Kompozable is a tech start-up based in Manchester.
Set up by co-founders Bryan Oak and David Procter last year, Kompozable seeks to help businesses across transport, logistics, supply chain and manufacturing sectors to embrace “intelligent technology”.
Oak was previous the COO of Searchlight Consulting and was Institute Fellow at the Institute for Digital Transformation.
As the company is already eyeing growth plans to recruit 20 staff over the next 12 months, he shared all the lessons he has learnt.
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
Every morning I start my day by walking my two dogs. They’re so important for my wellbeing and remind me of the importance of having a good work life balance. As I often work from home, I find that getting some exercise and fresh air helps bring new ideas and perspectives to the working day – something which is essential when leading an innovative tech start up!
What’s been your luckiest break?
Early in my career when I started working for IBM first in manufacturing, and then in consulting, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel abroad for work in places like the Netherlands and South Africa.
Being bold and taking the opportunity to work overseas early in my career gave me insights to aspects of businesses, culture and people that I wouldn’t have understood if I hadn’t taken those opportunities. Working in these countries showed me the value of collaborating with people and businesses that take different approaches to strategy and decision-making. These experiences taught me to appreciate the importance of having varied perspectives and strong partnerships to achieve businesses success which I have remained passionate about in my role at Kompozable.
What’s your best failure?
Throughout my career I’ve worked on lots of difficult projects, and the failures that naturally came with some of these have taught me the value of managing expectations and not letting people down. At Kompozable we strongly encourage knowledge-sharing and collaboration when making business decisions.
The most important thing that failures have taught me is the importance of managing up, down and across businesses to get the most out of a full team. Giving all employees their own voice to have an opinion is something I have implemented into Kompozable. I feel as though at the start of your career there is a tendency to please and sometimes not own up to challenges or problems that you may be facing.
I have learnt through the different stages of my career how important it is to communicate with team members, which helps to overcome internal and external challenges. A more adventurous failure is when I tried to get a scuba diving qualification I went to do an open water dive – but I’ve always suffered from claustrophobia and couldn’t go through with it! Although this was disappointing at the time, I had to recognise that this wasn’t a failure, but something just not quite right for me. The experience taught me that you can’t always do everything, and I’ve really drawn on that in my professional life when understanding my own – and my colleagues’ – strengths and weaknesses.
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
During the middle of my career, I decided to invest in a weeklong wellbeing retreat in Morocco. Completely switching off from work and spending time with a personal coach was an investment financially and in time. It helped me get clarity over where I was in my career and encouraged me to really consider my personal and professional goals. I made the decision to leave the company I was working for, which marked the beginning of my self-employment journey 12 years ago and I haven’t looked back since!
Which book would you recommend others to read and why?
If I was recommending a business book, one that I refer back to frequently is Jeanne Ross, Peter Weill & David Robertson, “Enterprise Architecture As Strategy”. It delves into the framework for characterising organisational operating models, shaping enterprise architectures and has been a useful source when looking at clients’ businesses.
It has helped me think about the type of business and technology architecture strategy that fits best for our different clients. This is vital to our success at Kompozable when we are helping clients to solve their data and integration puzzles and look at application strategy and modernising their data estates. For a fiction title, I really enjoyed reading Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. It’s about making relationships work, celebrating music and the joy of being a nerd – all of which I am passionate about! The film adaption starring John Cusack is one of my favourite films too.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
I would give myself the same advice that I give to my daughters. Do things that you’re really interested in and do something that you enjoy for work. There is no reason why work can’t be enjoyable if you find what you are passionate about and a job to suit your interests. The reason I am so passionate about my work with Kompozable is because I learnt the importance of making career decisions based on my interests.
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
My wife and my daughters have been a constant encouragement throughout my career. My wife and I have been together since we met in university at 18 and she has always supported me in my various ventures – whether that’s traveling to new countries or starting a new tech business!
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
Outside of work one of my favourite hobbies is music. I love listening to Radio 6 and going to indie music gigs with my daughter! My first gig was Black Sabbath’s 1981 ‘Heaven and Hell’ tour. A more recent gig was Hockley Hustle, a street festival in Nottingham, and I have just been to see Porridge Radio and Brooklyn’s Bodega.
How will the COVID crisis change work for the better?
I do believe that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed work for the better. It’s great to see more acceptance that we can deliver things remotely. Despite this, there are still elements of working in person that can’t be replaced. Knowing the people that you work with and being in close proximity to colleagues really helps build a strong team. We’re inherently social beings and I believe that having teams meet together improves work ethic.
What does success look like to you?
For me, it is important to think of success in layers. I like to think about what’s important to me, then to my close family and friends, and then consider the bigger picture – “me, we, world”. Being successful in enterprise is about building a business that is sustainable – in the way it operates and the principles it upholds.
When starting Kompozable, we prioritised envisioning how it has to have life to carry on and life beyond our core team and the individuals in the business, something we continue to have at the forefront of our decisions. For our customers its about delivering the business outcomes that they need. For our employees we ensure that they are offered the career development and job satisfaction they are seeking. At Kompozable we strive to do all this in a way that is sustainable and are passionate about finding ways to make a difference, through the work we do and the people we work with.
