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8,1 The Three Steps 8,2 Color and Targets 8,3 The-Trippel-Test
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Secret 8,1 · Relations / Results · The Triple Test / TTT

The Three Steps

Safety, belonging, trust. Three steps, three languages, three cultures — and value creation is not the machines or the profit itself, but the interaction between people and tools that brings results to life.

The Trippel-Test staircase — step one safety, step two belonging, step three trust and renewal, each with its own colour of communication
The three steps of need, from basic survival to renewal and growth.

The idea

TTT — the Trippel-Test

The Trippel-Test is an adapted simplification of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, inspired by Norwegian work environment research and the Nordic welfare model for shared value creation. In our work with leaders and organisations, we found three fundamental levels for success. Each level calls for different colour communication styles and leadership approaches, shaping distinct organisational cultures.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the best-known theory among the need theories, developed by the Russian-American psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1943.

  • Step 1 — Safety needs to survive.
  • Step 2 — Belonging needs to connect.
  • Step 3 — Trust and renewal needs to grow and renew.

My experience with SGL stems from a start up process at the Norwegian Tax Administration in the period 2004–2005. Jan P Hagberg introduced the SGL-method to the team, which was responsible for development and introduction of a new solution for tax collection. In the period from 2007 to 2008 the new solution replaced old legacy systems nationwide. The solution, named SOFIE, has since then successfully been handling taxes collected from all persons and companies in Norway.

Petter Håndlykken · SGL-Ambassador

The human side of results

Value Creation

Facts

When we talk about value creation, we mean actions and behaviours that lead to the results we truly want to achieve. In this sense, value creation goes far beyond ordinary performance goals. Just like competence is a deeper concept than technical knowledge, and equality is a broader idea than equal rights, value creation is about something more — about meaning and human interaction.

An example

When the National Road Administration builds a new highway, it is all planned according to budgets, blueprints, and measurable goals. But the real value is not just the asphalt — it is what happens because of the road. When people use that road to meet, trade, or connect, that is value creation.

The same principle applies in business. A company can invest in new machines and count them as capital, but the real value comes from the people operating them — and the collaboration that turns effort into results. Value creation, then, is not the machines or the profit itself, but the interaction between people and tools that brings results to life.

Feelings

We all have a basic need to succeed. Nowhere is this more visible than in sports, where everything is measured in numbers — times, scores, goals. But in real life, things are not that simple. A hospital that meets its budget is not necessarily the best for its patients. A company obsessed with targets might not be the most innovative or creative.

In the end, success is emotional — it is about meaning, motivation, and leadership. To contribute positively, we need to move beyond the “performance culture” and towards a “value creation culture”, where communication and human understanding come first.

Reflections

Value creation is the key to success in any knowledge-based organisation. But not everything that matters can be measured. The old saying “high tech – high contact” still holds true. Real success depends on communication, creativity, and quality — supported by strong human connections and ethical standards. In a world driven by information technology and AI, it is still these close, human relationships that make real progress possible.

Structure

The Three-Steps of Need

In our work with leaders and organisations, we have chosen to structure our research, interviews, and employee dialogues around three fundamental parameters for success: Basic needs, Belonging needs, and Trust needs. These needs can be grouped into a three-level hierarchy — similar to Maslow’s — moving from basic survival to renewal and growth. Each level calls for different communication styles and leadership approaches, shaping distinct organisational cultures.

1 · Blue

Safety Needs

To survive. Require blue communication, focused on objective facts, measurable values, and structured organisation between people and systems.

2 · Red

Belonging Needs

To connect and belong. Require red communication, based on personal and social relationships between people.

3 · Yellow

Trust and Renewal Needs

To grow and renew. Require yellow communication, focusing on values, self-realisation, and behaviour.

Intro film coming

The place for this secret’s intro film is reserved here. It fills in when the recording arrives.

A familiar feeling

Asking yourself: why boring meetings?

Have you ever sat in a meeting, feeling time slowly slipping away, grain by grain, like sand in an hourglass? Or followed the meeting online and started doing other things outside the camera angle? And asked yourself: “Why am I so bored?” That is a great question — and you are definitely not alone.

Chances are, both you and your colleagues are out of sync with the leadership culture. Maybe the team’s competence is higher than the leadership level, or perhaps the tasks at hand require fresh approaches instead of outdated routines. So, ask yourself: am I in the wrong meeting? Or is the meeting leadership completely missing the mark?

A potential team, or the wrong team energy?

Let us break it down. Does the meeting agenda make no sense to you? Maybe it is because you are a creative soul who thrives on brainstorming, but you have been pulled into operational meetings filled with numbers, reports, and procedures. That is like trying to paint a masterpiece with a calculator. Or the opposite: if your job is all about delivering clear, measurable results, sitting through endless discussions and “loose ideas” can feel both frustrating and chaotic.

Is the team ready for change?

Some leaders, but not all, understand that different meeting requests require different languages to achieve what you want.

  • Operational meetings with reporting, status and actions require blue language.
  • Strategy meetings for brainstorming, creative solutions and new initiatives require red communication.
  • Change and development days for evaluations, learning and improvements require a safe yellow atmosphere.

A voice close to SGL

Simon Sinek is an exciting storyteller and mentor whose approach is very close to SGL. Watch and listen to his talk on why, how and what — a feature that characterises much of his thinking.

But more about this in Secret 8,2 — Color and Targets.

Your workplace

Which level is your workplace on?

Which level does your workplace feel dominated by right now?

An open notebook and two sharpened pencils on a dark desk under the pool of light from a lamp, the page still blank.
The exercise wants a pen and paper, not a keyboard.

Your turn

Home Lesson 8,1

Find your working language.

  • Read through the three levels of the needs ladder and mark the level you think your workplace is dominated by, above.
  • Compare the results with the Trippel-Test in Secret 8,3.
SGL Secrets — For those who are in need, and those who want a lot!

Next lesson

Lesson 8,2: Color and Targets

Continue to 8,2 →