Shapeshifters Group exists to make a certain type of work visible. This section is central to all that we do: it articulates what we mean by the shapeshifter model. If you’re wondering “Is this me?” – this is where you might figure it out.

What we’re describing here is derived from observation, lived experience, and many conversations and interviews with people doing this work across sectors. At its heart, this section is an attempt at ontology: a fancy way to say naming and describing a form of work that exists in-between roles, systems, disciplines, organisations.

This work can be done in-house or on-demand: embedded inside organisations, moving across teams and initiatives, or practiced fractionally, independently, or in entrepreneurial forms. We understand it not as a single job or identity, but as something that can be approached through multiple lenses:

• a function within a system
• a skillset that can be developed
• a disposition or orientation to work
• a career path over time.

We should also note that, in this section, we will engage with two related things:

• Shapeshifting as a kind of work that connects, translates, integrates, bridges, and holds gaps. It is the core work of shapeshifters, but it’s also part of the work for many professionals: many product, program and data workers, as well as most executives, managers, partnership or procurement people who have to do some boundary crossing.
• Shapeshifters as a type of professional who repeatedly find themselves doing this work again and again, as a core focus of their life, often across different roles, contexts, or careers.

The pages in this section aim to give shared language to something elusive — not to fix it in place, but to make it easier to recognise, discuss, support, and evolve.

The list below offers a range of pages articulating various aspects of our model. We’re currently focusing on bringing those up to maturity, and developing graphic syntheses for orientation.

Model