The Science OfUltraperformance
Turn Your Business Into A True Ultraperformer
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You should only spend time reading this website if what you discover here can create real value for you and the company or brand you work for — value you are unlikely to find somewhere else.
In our case, that value can be summarized in one question:
WHAT IF ALL THE PROBLEMS IN YOUR COMPANY ARE, IN FACT, ONE AND THE SAME?
More than twenty-five years of scientific research by our co-founder Eric Bartels — scientist, author and entrepreneur — has revealed that a small percentage of companies and brands operate in a fundamentally different way from the rest.
We call them ultraperformers.
They create exceptional value for the world and, as a consequence, generate approximately 750 to 1,500 times more enterprise value per product or service, compared with a range of only 1 to 3 among conventional competitors.
But the most important discovery is not how much better they perform. It is why.
Ultraperformers use a fundamentally different way of thinking, business logic and organizational architecture. And because of that difference, the vast majority of the problems for which conventional organizations hire different consultants, specialists and change programs either do not arise in the first place or are resolved structurally as part of the system itself.
BECOME® Institute was co-founded by Eric Bartels to help companies and brands adopt this fundamentally different way of thinking and operating.
The result is not only the potential for radically higher performance. It is also an organization in which many of the problems normally addressed one by one can be solved together at their source — while radically reducing dependence on external consultants.
Now decide for yourself whether you want to know more.
You should only spend time reading this website if what you discover here can create concrete value for you and the business you want to build.
In our case, we offer something fundamentally different: a different way of consulting — and a different way of being a consultant.
More than twenty-five years of scientific research by our co-founder Eric Bartels — scientist, author and entrepreneur — identified and modeled the fundamentally different business thinking, business logic and organizational architecture of companies and brands we call ultraperformers. They generate approximately 750 to 1,500 times more enterprise value per product or service, compared with a range of only 1 to 3 among conventional competitors.
The research also revealed that when organizations adopt this fundamentally different way of thinking and operating, many of the problems for which they normally hire separate consultants and specialists are structurally resolved at their source. BECOME® Practitioners help organizations make that transformation from within, instead of creating dependence on outside expertise.
BECOME Alliance gives you the opportunity to build your own BECOME® Practice as an entrepreneur inside one fully integrated international company. No employment. No franchise. No isolated independent consultancy.
And you do not build that Practice alone. BECOME Alliance actively helps its Partners become successful entrepreneurs, drawing on decades of entrepreneurial experience from Eric Bartels and experienced entrepreneurs and business leaders around the company.
You build your own Practice. Together, we build one company.
Now decide for yourself whether you want to know more.
The Entrance ToUltraperformance
BECOME® is the science of ultraperformance, developed by scientist, author and serial entrepreneur Eric Bartels through more than twenty-five years of interdisciplinary research and described in his books.
Ultraperformers are organizations that create exceptional value for the world and consequently outperform their competitors by an extraordinary margin.
The research resulted in the BECOME® Ontology, which explains why ultraperformers think and operate so fundamentally differently within the context of broader human, social and economic development.
Their distinctive business thinking, business logic and organizational architecture were subsequently studied and modeled in the BECOME® Framework.
This matters because the research also revealed that most of the problems organizations normally treat as separate — strategy execution, alignment, decision-making, culture, employee engagement, innovation, customer value and performance — are different manifestations of the same underlying business logic and architecture.
The BECOME® Program is the comprehensive change-management and implementation methodology through which an enterprise changes that underlying system and makes the BECOME® Framework the way it actually thinks and operates. As a result, many of the problems organizations normally try to solve one by one can be resolved together at their source.
The products and instruments of the BECOME® Framework Ecosystem support its implementation and daily use.
BECOME® Institute brings BECOME® to the world through education, products and implementation support, delivered through BECOME® Academy, BECOME® Studio and BECOME® Practice.
To explore the scientific research behind BECOME®, read Eric Bartels’ books or download the introductory booklet BECOME® — The Science of Ultraperformance.
To discover how BECOME® can help leaders, companies, brands, advisors and consultants, explore the BECOME® Program and its supporting products and services.
Because this booklet is a first introduction to the forthcoming book BECOME® — The Science of Ultraperformance, we offer the printed edition at the special price of €7.95, postage included.
This 32-page booklet explains what a BECOME® Program is, which products and services support it, and how the ultraperformance logic is implemented in an enterprise, including its pricing structure. The printed edition is €4.95, postage included.
BECOME® ACADEMY
Learn to do it yourself.
BECOME® Academy offers four consecutive programs through which leaders, teams and consultants can learn the BECOME® Ontology, the BECOME® Framework and the BECOME® Program and develop the capability to apply them themselves.
Explore AcademyBECOME® STUDIO
Books. Journals. Apps. And other tools.
BECOME® Studio develops the books, journals, digital applications and other products that make BECOME® understandable, usable and executable in daily practice.
Enter Studio
BECOME® PRACTICE
Get help to achieve ultraperformance.
BECOME® Practice guides enterprises through complete BECOME® Programs that change the business thinking, business logic and architecture of the organization. Twenty-five years of research by scientist, author and entrepreneur Eric Bartels shows that most of the problems for which companies normally hire different consultancies stem from that same underlying system. Change it at the source, and you solve most of them in one move.
Explore PracticeUsers
A selection of the companies and brands that use the BECOME® Framework and have undertaken a BECOME® program.
What users say
In their own words.
"We used the Become Institute to streamline our business-to-business operations in the Benelux and we loved its approach as it helps you see your organization in a different light. It is as unconventional as it is effective."
Ton van Garderen
General Manager Apple Benelux
"If there are elements within our business that need to be optimized, or where change is desirable, we use the Become Institute. It's that simple!"
Hong Liem
Commercial Director Walt Disney Benelux
"Something unexpected happened when we began optimizing our business using the BECOME® Framework through a BECOME® Program. We had expected our customer satisfaction rate and revenue to go up, but we also thought we would have to spend more money to achieve that. Our ratings did go up, but operating expenses actually decreased. And there were more unexpected changes: profit and employee motivation went through the roof, product innovation accelerated and absenteeism went down. We have never seen changes like that!"
Johan Buigholt
Strategy Officer Univé Insurance
"We did a three-year BECOME® Program under the guidance of a renowned BECOME® Practitioner, transforming from a typical industrial potato products manufacturer to a true purpose- and value-driven brand, offering elegantly simple potato enjoyment. An incredible achievement that proves the tremendous power of the BECOME® Framework and Program."
Lorenzo Gardelli
Vice-President Product Studio Lamb Weston
"In the old days we used to hire traditional consultants or other specialists when we had a problem that needed to be fixed. The Become Institute approach works differently. It takes advantage of the knowledge and expertise present in the company and channels that to optimize the business. In this way, you as an enterprise become your own consultancy. It is a unique, systematic and highly effective approach that I truly recommend."
Gaby Vreeken
Marketing Director Bayer Consumer Care
"A few years ago I was interviewed by Eric Bartels. I realized that this approach could lift us to a whole new level, not only because it is much faster and more effective than anything we had done before, but also because there is full ownership among employees and you see real improvements in daily operations, including unprecedented sales increases. And that's exactly what it did for us. Truly unique!"
Frits van Eerd
CEO Jumbo Supermarkets
"We did a BECOME® Program to find and activate the purpose of Unilever in the Benelux, connect it to the overall purpose of Unilever Globally and further optimize our operations. We also continue to use the BECOME® Framework to fine-tune and optimize our brands. The very fact that we use the BECOME® Framework canvases for the most important parts of our business says it all. The BECOME® Framework is a refined, yet simple approach that works wonders."
Conny Braams
Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, Unilever Leadership Executive
"We have completed a BECOME® Program for our ice cream brand Hertog, which resulted in a unique experience, even for our experienced marketeers. The intrinsic why of the brand was uncovered. The purpose. We discovered that our brand became removed from its original passion throughout the years. Going on this insight, we found Hertog's permanent and intrinsic why and how that now forms the permanent directive in everything that we do with the brand."
Sebastien Deneux
Senior Brand Development Manager Unilever
"Omo is one of the oldest detergent brands in the world. In our BECOME® Program we went back to the roots of the brand and found its archetypal purpose which led to a much sharper and deeper brand positioning. The BECOME® Framework approach was of great help. It accelerates the work to be done and deepens the positioning of your brand. Advertising is drastically sharpened."
Erik Liebe
Marketing Manager Laundry Unilever
"Robijn is the leading brand of detergent, softener and fragrance sticks in the Netherlands. We did a BECOME® Program to find and formulate the intrinsic why or purpose of the brand and turn that into the right strategy and the right advertising on all levels. The BECOME® Framework approach is a great way to organize your brand in the right logical levels leading to a very specific identity with which advertising agencies can work. It aids in the sharpening of advertisements by testing against target-specific archetypal needs."
Erik Liebe
Marketing Manager Laundry Unilever
"We ran a BECOME® Program to streamline our fast growing organization. It has led to a profound positive change in our company."
Alex Goldblum
CEO Eurofiber
"We did a BECOME® Program with our regional managers to improve our customer intimacy. They were truly challenged and the results were radically streamlining and accelerating our sales efforts."
Paul Verheul
COO Van Oord Marine Ingenuity
"We implemented the BECOME® Framework through a BECOME® Program with a leadership coalition of 90 participants. A unique program that worked out even better than we expected. It created great ownership within the organization and met all the objectives we had set and more. Absolutely unique!"
Leo Oosterveer
CEO Unilever Food Solutions
"The BECOME® approach reframes what a consultancy is. It doesn't come in to fix us — it helps us see, structure and activate the intrinsic strengths we already have."
Rob Willemsen
CCO Bolletje
What BECOME® Practitioners do
With their clients to achieve ultraperformance.
Press & Media
A selection of coverage of BECOME® and Eric Bartels.
De Telegraaf
A full-page interview with Eric Bartels in the Netherlands' largest newspaper to mark the 2026 launch of his book 'Welcome To The New Economy'.
ManagementSite
An in-depth review of 'Welcome To The New Economy' by Eric Bartels was published in April 2026 in the widely read Dutch business magazine ManagementSite.
Financieel Dagblad
An interview with Eric Bartels about his career as internet pioneer in 'Het Financieel Dagblad', the Netherlands' leading business newspaper.
More interviews, reviews and publications are available in our press room.
All press & media