About this session
Some of the most useful innovation ideas do not come from studying organizations that look exactly like your own. A logistics company may learn from streaming subscriptions.
A professional-services team may learn from marketplaces. A manufacturer may learn from outcome-based services.
A retailer may learn from membership models. The useful insight is rarely to copy another company.
It is to understand the mechanism underneath its business model and ask whether that mechanism could create value in a different context.
Business Model Safari gives participants a structured way to do that.
They learn to examine how an organization creates value for customers, how that value reaches them, how the business captures economic value and which capabilities, partners and operating choices make the model work.
They then explore examples from outside their own industry and identify recurring patterns that can be abstracted from the original company.
The final step is disciplined transfer. Participants test whether an interesting mechanism genuinely fits their own customers, strategic priorities, capabilities, economics and constraints before developing it into a business-model opportunity.
The objective is therefore not a collection of inspiring examples. It is better strategic imagination supported by stronger business-model judgment.
What your people take away
- Understand how business models create, deliver and capture value
- Analyze business models beyond products and features
- Identify transferable patterns across unrelated industries
- Separate the underlying mechanism from the company that uses it
- Test strategic, customer, capability and economic fit before adapting an idea
- Turn cross-industry inspiration into testable business-model opportunities
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- What each length covers, 30 minutes to full day
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What each length covers
30 minutes
30 Minutes — Key Points: Understand How Business Models WorkA focused 30-minute session on three key points from Understand How Business Models Work: look beyond the product, map value creation, delivery & capture and see the system — not isolated components.
- Look beyond the product
- Map value creation, delivery & capture
- See the system — not isolated components
Covers 3 of 4 points in Understand How Business Models Work.
60 minutes
Take a Rapid Business Model SafariA focused introduction to business-model innovation through cross-industry learning. Participants examine how several organizations create, deliver and capture value, identify transferable mechanisms and apply one pattern to a workplace challenge.
- Business model vs. product
- Value creation, delivery and capture
- Cross-industry analogy
- Business-model patterns
- Mechanism vs. company
- Strategic fit
- Business Model Safari Quick Map
- Live Q&A
Covers 1 of 4 parts: Understand How Business Models Work.
90 minutes
Explore & Transfer Cross-Industry Business ModelsThe extended session develops deeper business-model analysis and pattern transfer. Participants compare contrasting models, decode why they work and build several adapted concepts around a real or realistic strategic challenge.
- Business-model architecture
- Strategic Safari question
- Cross-industry pattern discovery
- Business-model comparison
- Value-creation logic
- Value-capture logic
- Capability and partner requirements
- Pattern transfer
- Strategic-fit testing
- Business Model Opportunity Canvas
- Live Q&A
Covers 2 of 4 parts: Understand How Business Models Work and Explore Business Models Across Industries.
3 hours
Covers 3 of 4 parts: Understand How Business Models Work, Explore Business Models Across Industries and Transfer the Mechanism — Not the Company.
Full day
Business Model Safari Innovation LabA hands-on full-day workshop covering all four modules. Participants explore a curated range of cross-industry models, decode the mechanisms underneath them, build a pattern library and transfer the strongest ideas into testable business-model opportunities for a real or realistic organizational challenge.
- Module 1 — Understand How Business Models Work
- Module 2 — Explore Business Models Across Industries
- Module 3 — Transfer the Mechanism — Not the Company
- Module 4 — Turn Inspiration Into Testable Business-Model Options
- Current Business Model Map
- Cross-Industry Safari Gallery
- Business Model Pattern Library
- Mechanism Deconstruction Exercise
- Cross-Industry Analogy Lab
- Strategic Fit Review
- Capability & Partner Map
- Business Model Concept Builder
- Critical Assumption Map
- Opportunity Prioritization
- Experiment Design
- Live Q&A
Covers all 4 parts.
Also available as a 4-week or 8-week program, for change that lasts. Ask us about it.
What’s covered
Understand How Business Models Work
Every length- Look beyond the productA product or service describes what an organization offers.
- Map value creation, delivery & captureParticipants separate three connected questions: What value is being created?
- See the system — not isolated componentsBusiness-model elements reinforce or constrain one another.
- Start with a strategic questionA Business Model Safari becomes more useful when participants know what they are looking for.
Explore Business Models Across Industries
90 minutes and longer- Search by mechanism — not just industryUseful analogies often come from organizations serving completely different customers.
- Decode why the model worksParticipants examine the customer problem, behavioral incentive, economics, capabilities, channels, partners and operating conditions supporting each example.
- Compare contrasting modelsThe Safari deliberately includes different approaches to similar value-creation problems so participants can compare trade-offs rather than searching for one universally superior model.
- Build a cross-industry pattern libraryParticipants capture the underlying pattern from each example in a consistent format.
Transfer the Mechanism — Not the Company
3 hours and longer- Abstract the underlying logicThe strongest transfer begins by removing the original company's branding, product and industry detail and describing the underlying mechanism in neutral terms.
- Test customer & strategic fitA model that succeeds elsewhere may solve no meaningful problem for your customers.
- Test capability, partner & economic fitParticipants examine what the adapted model would require in technology, data, operations, talent, channels, partnerships, capital, pricing, cost structure and organizational capability.
- Combine & adapt patternsBusiness-model innovation does not require adopting one model intact.
Turn Inspiration Into Testable Business-Model Options
Full day only- Build business-model conceptsParticipants convert promising patterns into concise business-model concepts describing the target customer or user, value created, delivery mechanism, value-capture logic and the capabilities or partnerships required.
- Surface the critical assumptionsEvery new model contains assumptions about customer behavior, willingness to pay, usage, economics, operations, partners, regulation, technology and organizational capability.
- Prioritize the strongest opportunitiesConcepts are compared using customer value, strategic relevance, economic potential, operational feasibility, differentiation, capability requirements and uncertainty.
- Design the next testParticipants decide what must be learned before investing further and select an appropriate next step such as customer interviews, pricing tests, service prototypes, partner conversations, operational trials or limited pilots.
Tools and materials
- Current Business Model Map
- Strategic Safari Question
- Cross-Industry Safari Guide
- Business Model Pattern Library
- Model Deconstruction Canvas
- Pattern Transfer Canvas
- Business Model Concept Builder
- Capability & Partner Requirement Map
- Critical Assumption Map
- Business Model Experiment Designer
How booking works
- Book online. Create a free Workbliss profile, then pay with session credits, by card or by invoice.
- Pick a date. Choose a date at least 14 days ahead, or book now and set the date later.
- Choose your expert. Within 3 working days, we send you profiles of the experts available for your date.
- We deliver it. Your expert is briefed on your people and goals, then runs the session live online or at your site.
Questions about Business Model Safari
How long is Business Model Safari?
Business Model Safari runs as 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, 3 hours or full day. You choose the length when you book. A 30-minute session covers three key points from Understand How Business Models Work: look beyond the product, map value creation, delivery & capture and see the system — not isolated components. A 60-minute session covers Understand How Business Models Work in full, with a live Q&A. A 90-minute session adds Explore Business Models Across Industries. A 3-hour session adds Transfer the Mechanism — Not the Company. A full-day session adds Turn Inspiration Into Testable Business-Model Options. It is also available as a 4-week or 8-week program.
Can Business Model Safari be delivered online or in person?
Yes, both. It runs live online, so every office can join at the same time, or in person at your site, in any country.
How do we book Business Model Safari?
Create a free Workbliss profile with your work email, then open Business Model Safari to see the price for each length and book it. You can pay with session credits, by card or by invoice, and choose a date at least 14 days ahead, or set it later.
Who leads the session?
A vetted Workbliss expert, briefed on your people, culture and goals before the session. After you book, we send you profiles of the experts available for your date within 3 working days, so you can choose who leads it.
Can it be tailored to our company?
Yes. Every session is shaped around your goals, your people and the benefits you already offer, and delivered by experts in your people’s languages.