What we’re about
The purpose of the Sooner Safer Happier (BVSSH) Community is to provide inspiration for those wanting to achieve Better Value Sooner Safer Happier outcomes in their organisations.
The group is aimed at leaders at any level, in all roles, with a responsibility for improving ways of working. The group meets regularly to allow leaders to share and learn from each other, with an altruistic intent to ‘do the right thing’ by and for people in organisations, to make working lives better, with social and environmental responsibility.
Sooner Safer Happier UK & EMEA meets face to face, using zoom / video conferencing, timed to welcome participants from the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa timezones. Discussion is in English.
There are many firms currently self-inflicting one size fits all, prescriptive practices, which is not in line with an agile mindset, both the infliction and the one size fits all. BVSSH patterns and anti patterns are a counterbalance, offering better ways for organisations to modernise their systems of work to succeed in the Age of Digital.
The community is free to join - the only requirement is for participants to bring a growth mindset, to actively engage and participate, to share stories, collaborate, listen and learn.
Global Sooner Safer Happier/BVSSH communities are coordinated through Sooner Safer Happier Limited, a leadership training organisation led by Jonathan Smart and committed to enabling learning organisations. http://www.soonersaferhappier.com
Upcoming events
2
- Network event
•OnlineInvite Dissent Using “Leadership is Language” for BVSSH Outcomes
Online46 attendees from 2 groupsIn complex, knowledge-driven environments, collaboration is essential—but not through enforced consensus. This session will explore how inviting dissent can unlock better decisions, greater resilience, and more meaningful collaboration. Drawing on L. David Marquet’s Leadership is Language, we’ll examine how language shapes leadership, how dissent can be reframed as data, and how psychological safety enables adaptive learning.
We’ll connect Marquet’s principles to key BVSSH principles—Invite over Inflict, Foster Psychological Safety, Leaders Go First, Leverage Emergence, and One Size Does Not Fit All—to show how collaborative leadership and intentional language can lead to Better Value, delivered Sooner, in Safer and Happier ways.
Through interactive activities and reflective dialogue, participants will explore how to lead with curiosity, empower diverse voices, and make it safe and easy for people to dissent.
References
L. David Marquet (2020). Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say and What you Don’t; ISBN-10. 0241373662Asana Lab Report (2023?). An Executives Guide to High Value Collaboration:
https://assets.asana.biz/m/3e6ca14edf7849ea/original/the-lab-report-High-value-Collaboration_Final_V4.pdf21 attendees from this group
Past events
42
