Reflecting on an incredible year for The Agilist, 2025 has been a journey through some of the most pressing challenges in the world of organizational change. The publication has remained a dedicated nonprofit and independent space for “sensing and responding” to our rapidly changing world.
2025 Year in Review
This year, our contributors took a deep dive into the “human-centric” shift, exploring how we can lead through complexity. Key themes included:
- The AI Frontier: Moving beyond “feature-driven” AI to embedding it as a strategic capability that augments human creativity.
- Leadership Archetypes: From Daniel Susser’s look at “Priests vs. Prophets” in leadership to Barry Overeem’s urgent call for Scrum Masters to evolve or face “extinction” by focusing on value over frameworks.
- Systemic Flow: Ken Rubin’s masterclass on “Dependency Friction” and “Flow Metrics” helped us see the invisible drag slowing down our delivery.
- Culture and Change: Niels Pflaeging and Paul Taylor reminded us that while bureaucracy can “thaw” during a crisis, lasting change requires a fundamental redesign of the system itself.
🙏 A Special Thank You
The Agilist is a community-funded labor of love, and it would not exist without the support of three vital groups:
- To our Subscribers: Your contributions allow us to remain a nonprofit, independent voice in the industry. Whether you receive the monthly hand-distributed physical edition or support us digitally, you are the reason we can keep the lights on and the mission moving forward.
- To our Authors: Thank you for sharing your “hard-won lessons”. This year featured brilliant insights from Jeff Gothelf, Ken Rubin, Craig Strong, Barry Overeem, Paul Taylor, Maria Muir, Tony Quinlan, Niels Pflaeging, Michele Zanini, Daniel Susser, Hayley Lewis, Tanner Wortham, and many others.
- To our Advertisers: A huge thank you to organizations like Software Acumen (organizers of Lean Agile Scotland, Agile Cambridge, and Ripples: Bristol), and Henko for their support, which helps cover our nonprofit costs.
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