Jonathan Smart - Sooner Safer Happier

Sooner Safer Happier nails the point that many leaders misstransformation in itself is not a worthy goal, it is a vehicle for optimizing business outcomes. This book provides an indispensable guide for leaders who wish to run truly agile organizations. It leaves no stone left unturned. Smart, Berend, Ogilvie, and Rohrer address the leadership challenges, cultural barriers, and antipatterns that prevent too many organizations from realizing their potential in todays complex environment. They offer specific and immediately useful techniques for driving business results and a culture that reinforces continuous improvement long-term. Sooner Safer Happier is a must-read for any business leader looking to succeed in the digital age.

David Silverman , Co-Author of Team of Teams ,
CEO of CrossLead

What [Jon] has achieved and created to help others succeed is nothing short of exceptional... These stories are hard won, practical, and real. Youll read this book and leave with actionable ideas and a fresh perspective to find your own path of change for your organization and yourself, delivering better value sooner, safer, and happier.

Barry OReilly , Business Advisor, Entrepreneur, Author of Unlearn and Co-Author of Lean Enterpris

It is a real pleasure to read a book that doesnt assume Agile is the solution, now what is your problem? This is a realistic approach to adopting (or not adopting) agile in your organization. The theory is sound; the practice is extensive. I strongly recommend this book.

Dave Snowden , Chief Scientific Officer,
Cognitive Edge, Creator of Cynefin

Its difficult to overstate Jon Smarts impact on business and technology leadership. His philosophy of BVSSH has rapidly been adopted by so many organizations, showing how effective, persuasive, and logical his arguments are. I think this book will be viewed as an important contribution to the organizational learning literature. His and his co-authors observations and lessons succinctly summarize and teach what decades of books have failed to do.

Gene Kim , Bestselling Author of The Unicorn Project and The Phoenix Project , researcher, and Multiple Award-Winning CTO

How I wish I had been lucky enough to have read this book a few years ago when embarking on my own attempt to deliver Value Sooner Safer Happier in the internal audit function at Barclays.... This book is not just a great handbook to draw from to assist you on your journey, it is also a great read!

Sally Clark , Executive Coach, NED, Strategic Advisor and Avid Agilist

Sooner Safer Happier covers business agility learnings thoroughly. Jon is someone youd actually want to work with to implement it, and if youre honest, someone youd need to credit if youve made any significant headway these past five years. Compelling.

Patrick Eltridge , Seek, Westpac, Telstra, RBS, Nationwide

There are many books on WHAT was done and WHAT excellent firms do in their quest for success. They often tell you WHAT you should do. This gem of guidance is destined to become the manual on HOW to deliver better value, sooner, safer, and happier through engaging customers, colleagues, leaders, and importantly boards!

Michael Harte , Researcher, Advisor, Investor, Director, ex-COO/CIO Santander, Barclays, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, PNC, Citi, Fonterra

How many times do we hear the word Agile being misused in todays corporate world? Jonathans excellent book provides us all with a very practical guide on how to embrace agility in an ever increasingly digital, chaotic, and challenging world where the path to delivering outcomes is uncertain.

Ian Buchanan , Independent Board Director and Advisor,
Former CIO/COO Barclays, Socit Gnrale, Nomura

There are lots of books on organizational agility. But few are as comprehensive or thought-provoking as Jon Smarts tour de force, Soon Safer Happie r. Jon has worked on the frontlines of the agile movement for almost thirty years, and he does a superb job of integrating his direct experience with the theories of organizational change. If you want to improve how your organization works, read this book!

Julian Birkinshaw , Professor and Deputy Dean,
London Business School

Sooner Safer Happier is a must-read for leaders who have recognized the need to connect the cultural and the technological aspects of digital transformation. Jon Smart has established a critical set of patterns and antipatterns that are indispensable for an outcome-based shift from projects and waterfalls to products and innovation.

Mik Kersten , CEO, Tasktop

A true business-wide perspective on Digital Transformation and the need for whole business agility.

Adam Banks , Non Executive Director and
Former CTIO of AP Mller Maersk

If you are involved in the journey toward a safer, faster, happier organization that produces value at every step, this should be required reading. The patterns and antipatterns approach means that you can easily spot where things may go wrong, and will have at hand some proven patterns to fix it. This is as close to a field guide as I have seen, and speaks of real and practical experience.

Dawie Olivier , GM for Enterprise Transformation, Westpac

This book is a treasure trove for anyone involved or interested in the theory and practice of business agility. Jon Smart and co-authors give a compelling Why? for the need to change and clear, practical antipatterns and corresponding patterns of success. A game-changer for our organization and Im confident for others too.

Richard James , Ways of Working Enablement Leader,
Nationwide Building Society

[ Sooner Safer Happier ] describes a set of patterns and antipatternswith a great set of skillsto help you understand what is happening to stop teams delivering SSH and why it may be happening.

Jenny Wood , Delivering Customer Value

Jon provides an authoritative and engaging description of how to set teams up to build great things, and ultimately delivers a handbook for overall organizational effectiveness and successful transformation that I will keep close.

Werner Loots , EVP Transformation, U.S. Bank

I cant recommend this book enough. BVSSH is kind of a meta frameworkflexible yet explainable, realistic yet capable of step changes in effectiveness. Jon is a master coach and guide. Read, read again, and share.

John Cutler , Product Evangelist, Amplitude

"This book is an absolute must-read for business leaders responsible for leading transformational change. Having seen Jon, Zsolt, Myles, and Simon in action, I find an amazing amount of valuable experiencenot just informationis packed into this single resource. This book will be especially valuable for software leaders who want to make their delivery process more effective.

Brijesh Ammanath , CIO, Trade & Working Capital, Barclays

Talking to Jon and his team has disrupted our thinking on business agility. We've changed from a traditional organization which IT is seen as a cost-center, to IT being a driving force, enabling true enterprise-wide cooperation. The concept of delivering Better Value Sooner Safer Happier has been the basis for our journey, which, among many things, puts the focus on leadership, and that really resonated with my personal experience. Its a must-read book if you want to stay relevant in your market and run a forward-thinking organization.

Christian Metzner , CIO, Volkswagen Financial Services UK

Most organizations would say they have a solid strategy, and some are pursuing new ways of working to achieve that strategy; however, often not in an optimal way. BVSSH is the unlock for organizations, and this book gives the practical guidance to WIN.