The UNITE Cultural Layers Model summarizes all the layers from purpose in the center to business outcomes and bottom-line results. Each layer builds on the previous one, and ultimately all are aligned with purpose. Nicely, we can thus connect the deep purpose and the softer aspects of culture to the more “hard” and measurable business outcomes and understand how they connect.
The package
The case
Purpose is the engine that drives your innovation effort. It allows team members to make decisions autonomously without undermining a project’s progress. When the cultural and business layers are aligned, your team performs better, and customers will view you as more authentic. We use this tool to gain clarity and drive consistency across the culture, goals and business outcomes of organizations.
The mechanics
A team’s purpose is the larger goal they are trying to achieve. In the case of an innovation team, it might be as simple as finding an ideal product to solve our customer’s Job to be Done, or it might be as broad as Google’s purpose, “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Next come core values. Values guide our actions in a more explicit way than meaning does. In a way, it translates our overall worldview into actionable principles that can guide our behavior. The layers go on from there. Vision is the team’s long-term goal, which it hopes to accomplish in five to ten years. Goals are the means to reach the vision and can be in any time frame, from weeks to years. Finally, the Value Proposition is the benefit the customer experiences as a result of the organization’s offering.
The purpose
What is the goal of the model?
Alignment. When all of the layers are in alignment, the performance of your team and organization will increase dramatically. The UNITE Cultural Layers are a tool to help guide your business and even help your customers connect to the purpose of your organization.
What people say
Richard Cobie, CEOReviewed on 15 July 2022
★★★★★Recommended as a purchase, worth the investment!
I completely re-evaluated the role of innovation in business growth: before reading this book I have to admit I thought it only entailed product new features and technologies enhancements, while now I see it has everything to do with meeting customer needs and uncovering a business USP, which automatically translates in sales! Could not recommend it more!
Janette Lavalier, Innovation Professor and ConsultantReviewed on 15 July 2022
★★★★★Recommended as a purchase, worth the investment!
Unlike most business innovation books I read over the last years (and even decades) when reading How to create innovation you immediately understand the authors have been there, innovating and transforming some of the world’s most amazing brands. Great work!
Karl Meckel, Change Development ManagerReviewed on 18 July 2022
★★★★★Recommended as a purchase, worth the investment!
Not only this book offers the most comprehensive innovation and business change overview but it really helps you take the next step, driving you step by step from theory to practice (also with super useful background notes and driving questions)
Franz Hellstrom, Head of CultureReviewed on 2 Aug 2022
★★★★★Recommended as a purchase, worth the investment!
I really enjoyed the whole book, but mostly the culture chapter, mainly because I always failed to acknowledge its major role in favouring or inhibiting business growth. Loved the graphics that helped connect all the dots in a visually appealing (and way easier) way.
Satoru Fukuda, Chief Strategy OfficerReviewed on 13 Aug 2022
★★★★★Recommended as a purchase, worth the investment!
We’been willing to innovate our business for some years now, but then we always got stuck before we even started, because basically we had no idea where to start…This book helped us do just that: find the right starting point with guiding questions and an incredibly comprehensive innovation overview.
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