Upruption is a new approach to value creation. 

In this post, I share its high-level principles.

But before I do that, let me invite you to a little experiment with the following question:

What does Upruption evoke in you? 

…a feeling, a sense, an image, a movement maybe…

Whatever comes to you may be the most important thing to take away from this page. 

That is because Upruption is not a formula. Rather, it points to a place that we all have access to.  

What is this place? What does it enable us to do? How is it related to value creation?

Let’s look into it.

The essence of Upruption

At its core, the essence of Upruption is the sense that there’s a higher possibility available in what and how we do things.

It’s about elevating what we’re working on—whether a business, project, or system—to a higher level of expression and functionality, while also enhancing our own efficiency, creativity, and well-being in the process.

Ultimately, it’s about releasing potential—both within ourselves and in our work—recognizing that our outer creations reflect our inner state.

Yet, the way we talk about and approach value often fails to capture this depth and potential.

The language of value creation is too small for our time


In presentations, I often start by saying that the traditional language of business, innovation and leadership is too narrow for the times we live in. Too narrow to deal effectively with our current challenges and to do justice to our more authentic aspirations.

Too much value creation still operates under an outdated paradigm. One where economic value is in opposition to societal and environmental value. Where our private values are at odds with what gets done in the workplace. Or where our collaborative efforts only reflect the lowest common denominator.

Too many times, we fall short of our potential.

We try to solve problems with the same logic that created them, leading our outer creations to reflect our inner conflicts and further reproduce the logic we are trying to escape.

We need a new approach.

An approach that reconnects our creative power with society’s evolution and empowers us to create the world we truly want.

The promise of Upruption is to unlock our higher potential as value creators so we can lift our organizations, systems and societies to their next level of expression, and the people we serve to new levels of thriving. 

Let’s dive a little deeper…



From disruption to Upruption


Upruption is a practical evolution on the idea of ‘disruption’. Disruption is a powerful force, synonymous with undoing what’s stuck or outdated and displacing established incumbents.

However disruption typically benefits the disruptor, not the disrupted. And beyond efficiency, it is unclear what value it creates for the system as a whole.

For innovators, disruption can also be an impractical or risky approach if they lack the power to impose their vision or need to maintain positive relationships with others in their field.

Upruption builds on disruption. It’s not about breaking apart—it’s about breaking through to a new and better way.

I like to say that Upruption is not about morality. It’s about capacity.

Operating at a higher level and creating a more evolved and integrated form of value is more complex, not less.

This is both an internal and an external affair.

Internal because we need to be able to take in more information, enhance our perception to see a bigger and more layered picture, and integrate seemingly contradicting viewpoints. External because we need to learn the concrete ways of navigating a broader and more varied terrain.

This can seem daunting, but the proposition is that this is also exciting and empowering. With so much at play and in motion in the world, the truly satisfying way forward is to upgrade our capacity to respond with more freedom and creativity, with more subtlety and skill.

This inner/outer capacity requires two essential stretches from our traditional approach of value creation–two axes, if you will.

The horizontal and vertical stretches

The first is a stretch from the individual to the collective. From the organization to the ecosystem. It is a shift of identity from our entity (me, my organization) to the broader system we are part of. If the individual actor is focused on running their house, ecosystem players work at the level of the village.

This is a horizontal stretch because it requires taking into account what’s around us, the interconnected nature of the dynamics of value creation, and how to influence them. It’s as much about understanding how to play our own role better, as well as acting in the spaces in between, fostering new connections in the village.

This shift enables us to play a bigger game, and unlocks dynamics of value creation that were otherwise not possible both for the ecosystem and for our own role in it.

But that’s not enough.

The second is a vertical stretch. From a focus on what’s immediately apparent to what is latent and invisible.

Robert M. Pirsig, the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance said: “(…)to tear down a factory (…) because it is a system, is to attack effects rather than causes. If a factory is torn down but the rationality which produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory.”

Elevating what we are working on to a higher level of functioning and creative production requires lifting our sight to a higher possibility, a superior paradigm. In other words, to look up.

Looking up implies connecting with our inspiration and imagination beyond what is currently manifest in our world.

There’s a corollary to this upward orientation however. A vertical stretch goes both upward and downward.

There’s no real upward movement if we remain weighed down by what holds us back. A hot air balloon needs to cut sandbags loose before soaring upwards.

In authentic value creation, the ground is as important as blue sky thinking. It is often by looking at what we have not wanted to see, what we have brushed under the carpet, that we can liberate our potential.

This is true of personal journeys, family situations, as it is true of the life of our organizations, systems and collectives. It requires humility, honesty, and an openness to look at what holds us back. Above all, it requires courage, as there are good reasons we haven’t wanted to direct our attention at what pains us most. But the reward is equal to the challenge – this deep introspection is also what reveals our most authentic essence, and along with it new meaning and new energy.

Expanding Creative Capacity for Greater Value Creation

In change-speak, we’re often told we must shift from one way of thinking to another. I prefer to speak of stretches. Stretching honors what we’ve learned at one level, while transcending it and expanding our capacity to reach the next.

Focusing on the wider ecosystem includes tending both to the wellbeing of the whole and its individual parts. Focusing on deeper potential coexists with addressing surface necessities. We’re not seeking to replace what we know, but to operate across a broader range of vantage points.

These stretches move us beyond the either-or thinking that often limits us. They create space to perceive and pursue new possibilities, and to resolve tensions that cannot be addressed at lower levels of thinking.

Stretching also means that Upruptions can be embraced at different scales and depths — from systemic leaders aiming to elevate an entire industry to a new paradigm to solo business owners seeking to amplify their impact within their ecosystem.

We go as wide in our horizontal stretch and as deep in our vertical stretch as our interest, capacity, and circumstances allow. 

In short, Upruption is for those looking to operate at a higher logic of value creation, regardless of sector, position or size. Whether we’re seeking to unlock growth and prosperity, tackle the systemic issues of our time, or more authentically meet the aspirations of the new generation — and our own.

The promise is to reconcile the personal with the collective, the private with the public, and the practical with the more meaningful.

If this resonates with you, I invite you to join the journey of Upruption.

Read more: Upruption, an interview with Greg Bernarda by Fred Etiemble