How A “Special Ops” Mindset Transforms Enterprise Tech
Thu Jan 22 2026
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What if your software teams operated like a special operations unit—small, focused, and relentless about the mission? That’s the lens Ben Johnson brings to the table as a serial technical co‑founder and CEO of Particle 41, where he’s helped launch 94 products and build elite, outcome‑driven teams across software, data, and cloud.
We dive into the turning points that shaped his leadership: learning to lead people rather than tasks, aligning cross‑functional teams to a single business outcome, and using radical visibility to dissolve silos. Ben breaks down why maximum capacity beats minimum standards and how to set smart boundaries that prevent burnout while accelerating delivery. He shares a practical framework for managing resistance during automation and AI rollouts, using the seven primal questions to address fear and designing incentives around total output so experts become quality stewards, not casualties of change.
You’ll also hear how open source habits inside the enterprise—transparent architecture, discoverable repos, fast code reviews—unlock autonomy and speed to trust. We talk about decision paralysis in middle management, why “own the outcome” beats “own the function,” and the Be–Do–Have identity shift that turns elite performance into a habit. Along the way, Ben opens up about faith, purpose, and the kind of legacy that lasts: families that thrive, teams that grow, and systems that keep compounding long after handoff.
If you’re navigating AI, RPA, or just need a cleaner path from idea to impact, this conversation is a playbook. Subscribe for more candid, practical episodes, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest bottleneck—we’ll tackle it on a future show.
Thanks for listening. Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about. In these times of intense polarization we all need to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.
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Send us a text What if your software teams operated like a special operations unit—small, focused, and relentless about the mission? That’s the lens Ben Johnson brings to the table as a serial technical co‑founder and CEO of Particle 41, where he’s helped launch 94 products and build elite, outcome‑driven teams across software, data, and cloud. We dive into the turning points that shaped his leadership: learning to lead people rather than tasks, aligning cross‑functional teams to a single business outcome, and using radical visibility to dissolve silos. Ben breaks down why maximum capacity beats minimum standards and how to set smart boundaries that prevent burnout while accelerating delivery. He shares a practical framework for managing resistance during automation and AI rollouts, using the seven primal questions to address fear and designing incentives around total output so experts become quality stewards, not casualties of change. You’ll also hear how open source habits inside the enterprise—transparent architecture, discoverable repos, fast code reviews—unlock autonomy and speed to trust. We talk about decision paralysis in middle management, why “own the outcome” beats “own the function,” and the Be–Do–Have identity shift that turns elite performance into a habit. Along the way, Ben opens up about faith, purpose, and the kind of legacy that lasts: families that thrive, teams that grow, and systems that keep compounding long after handoff. If you’re navigating AI, RPA, or just need a cleaner path from idea to impact, this conversation is a playbook. Subscribe for more candid, practical episodes, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest bottleneck—we’ll tackle it on a future show. Thanks for listening. Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about. In these times of intense polarization we all need to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.