matt's website: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/The book website: randomthebook.com The three apps Matt mentions:https://ee-hacking-apophenia-random-photos.vercel.app/https://ee-hacking-apophenia-creativator.vercel.app/https://ee-hacking-apophenia-business-meerkat.vercel.app/Cardshop: wb40podcast.com/shop

Ever thought about the impact that 100 coffee conversations could have on your career and networking opportunities?In this episode, we dive deep into Matt Ballantine's 100 coffees project, exploring the ins and outs of making meaningful connections in a post-COVID world.Matt Ballantine, has almost 3 decades of experience in transformation initiatives -- as he puts it -- getting people and tech to work together better. He's worked for a wide range of organisations like Reuters and BBC. And today, he's an engagement manager at Equal Experts, a London based consultancy. And a podcast host of WB-40 where he talks to guests about tech and how it's changing the way we work.In our conversation, which feels much like what I expect a coffee conversation would be like with him, I ask him all about the project -- the origin story and lessons learnt.And we still manage to cover topics like:-       The liminal spaces at work vs water cooler moments-       Apophenia -- the human ability to make connections in unrelated things,-       how protestant work ethic gets in the way of a project like 100 coffees.Inspired by our conversation? Book your place in the 100 Coffee projecthttps://calendly.com/matt-ballantineYou can find out more about how tech is changing the way we work on Matt's podcast, WB-40 https://wb40podcast.comTricia Hersey, author of the book Rest is Resistance, used to have a similar offering around coffee and connect:http://www.triciahersey.com/coffee-and-tea-chats.htmlWeekly newsletter | Ask Catherine | Work with me | LinkedIn | Instagram Big shout out to my podcast magician, Marc at iRonickMedia for making this real. Thanks for listening!

Maya and Pilar discuss some of the ways in which remote workers are networking. And very special guest Matt Ballantine shares his experiment “100 coffees”. Recorded on 21 March 2024. To get in touch, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us  Maya shares a recent event she ran as part of Remote Work Europe, with Ali Meehan on “speed networking”. Someone else organising networking-type events is Lisette Sutherland from Collaboration Superpowers, who is running virtual coworking sessions: https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/workshops/schedule/?type=1112 Maybe this kind of event is something organisations could run, instead of assuming the best way for people to connect is through face to face social events? 12.25mins Special guest Matt Ballantine tells us about his relationship building experiment: 100 coffees. Read about it here: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/category/projects/100-coffees/ Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattballantine/ Listen to his previous episode on this show: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/collaboration-in-organisations Listen to the WB40 podcast, or even, book a coffee time with Matt: https://calendly.com/matt-ballantine 27.15mins What about online communities? Belonging to a public group and a private one, and a free one versus a paid one, are very different experiences. Remote Work Europe has a public, open group on Facebook, and a private community, over at https://www.remoteworkeurope.eu/connected Communities and relationships can exist both online and off: we mention Social Now as a conference about the digital workspace: 16th and 17th May in Lisbon, and also the online community Asynco. And relationship building can be synchronous or asynchronous. Virtual Team Talk, set up back in the day by Pilar and Lisette, is still around! 43.15mins And Social Media? How's it going over on LinkedIn? If you want to become active on the platform, join the RWE challenge: https://www.linkedin.com/events/levelupyourlinkedinspring2024-a7175914652218834945/comments/ Or, you might want to join Alison Jones' Book Proposal Challenge. And being part of a challenge itself is a great way of meeting new people with whom you have something in common! 52.30mins In the absence of people, can generative AI bots help? A cheeky transition into some resources we have around generative AI: Maya has created the course: Generative AI Secrets For Remote Work Search Success And Pilar is now blogging about her artistic projects with and without genAI over at Spiralling Creativity, where her latest post ponders on whether genAI is a Clown .

On this week’s show we are joined by Equal Expert’s Lewis Crawford to talk about his experiments in building autonomous teams of AI agents. AI Generated transcript follows… Matt: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to episode 281 of WB40, the weekly podcast with Matt Ballantine, Chris Weston and Lewis Crawford. Chris: Well hello everybody, welcome back. […]

On this week’s show we are joined by Mark Taylor to explore the technology challenges behind building a brand new hospital. Show Transcript (automatically generated so treat with a little caution) Matt: Hello and welcome to episode 275 of WB40, the weekly podcast with me, Matt Ballantine, Chris Weston and Mark Taylor. Chris: Hello everybody […]

What happens when people meet technology? As Artificial Intelligence makes machines appear to be more human, what does that mean for the interactions we have with tech?On this episode, I'm speaking to Matt Ballantine. He has spent spent the past two decades helping organisations make sense of where people, communications and technology collide.In the past, Matt has worked in global technology, media and marketing organisations, including Microsoft, Imagination, Reuters and the BBC, focussed on a wide range of technology and organisational challenges.All of this means he's got some fantastic insights to share. And he's got some really interesting ideas about how we can think about technology and the impact it is having on our lives. For more information:Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattballantine/Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ballantine70To read his blog: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/For more on 100 Coffees: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/category/projects/100-coffees/The PlayCards: https://stamplondon.co.uk/Matt's WB40 podcast: https://wb40podcast.com/about/For more on my book ‘Humanizing Rules': https://www.human-risk.com/humanizing-rules-book

#16 - Matt Ballantine - Unf*cking Work This month James and Michelle speak to Matt Ballantine about unf*cking work. Matt is a sociologist and technologist who has worked managing and leading technology teams in organisations across the public and private sectors for the last 30 years, including the BBC, Microsoft and Reuters. Since June 2022 he has been an Engagement Manager at Equal Experts. He usually also has at least a couple of side projects on the go at any given time.   In this episode, we talk about: The lie that all problems can be solved by technology Human-sized organisations and all the things that go wrong when people increase beyond that number. And why performance management processes are the devil incarnate!  Find Matt and PlayCards here: https://stamplondon.co.uk/, Matt on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattballantine/ and Equal Experts here: https://www.equalexperts.com/  Matt's Blog on the Work Pirates Website - https://www.workpirates.com/post/unfucking-work-with-matt-ballantine  Find out more about the Milgram experiment - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment    Find out more about Human - https://www.we-are-human.co.uk/    Remember, if you want to hire a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com or follow us @WorkPirates  

 Matt co-hosts the WB40 podcast with Chris Weston. Matt has always loved radio, as a kid and at university (back in the day when we spliced tape!). Matt set up the podcast to “see what happened”, to try it out. Six and a half years later, they're still at it!WB40 is led by a guiding principle, the show is about what you need to know in order to manage technology in 2022 and beyond. They've had people talk about the changing nature of works, autonomous vehicles, defence analysis.The format has evolved and now consists mainly of a guest interview with them, but they record it almost as live, with minimal edits. (And the name, WB40 comes from West-Ballantine, and the aspiration for the show to be 40 minutes.) They've experimented with book clubs, audio from listeners about books, and other features.   A community has evolved around the show, meeting in Signal to support each other and it feels like on the back of the podcast, they've created something of value to others. The group has even involved its own language and culture. Some of the community members have stepped in as co-hosts, they have Ask WB40 shows to answer questions from them and obtain feedback and ideas from them. Matt has also had three pieces of work from the podcast, and they even piloted podcasting as a research method in an organisation. The project didn't evolve, but Matt is still interested in experimenting with it. In terms of production costs, it's quite easy to produce decent quality audio, so producing something that's polished enough to be consumable, but still feel rough enough that it doesn't feel definite, makes it attractive as a research tool.  19.53 minsMatt finds that his training in research methodologies and coaching helps him to drive the interviews with the guests. You also need to be able to be spontaneous and have split focus, to stay in the conversation while looking at the clock etc. The only times they haven't published interviews is when they've had problems with the audio. There was another time when the comms department of the company a guest worked in asked for some edits once the episode had been published. Matt came close to un publishing the episode because they were being asked to change the tone and content significantly, but they came to a compromise that worked. Matt edits the conversation as soon as they're done with the recording, using Audacity and Descript. This helps the production process to be sustainable and get the episodes out on time. Aside from the arranging of guests, producing a whole episode takes him about 3 hours. Sometimes guests have an impact on our thinking, and this was the case with episode 197 on Kinetic Defence, with guest Alex Woolfson. As well as these moments, Matt continue podcasting because it allows him to follow his curiosity and invite people to come and talk to him and his co-host about things they're interested in. Finally, thinking about someone setting up a new podcast, Matt suggests starting with an open question that the show aims to answer, in the case of WB40 it's “What do you need to manage technology in 2022 and beyond?”As well as thinking about who your audience is, consider what you want them to do as a result of listening - in their case help expand the knowledge of listeners by taking the show in unexpected directions, or places adjacent to their world, but related to it.If you're thinking of starting your own podcasting adventure, I recommend Buzzsprout as host - click here for my affiliate link, which also gets you a little discount, and Riverside FM for recording, which you can access through this other affiliate link.

Pontus talks to Matt Ballantine, Head of Technology and Transformation at RHP Group about his experiences both as a supplier and buyer of technology.

Hybrid is probably the steepest learning curve for managers and employees for a generation. But how can we make this work? How can we find identity and meaning in a hybrid world? And how can tech guide us through these uncertain times? Joining the Nowhere Office in this episode are Professor Laura Empson, Director of the Centre for Professional Service Firms at Bayes Business School, Jeremy Dalton, who heads up PWC's Virtual and Augmented Reality team, and the social scientist and Head of Technology and Transformation for RHP Group, Matt Ballantine. Brought to you in association with Moneypenny.

We talk to Matt Ballantine, a "no non-sense" writer, technology consultant, and sociology aficionado. Matt is an author and contributing writer to Forbes where he often writes about the future of work with insights on sustainable and fulfilling ways of working. Matt is passionate about how we can bring "play" back into work to surface ideas, experiments, and innovation. For the last 6 years, he has been advising CIO, CTOs, Heads of HR on how to work better together.  

This episode's guest is Matt Ballantine. Matt is a sociologist, blogger, podcaster, musician and technology aficionado. He is co-host of the popular WB-40 podcast which features conversations on how technology is changing how we work and his blog mmitII is an eclectic mix of pieces about technology, music, politics and his diary. He is a guest columnist for Forbes and CIO magazines, has an intriguing music project called 8-bars and was the one time creator of a virally successful comedy flow chart. Recorded in Launch Pod, Teddington, London.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/stevexoh)

I had a very insightful conversation with Matt Ballantine on the podcast. His view on the world is much more about the group vs the individual. Having studied sociology he is best placed to discuss this topic. We talk about change, collaboration, the word culture, behaviour, understanding each others language and how he uses play to innovate in organisation. It's a great conversation and not one to be missed.

On this week’s show we speak with Consulting Artist Doug Shaw about the work he does with his corporate clients exploring ambiguity, and Matt accuses Chris of the most appalling crime. –Transcript by otter.ai.  Included for search purposes. ———– Matt Ballantine 0:20 Hello, and welcome to Episode 116 of WB 40, the weekly podcast with […]

A special episode bringing you a bit more of our fascinating conversation with Justin Morris, because despite being overscheduled with amazing content for our regular fortnightly show for the next few weeks, we really wanted to look beyond the whole ‘Ethical Walls’ story to explore Justin’s work at Modality Systems, and his unique overview of online collaboration. Justin and his colleagues help people provision and adopt MSTeams, so that they get the most out of it, and transition to the new more collaborative space which MSTeams represents. It’s fundamentally a change management process, with a data-driven approach to successfully drive adoption. Indeed the level of tracking and data available within MSTeams is surprising, but as Pilar pointed out this could be perceived as over-intrusive surveillance. Justin explains that these analytics are also available to the user, and as such provide a lot of insight into how we manage our time and productivity. If we can make the fundamental mindset shift from suspecting surveillance to welcoming analysis, it helps to remind us that the data (and the technology which reveals it) is intrinsically neutral… how organisations and individuals use it, is what adds the nuance and intent.  The MSTeams set-up is versatile and flexible, to take account of organisational culture, individual preference, and even local regulation and legislation. But as Justin points out, many people are simply unaware of the trail of data breadcrumbs they leave behind in all online interactions, professionally and personally. Simply staying abreast of the latest updates, conversations and issues in Microsoft Teams and the digital workplace space is a full time job, but it enables Justin’s unique perspective on the needs and expectations of different organisations and teams - and their level of maturity in respect of the collaboration space, internally and externally (there’s lots more on this in episode 191 with Matt Ballantine and his fantastic cheat sheet https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/collaboration-in-organisations) Today’s conversation also explores attention and the role of video in the online space: how engaged are participants in video vs audio meetings, and the way some people are still defaulting to what is familiar, rather than exploring what the technology can do. The opposing point of view of a youtuber and a podcaster make for an interesting contrast! And serve to remind us all of the sheer versatility of online team communications today… audio, video, text, multimedia, which do you prefer, when, and for what purpose?  Justin and Pilar first connected when he answered her written question with a quick video, which also had the effect of making that interaction public for a wider audience. (You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/KHq6k1xuxqI ) Justin is a big social media fan - well, he did meet his wife on Twitter, which was a new one for us! So connect with him @justimorris, or digitalteamwork.tv for his videos.

Our guest on this episode is a repeat guest, and that’s a very good thing. Matt Ballantine is a multi-talented technologist who spends his days helping companies build and execute digital strategy with his company Stamp, and also hosts his own podcast - WB40 - with his co-host Chris Weston. I talked with Matt about his newest project which brings these two worlds together in a way that will be truly compelling for organizations struggling to innovate and communicate. He is using Podcasts as a medium to communicate, define, and get buy-in for projects.

Today’s episode was the direct result of a Twitter conversation, in which Pilar mused about the distinction between collaboration and co-operation https://twitter.com/PilarOrti/status/1095252618941734914, and Matt Ballantine was among the people who responded – thank you to everyone who joined in this fascinating discussion, and it’s great to have been able to continue it on the podcast – how much more 21st Century Work-Life can you get? And speaking of social media, the warm reception to Thinking Remote: Inspiration for Leaders of Remote Teams has been a joy to read – thank you everyone for the great feedback and reviews, we’re so glad that this Virtual Not Distant publication has struck a chord. If you’ve read it, don’t forget to let us know what you think (and if you’re waiting for the paper version, it’s coming very soon) https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/books 05:01 Voice Behind the Blog, Matt Ballantine, “The Collaboration Cheat-Sheet” Matt Ballantine, cohost of the WB40 Podcast https://wb40podcast.com/, created this amazing ‘cheat sheet’ for some UK government consultation work last year, looking at the meaning of collaboration. https://mmitii.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/collaboration-cheat-sheet.pdf It’s an amazing document which generates as many questions as it answers, because making change in the first place requires commitment and engagement and very clear understanding of the purpose of changing. Why improve collaboration, and what would that look like? And how much responsibility lies with organisations rather than individuals?  If collaboration is not happening, then the problem is probably not technological – so how can you address the systemic barriers and better align the incentives for all? Matt breaks down these barriers one by one, and challenges organisations to address the issues presented. Looking at issues of trust, access and the way we frame our work social environment creates powerful new frames through which to look at ways to collaborate, and reminds us that our teams and enterprises do not exist in isolation from the rest of the physical and virtual world. His 7 Team Persona model is a powerful way to consider your team as an entity, in ways you might never previously have considered.  It can help you choose the kind of structures and set-up you need for your digital workplace - and the assumptions behind the design of collaboration tools and software are also very interesting to unpick, because the type of team who builds an application might be very different from those who need to use it. Also a fascinating dissection of the difference between behaviour and culture within organisations, and which you should attempt to change and why. Changing behaviour within cultural context is far easier. Either way, who really owns and takes charge of the change? Get ready to deep dive down the rabbit hole with Matt and Pilar, and afterwards you’ll want to keep up with Matt’s work at https://stamplondon.co.uk/ and on twitter https://twitter.com/ballantine70 "Good practice when it comes to interaction and collaboration comes from learning how to get there not from being told what best practice is".   51.24 Recommended Tool: Google Docs  Does anyone need an introduction to “Gdocs”? Well yes, because not everyone appreciates the flexibility and powerful collaboration tools built into it. And also because it has improved a great deal in recent years, to now offer word processing capabilities easily on a par with Word or Pages.  Maya and Pilar work on lots of written projects together, and find it a great way to connect and communicate as they edit, comment and even discuss a shared document in real time. You can collaborate with just about anyone, even if they’re not logged in to Google or part of your team (though you might find them anonymised to a strange animal!)  And you can even create tasks and tags for other users of the document. With a range of integrations and add-ons, you might find Google Docs the free and platform agnostic tool you’ve been looking for all along – but if you prefer something different, then please tell us all about it – via our Contact Form or social media @Virtualteamw0rk  

A few months I had the honor and pleasure to be interviewed on the British podcast - WB40, but one of my favorite people - Matt Ballantine. Matt and I talked about why we started the Masters of Data podcast and how it has evolved.   So, I think you will enjoy this, and we will be back next week in your feed with another great original podcast episode!!   And check out the WB40 podcast at WB40.com

It's drawing on the radio with Natalia Talkowska and Matt Ballantine

Our guest today has had a really long relationship with technology from learning to program on a BBC Micro as a child, to designing the first full-program streaming application at BBC, to Reuters, to Microsoft, and now being his own boss. Matt Ballantine loves to talk technology - he has his own podcast WB 40 - check it out at wb40podcast.com. It was a lot of fun to pick his brain. In this episode, we talked about how people really use data to make decisions, and how innovation happens. We also talked about his cool new CIO card game.

CIO 100 panellist and 'Angel of Disruption' Matt Ballantine joined CIO UK Editor Edward Qualtrough for episode six of the CIO UK podcast to discuss IT conferences, the best and worst of technology presentations, and how to engage and sell to CIOs. Seasoned podcaster Ballantine spoke about some of the problems with IT conferences and tech presentations, the cliches to avoid - and importantly what technology companies can do to engage CIOs when they are talking in front of a senior group of technology executives.

Including the selfish benefits of helping others to connect; getting in "the flow" when collaborating; why "collaboration technology" isn't really a thing.