Jon Smart
@jon.bvssh.com
Better Value Sooner Safer Happier #BVSSH
Lead Author of ‘Sooner Safer Happier’, winner of Business Book award in Leadership category.
soonersaferhappier.com
Lead Author of ‘Sooner Safer Happier’, winner of Business Book award in Leadership category.
soonersaferhappier.com
Pinned
This holiday season, I hope you find moments of peace, joy, and connection with those who matter most.
I'm grateful for the shared learning, community and passion in 2025 and look forward to working together to improve outcomes and to make the world of work more humane in 2026!
Happy holidays!
I'm grateful for the shared learning, community and passion in 2025 and look forward to working together to improve outcomes and to make the world of work more humane in 2026!
Happy holidays!
December 19, 2025 at 9:50 AM
This holiday season, I hope you find moments of peace, joy, and connection with those who matter most.
I'm grateful for the shared learning, community and passion in 2025 and look forward to working together to improve outcomes and to make the world of work more humane in 2026!
Happy holidays!
I'm grateful for the shared learning, community and passion in 2025 and look forward to working together to improve outcomes and to make the world of work more humane in 2026!
Happy holidays!
In 1878, aged 22, Frederick Taylor made an unconventional choice. Despite strong family ties to the owners of Midvale Steel in Philadelphia, he joined the company as a common, unskilled labourer.
December 17, 2025 at 9:50 AM
In 1878, aged 22, Frederick Taylor made an unconventional choice. Despite strong family ties to the owners of Midvale Steel in Philadelphia, he joined the company as a common, unskilled labourer.
Start with Why.
When improving 'how we do, what we do', colleagues will need to try something new and will fail. Ideally, failing fast, uniquely, cheaply and safely, with an absence of fear and blame.
When improving 'how we do, what we do', colleagues will need to try something new and will fail. Ideally, failing fast, uniquely, cheaply and safely, with an absence of fear and blame.
December 16, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Start with Why.
When improving 'how we do, what we do', colleagues will need to try something new and will fail. Ideally, failing fast, uniquely, cheaply and safely, with an absence of fear and blame.
When improving 'how we do, what we do', colleagues will need to try something new and will fail. Ideally, failing fast, uniquely, cheaply and safely, with an absence of fear and blame.
Go slower to go faster.
Or you will go slower.
Balance. Renewal. Continuous Improvement.
Prioritise time for it every day. Personal and work.
#BVSSH
Or you will go slower.
Balance. Renewal. Continuous Improvement.
Prioritise time for it every day. Personal and work.
#BVSSH
December 15, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Go slower to go faster.
Or you will go slower.
Balance. Renewal. Continuous Improvement.
Prioritise time for it every day. Personal and work.
#BVSSH
Or you will go slower.
Balance. Renewal. Continuous Improvement.
Prioritise time for it every day. Personal and work.
#BVSSH
Communities of Practice (CoPs) are a great way to identify and nurture the natural innovators, the crazy hill dancers, in your organisation!
▶️ Voluntary, Law of Two Feet (come and go as you want)
▶️ Two co-chairs and a small organising group, when it gets larger, to organise and chair the sessions
▶️ Voluntary, Law of Two Feet (come and go as you want)
▶️ Two co-chairs and a small organising group, when it gets larger, to organise and chair the sessions
December 12, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Communities of Practice (CoPs) are a great way to identify and nurture the natural innovators, the crazy hill dancers, in your organisation!
▶️ Voluntary, Law of Two Feet (come and go as you want)
▶️ Two co-chairs and a small organising group, when it gets larger, to organise and chair the sessions
▶️ Voluntary, Law of Two Feet (come and go as you want)
▶️ Two co-chairs and a small organising group, when it gets larger, to organise and chair the sessions
Antipattern: Water-Scrum-Fall.
Big Up Front Planning, Big Bang release, feature or story or story point counting, with the word Sprint ten times in the middle.
Predicting the future at the point of having learnt the least.
Big Up Front Planning, Big Bang release, feature or story or story point counting, with the word Sprint ten times in the middle.
Predicting the future at the point of having learnt the least.
December 11, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Antipattern: Water-Scrum-Fall.
Big Up Front Planning, Big Bang release, feature or story or story point counting, with the word Sprint ten times in the middle.
Predicting the future at the point of having learnt the least.
Big Up Front Planning, Big Bang release, feature or story or story point counting, with the word Sprint ten times in the middle.
Predicting the future at the point of having learnt the least.
Frederick Taylor, the 'Father of Scientific Management', in 1874, age 18, took a highly unusual step, given his 'upper-middle-class' background. He turned down a place at Harvard, with plans of becoming a lawyer, like his father.
December 10, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Frederick Taylor, the 'Father of Scientific Management', in 1874, age 18, took a highly unusual step, given his 'upper-middle-class' background. He turned down a place at Harvard, with plans of becoming a lawyer, like his father.
A value stream has long-lived value consumers, producers (in multidisciplinary teams), and product(s) (things of value). Value streams are nested and networked. They are fractal. Teams & teams of teams are funded, rather than projects.
December 9, 2025 at 3:48 PM
A value stream has long-lived value consumers, producers (in multidisciplinary teams), and product(s) (things of value). Value streams are nested and networked. They are fractal. Teams & teams of teams are funded, rather than projects.
Get 1% better every day and after 365 days you'll be 38x better.
And, obviously, don't stop after 365 days!
Human systems entropy, improvement needs to be continuous.
Standing still is not standing still, it is going backwards.
#BVSSH
And, obviously, don't stop after 365 days!
Human systems entropy, improvement needs to be continuous.
Standing still is not standing still, it is going backwards.
#BVSSH
December 8, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Get 1% better every day and after 365 days you'll be 38x better.
And, obviously, don't stop after 365 days!
Human systems entropy, improvement needs to be continuous.
Standing still is not standing still, it is going backwards.
#BVSSH
And, obviously, don't stop after 365 days!
Human systems entropy, improvement needs to be continuous.
Standing still is not standing still, it is going backwards.
#BVSSH
Leadership behaviour will make it or break it.
1. Role model behaviours you expect in others
2. Nurture psychological safety
3. Have an emergent mindset over a deterministic mindset (the future is not predictable, have hypotheses, run experiments)
#BVSSH
1. Role model behaviours you expect in others
2. Nurture psychological safety
3. Have an emergent mindset over a deterministic mindset (the future is not predictable, have hypotheses, run experiments)
#BVSSH
December 5, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Leadership behaviour will make it or break it.
1. Role model behaviours you expect in others
2. Nurture psychological safety
3. Have an emergent mindset over a deterministic mindset (the future is not predictable, have hypotheses, run experiments)
#BVSSH
1. Role model behaviours you expect in others
2. Nurture psychological safety
3. Have an emergent mindset over a deterministic mindset (the future is not predictable, have hypotheses, run experiments)
#BVSSH
Lasting change requires many people to unlearn and relearn. People need time to undergo that process.
The pace of change is determined by the speed of unlearning
The speed of (un)learning is determined by psychological safety
#BVSSH
The pace of change is determined by the speed of unlearning
The speed of (un)learning is determined by psychological safety
#BVSSH
December 4, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Lasting change requires many people to unlearn and relearn. People need time to undergo that process.
The pace of change is determined by the speed of unlearning
The speed of (un)learning is determined by psychological safety
#BVSSH
The pace of change is determined by the speed of unlearning
The speed of (un)learning is determined by psychological safety
#BVSSH
The Making of the CR*P Talk:
Lots of learning when preparing the Certified AI Practitioner Talk! For this talk, there was an intro with talking babies, most slides contained AI-generated video content, and there was a talking baby outro. Here are the learnings:
Lots of learning when preparing the Certified AI Practitioner Talk! For this talk, there was an intro with talking babies, most slides contained AI-generated video content, and there was a talking baby outro. Here are the learnings:
December 3, 2025 at 1:57 PM
The Making of the CR*P Talk:
Lots of learning when preparing the Certified AI Practitioner Talk! For this talk, there was an intro with talking babies, most slides contained AI-generated video content, and there was a talking baby outro. Here are the learnings:
Lots of learning when preparing the Certified AI Practitioner Talk! For this talk, there was an intro with talking babies, most slides contained AI-generated video content, and there was a talking baby outro. Here are the learnings:
The 'whole-job' team approach, Bell System Technical Journal, September 1983.
"The principal advantage of this approach is that the developers themselves have a close relation with the clients. This results in high motivation, flexibility and low overhead. It is a proven technique and has been
"The principal advantage of this approach is that the developers themselves have a close relation with the clients. This results in high motivation, flexibility and low overhead. It is a proven technique and has been
December 2, 2025 at 9:50 AM
The 'whole-job' team approach, Bell System Technical Journal, September 1983.
"The principal advantage of this approach is that the developers themselves have a close relation with the clients. This results in high motivation, flexibility and low overhead. It is a proven technique and has been
"The principal advantage of this approach is that the developers themselves have a close relation with the clients. This results in high motivation, flexibility and low overhead. It is a proven technique and has been
Unique work is unknowable. The only way to learn is by doing. We need to minimise time to learning and value, to make the unknowable, knowable.
We need to have hypotheses and run experiments, which are safe to intelligently fail (cheap, fast, safe).
We need to have hypotheses and run experiments, which are safe to intelligently fail (cheap, fast, safe).
December 1, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Unique work is unknowable. The only way to learn is by doing. We need to minimise time to learning and value, to make the unknowable, knowable.
We need to have hypotheses and run experiments, which are safe to intelligently fail (cheap, fast, safe).
We need to have hypotheses and run experiments, which are safe to intelligently fail (cheap, fast, safe).
The whole is something else than the sum of the parts.
Two halves of a cow are not two smaller cows.
Biological and social systems have emergent properties. We need to optimise for that.
#BVSSH
Two halves of a cow are not two smaller cows.
Biological and social systems have emergent properties. We need to optimise for that.
#BVSSH
November 28, 2025 at 9:50 AM
The whole is something else than the sum of the parts.
Two halves of a cow are not two smaller cows.
Biological and social systems have emergent properties. We need to optimise for that.
#BVSSH
Two halves of a cow are not two smaller cows.
Biological and social systems have emergent properties. We need to optimise for that.
#BVSSH
This article, published in the Jan 1986 edition of the Harvard Business Review, is still just as relevant today as it was almost 40 years ago.
Empowered multidisciplinary teams, moving up and down the pitch together with the ball.
Over a relay race.
Shared goals and incentives.
Empowered multidisciplinary teams, moving up and down the pitch together with the ball.
Over a relay race.
Shared goals and incentives.
November 27, 2025 at 9:50 AM
This article, published in the Jan 1986 edition of the Harvard Business Review, is still just as relevant today as it was almost 40 years ago.
Empowered multidisciplinary teams, moving up and down the pitch together with the ball.
Over a relay race.
Shared goals and incentives.
Empowered multidisciplinary teams, moving up and down the pitch together with the ball.
Over a relay race.
Shared goals and incentives.
The way we work today is still influenced by Scientific Management (aka Time Study) as originated by Frederick Taylor. And, Taylor was in a unique situation to be able to inflict autocratic ways of working on people.
November 26, 2025 at 12:13 PM
The way we work today is still influenced by Scientific Management (aka Time Study) as originated by Frederick Taylor. And, Taylor was in a unique situation to be able to inflict autocratic ways of working on people.
Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Communicate three more times than you think you need to and you're a third of the way there.
Change is social.
Data, storytelling, change agents, incentive (it's a priority, the outcomes are better, the water is warm!).
Communicate three more times than you think you need to and you're a third of the way there.
Change is social.
Data, storytelling, change agents, incentive (it's a priority, the outcomes are better, the water is warm!).
November 25, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Communicate three more times than you think you need to and you're a third of the way there.
Change is social.
Data, storytelling, change agents, incentive (it's a priority, the outcomes are better, the water is warm!).
Communicate three more times than you think you need to and you're a third of the way there.
Change is social.
Data, storytelling, change agents, incentive (it's a priority, the outcomes are better, the water is warm!).
Antipattern: Control without speed (one size fits all) or speed without control (fragile, not agile)
Pattern: Speed AND control. #MinimalViableCompliance. Safety SMEs aligned to value streams. Not one size fits all. Continuous Compliance.
The better your brakes the faster you can go
#BVSSH
Pattern: Speed AND control. #MinimalViableCompliance. Safety SMEs aligned to value streams. Not one size fits all. Continuous Compliance.
The better your brakes the faster you can go
#BVSSH
November 24, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Antipattern: Control without speed (one size fits all) or speed without control (fragile, not agile)
Pattern: Speed AND control. #MinimalViableCompliance. Safety SMEs aligned to value streams. Not one size fits all. Continuous Compliance.
The better your brakes the faster you can go
#BVSSH
Pattern: Speed AND control. #MinimalViableCompliance. Safety SMEs aligned to value streams. Not one size fits all. Continuous Compliance.
The better your brakes the faster you can go
#BVSSH
Company Announcement: "Teams are now fully empowered! (apart from decisions that have financial, reputational, architectural, social or operational impact)"
🥸
#BVSSH
🥸
#BVSSH
November 21, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Company Announcement: "Teams are now fully empowered! (apart from decisions that have financial, reputational, architectural, social or operational impact)"
🥸
#BVSSH
🥸
#BVSSH
Most organisations will have multiple ways of working, running in parallel, some increasing, some decreasing.
Think Big, Start Small, Lean Fast.
A big bang is an antipattern. It will be new labels on the same old behaviours.
Step up the S-curve, at the pace of re-learning.
Think Big, Start Small, Lean Fast.
A big bang is an antipattern. It will be new labels on the same old behaviours.
Step up the S-curve, at the pace of re-learning.
November 20, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Most organisations will have multiple ways of working, running in parallel, some increasing, some decreasing.
Think Big, Start Small, Lean Fast.
A big bang is an antipattern. It will be new labels on the same old behaviours.
Step up the S-curve, at the pace of re-learning.
Think Big, Start Small, Lean Fast.
A big bang is an antipattern. It will be new labels on the same old behaviours.
Step up the S-curve, at the pace of re-learning.
The Certified Really AI Practitioner (CR*P) certification is now up for grabs on Youtube!
Watch here: youtu.be/11s7tqG9vuo?...
#BVSSH
Watch here: youtu.be/11s7tqG9vuo?...
#BVSSH
November 19, 2025 at 9:50 AM
The Certified Really AI Practitioner (CR*P) certification is now up for grabs on Youtube!
Watch here: youtu.be/11s7tqG9vuo?...
#BVSSH
Watch here: youtu.be/11s7tqG9vuo?...
#BVSSH
When writing OKRs it is helpful to use a canvas.
The BVSSH OKR canvas contains strategic alignment to the one-year OKR, a view of the customer personas (who), along with the problem, insights or beliefs (why), the outcome hypothesis, the leading indicators, and finally the lagging impact measures.
The BVSSH OKR canvas contains strategic alignment to the one-year OKR, a view of the customer personas (who), along with the problem, insights or beliefs (why), the outcome hypothesis, the leading indicators, and finally the lagging impact measures.
November 18, 2025 at 10:43 AM
When writing OKRs it is helpful to use a canvas.
The BVSSH OKR canvas contains strategic alignment to the one-year OKR, a view of the customer personas (who), along with the problem, insights or beliefs (why), the outcome hypothesis, the leading indicators, and finally the lagging impact measures.
The BVSSH OKR canvas contains strategic alignment to the one-year OKR, a view of the customer personas (who), along with the problem, insights or beliefs (why), the outcome hypothesis, the leading indicators, and finally the lagging impact measures.
People embrace change with an S-curve profile (Diffusion of Innovation, Everett Rodgers, 1962).
Start by inviting the natural champions, the innovators. Change is hardest at the beginning, with the most headwinds, the most impediments, the least understanding and social proof in context.
Start by inviting the natural champions, the innovators. Change is hardest at the beginning, with the most headwinds, the most impediments, the least understanding and social proof in context.
November 17, 2025 at 10:13 AM
People embrace change with an S-curve profile (Diffusion of Innovation, Everett Rodgers, 1962).
Start by inviting the natural champions, the innovators. Change is hardest at the beginning, with the most headwinds, the most impediments, the least understanding and social proof in context.
Start by inviting the natural champions, the innovators. Change is hardest at the beginning, with the most headwinds, the most impediments, the least understanding and social proof in context.