Sustaining uncommon growth takes more than splashy, one-off new product launches. Transformative and lasting impact happens when innovation is embedded in the cultural DNA, is part of everyday operations and supported by continuous R&D investments and recognized by short-term impact. It’s essential to build innovation as a capability.

+17% higher R&D investment growth vs non-UCG companies. Uncommon Growth companies average R&D growth of 23% between 2019 and 2024, versus 6% for non-UCG companies.

Innovation can be a growth multiplier in both existing and adjacent markets. Uniquely rich experiences and targeted solutions unlock untapped value when they meet customer needs in surprising and powerful ways.

Speed matters, too. Developing new offerings with agility and getting them to market faster are hallmarks of uncommon growth. That’s why innovation should be viewed not as magic, but rather as a repeatable and scalable capability.   

Duolingo’s data-driven Growth Model and innovative mindset have helped quadruple daily users since 2019. Their approach combines gamification principles, behavioral science and aggressive AI adoption to continually enhance content and boost engagement. A marketing strategy centered on social-first storytelling drives earned media.

The heart of Duolingo’s innovation is a full-stack R&D engine, where in-house linguists, learning scientists, and AI researchers continuously test and iterate through live A/B experiments (as many 3,000 at any given time), using a sophisticated personalization engine to adapt difficulty, content pacing, and feedback in real-time, significantly improving retention and learning outcomes. 

NVIDIA has not just innovated successfully—it has institutionalized innovation as a core competency. Through high R&D investment, a vertically integrated platform approach, strategic risk-taking, and diverse innovation methods, it has consistently stayed ahead of major technology curves. Its recent dominance in AI infrastructure and services is the clearest signal that this innovation capability is paying off at scale.

This was not just luck, NVIDIA had the foresight in 2006 to begin positioning its GPUs beyond gaming, particularly for parallel processing tasks critical to AI. 

Culture, when seen through a human-centered lens, becomes far more than an enabler of strategy—it becomes the strategy, providing the connective tissue between a company’s purpose, its people, and its performance. In this view, culture is not a backdrop to growth—it is the engine of growth.

Designing culture intentionally—from the inside out—requires aligning leadership behaviors, organizational structures, and employee experiences with a clearly articulated purpose. It’s about activating the behaviors, beliefs, and rituals that inspire people to move in the same direction. It’s not about top-down mandates or one-size-fits-all frameworks but about nurturing the soul of an organization so that every decision and every interaction reflects its unique identity. That’s how to create a culture where transformation not only takes root but thrives.  

60% of Uncommon Growth companies have been recognized for cultures that attract and retain top talent via development programs and ethical practices.

Uncommon Growth companies actively align culture with growth strategies. Their leadership styles and decision-making processes directly account for employee engagement and customer needs. Workers are encouraged to be creative, experiment, contribute ideas, and learn from mistakes.

Paylocity’s culture isn’t just a soft asset, it’s a scalable system that powers innovation, retention, differentiation, and loyalty. By designing internal processes, employee experience, and even product features around its cultural values, Paylocity has built a durable competitive advantage. The company’s consistent focus on transparency, inclusion, and empowerment fosters trust—both within teams and with clients—resulting in faster decision-making and stronger cross-functional execution. Culture also acts as a filter in Paylocity’s acquisition strategy, ensuring that new additions enhance rather than dilute its value system. Perhaps most critically, Paylocity has translated its internal culture into a marketable product differentiator: its HCM platform promotes engagement, collaboration, and connection, mirroring how the company operates internally. This alignment between how it works and what it sells creates authenticity, deepens customer loyalty, and positions Paylocity as a trusted partner in shaping the future of work. 

The Ensign Group, a leader in the complex skilled nursing sector, has experienced 16% CAGR and increasing margins though a culture centered on decentralized leadership and entrepreneurial autonomy. Rather than top-down standardization, each facility operates as a self-managed business unit, with administrators empowered to make operational, staffing, and care decisions, which fosters a sense of ownership, enables faster decision-making, and produces superior patient outcomes. This approach also helps Ensign integrate acquisitions rapidly.