The Values Map - by David Allison (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Based on a million conversations about what matters most...

In The Values Map: Discover What Drives You and How to Move Others, David Allison reveals that shared human values--not age, gender, or geography--are the most powerful predictors of behavior. Drawing from nearly one million surveys across 180 countries, this book provides a proven framework for understanding what truly drives you and the people around you.

Through vivid storytelling, Allison demonstrates how values drive our decisions, shape relationships, and transform organizations. Readers use a variety of tools and techniques, then watch their own core values appear throughout the stories that follow. Each chapter illuminates how global brands, grassroots movements, and individuals have used values to reshape industries and lives.

Readers will also find:

• Values assessment frameworks that personalize your reading experience and reveal the values that drive who you are and what you do
• Real-world case studies from organizations, governments, communities and individuals that demonstrate values-based strategies in action
• A data-backed methodology now included in university courses as part of human-centered strategy curricula worldwide
• Practical frameworks for building stronger teams, engaging stakeholders authentically, and making more aligned life choices
• Insights from the most comprehensive values dataset ever created, spanning 152 languages and every major culture

Essential for CEOs seeking authentic stakeholder connection, managers building cohesive teams, and anyone wanting to understand their own motivations more clearly, The Values Map delivers both the framework and inspiration to move beyond surface-level assumptions toward deeper, more meaningful human connection.

From the Back Cover

PRAISE FOR The Values Map

"The noise is everywhere, and none of it knows who you actually are. This book does. David Allison is the first person I've encountered who solved it."
--Douglas Coupland, bestselling novelist, visual artist, and the voice of a generation

"The Values Map explains how anyone can find their values and build the life they want. Read it for yourself, then buy a copy for someone who needs it more than you do."
--Patricia Velásquez, the first Latina supermodel, star of The Mummy, founder of the Way?u Tayá Foundation, UNESCO Artist for Peace, and OAS Ambassador

"I spent a career being told I was good at conversations. David Allison has written the book that explains it. The Values Map is delightful, useful, and, I suspect, a little dangerous."
--Dick Cavett, Emmy-winning talk show host

"Before you can show the world who you are, you have to know what you actually value. The Values Map gives you that foundation. It's backed by a million surveys, and it moves like a good story."
--William Arruda, "the father of personal branding" (Inc.), founder of Reach Personal Branding, and Forbes magazine senior contributor

"David Allison is the researcher I trust to tell me why it works when it works. The Values Map belongs in the hands of anyone who's ever tried to bring people together."
--David Adler, founder of Washington Dossier, BizBash, and Gathering Point News

"David Allison shows why some conversations leave you energized and others leave you exhausted. The Values Map turns that difference from an accident of temperament into a skill you can learn."
--Martha Rogers, PhD, co-author of The One to One Future

About the Author

DAVID ALLISON is a global ?authority on human values and the founder of the Value?graphics Project, which built the largest dataset of human values ever assembled. He has advised organizations including Google, PayPal, and lululemon, and hundreds more have used his data. His research is cited in university textbooks in more than 100 countries. In 2025, the MCNY gave him its Silver Apple Award for Innovation, an award it has given only four times in its hundred-year history. He is a keynote speaker who has rubbed shoulders backstage with Roger Federer and shared the marquee with Barack Obama. His research has been featured in Harvard Business Review and Forbes. He lives in Vancouver and Sechelt, British Columbia.