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Sooner Safer Happier Slack Channel Wrapped 2025
A year of new ideas, debates, and community energy.
Kate Mulligan
December 17, 2025
As we approach the end of the year, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the energy that shaped our Slack channel in 2025. So… here is our very own Slack Channel wrapped of the topics and moments that defined the year.
Featuring:
Our top contributors and most active threads
The themes that dominated the year
Most-shared links and community highlights
Quote of the year
And, of course, our 2025 “Vibe Score”
Thanks to everyone who contributed, whether through questions, deep dives, big debates, or sharing a solid article or well-timed meme.
If you have ideas for what you'd like to see in next year’s wrap, feel free to reply or drop suggestions in the channel.
Here’s to another year of Better Value, Sooner, Safer, Happier and livelier Slack threads.
Best,
Kate
Top contributors (approximate ranking):
Chris Combe - the headliner: long threads, coaching, sharing links, engaging in many discussions.
Simon R - systems thinker & debater: deep discussions (value streams, governance, Cynefin), many multi-reply threads.
Zsolt - B2B value maestro: popular posts on B2B customisation, flow, value streams, and sharing articles.
Silas - documentation & governance explorer: several discussion threads on documentation, governance, Cynefin, and platform teams.
Chris Atkinson - BVSSH case study curator: case studies, links, updates on Atom Bank, BVSSH.
Our Chart-Topping Topics
#1 Value Streams & Org Design
Nested, aligned, shared, platformed, debated, re-debated, and remastered.
Flow & Kanban (lead time, WIP, throughput)
“When you map a value stream, you don’t discover structure — you discover truth.”
#2 Culture, incentives & leadership
Fan favourite lyric of the year:
“Incentives eat everything continuously.”
#3 AI + Ways of Working
What do Ways of Working look like in the AI evolution >sparked everything from playful experimentation to deep debates about culture, safety, and what ‘good’ really looks like. You swapped tools, trade-offs, tips, and the occasional existential question all in the name of working smarter, not just faster. AI transformations, job titles, job evolutions, products, org design, culture, culture and culture.
#4 Experimentation & continuous learning
Your channel’s lo-fi beats for working and learning.
Top 5 Moments That Defined Our Year
#1 Value Stream definition mega‑thread
A thread so big it needed its own stage at Glastonbury.
Featuring: semantics, philosophy, SSVS remasters, Team Topologies mashups, and debates that bent space-time.
#2 BA vs Product debate
Hot takes, regional comparisons, accountability riffs, and the classic hit:
“Does the BA role hinder product mindset?”
#3 Unplanned work & flow discussion
A concept album exploring:
risk budgets
slack time
why planning ≠ plans
flow efficiency solos
#4 Documentation, Backstage & governance
Silas ft. Simon R on compliance, Backstage, Kroki, and 14 levels of approval before you can install a diagramming tool.
#5 The Customisation Dilemma (B2B SaaS)
Zsolt’s two-part feature series.
A B2B SaaS opera about configuration vs chaos, incentives, economics, and the cost of 87 bespoke versions of the same feature.
“If your value stream makes sense on paper but not in practice, trust the practice.”
You Couldn’t Stop Sharing
Most watched
Most Read
Most Referenced
Other favourites Airbnb, John Deere case studies and many aspects of Cynefin: Liminality & Aporetic Turn
Quote of the Year; “Culture eats AI for breakfast.” Runner‑up: “What do you mean you're planning to have spare capacity?”
Your 2025 Vibe Score
87% thoughtful debate
8% spicy governance
5% comedy relief
100% community
Thanks for being the kind of community that shows up with curiosity, generosity, and just the right amount of mischief. This Wrapped is really just a snapshot of what you created together, the ideas you pushed, the debates you sparked, and the support you offered one another. Here’s to carrying that same energy into next year. Can’t wait to see what we build, question, share, and laugh about next. - Kate
If you have made it all the way to the end, you might as well check out the BVSSH YouTube to fill the void over the holiday season. The 35+ case studies will beat any ‘Home Alone’ Marathon
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