In progress

Shapeshifters Group was created for the benefit of professionals we call shapeshifters: people who look after the work that falls between the cracks. Our goal is to give shapeshifters voice and visibility. But…

Why exactly does this matter, and what will happen as a result, for shapeshifters themselves, the organisations where they work, and the broader sectors and communities where they operate? In answer to this question, this essay offers an introduction to what we may call our theory of change.

Who benefits? Shapeshifting, shapeshifters

The best place to begin may be with a clarification about our central keyword, which doubles as a clarification of our focus.

At the core, we exist to support a type of professionals that we call shapeshifters. We have written abundantly about who they are. Those people hold certain roles in and/or between organisations, they have a certain set of skills, and their career unfolds in certain ways.

Although the exact borders of ‘who qualifies as a shapeshifter’ are somewhat hazy (especially right now as we’ve only begun our efforts to organise and demystify this type of work), we believe that this is a relatively contained and a defined group of professionals. Only a small percentage of professionals are ‘shapeshifters’ in that narrow sense.

Shapeshifters Group exists primarily for shapeshifters understood in this manner. We make their work visible, and service their interests. ****Concretely, this means shapeshifters:

• can use this label (or another similar one) in a job search, or to discuss their KPIs, remunerations, working arrangement, authorisation, etc. I.e. it makes it easier for them to get a job and be recognised in their job.
• can talk to their friends, family – and at networking events – about shapeshifting without causing confusion. They feel a sense of pride and identity in their role and skills as shapeshifters.
• can be certified or otherwise recognised as part of a professional guild or class, protecting competent shapeshifters from the risk of fraud or bypassing by others who pretend to have the underlying skills.

Although shapeshifters narrowly understood are our core focus, servicing them has two additional benefits.

First, this group of ‘shapeshifters’ in the narrow sense exist in organisations and ecosystems where other people play somewhat similar functions or perform tasks and activities that we may call ‘shapeshifting’. Those ‘shapeshifter-adjacent’ groups have a more stable career, and find a sense of identity around other professional ‘labels’ (whether ‘data’, ‘change management’, ‘product’, ‘culture’, ‘general management’ or anything else). We believe however that a) important parts of their work, however, directly correspond to what shapeshifters do – we call this ‘shapeshifting’ and b) those parts are less well understood than other aspects of their role. They may even be quite opaque, to them and/or their colleagues.

As a result, our assumption is that if we can demystify the work of shapeshifters (narrowly understood) and increase its perceived value, it will also benefit other professionals who play a ‘shapeshifting’ function. That aspect of their role will be more seen, better understood, and can be better valued. Below is a short introduction to those ‘shapeshifter-adjacent functions’.

Second, we also believe that both shapeshifters as a type of professional and shapeshifting as a function are increasingly important for organisations, industry sectors and business ecosystems. This is because organisations face a rising level of ‘turbulence’: what has been variously called ‘a VUCA environment’, or ‘the rapid pace of change’. This comes in part from rapid evolution in technology that in turn affects business systems and processes – AI being the most prominently discussed. It also comes from different ways of organising work, in part enabled and responding to new technology – flexible work and work from home come to mind here. It comes from a weakening of the boundaries between an organisation and its surroundings, from a combination of tech outsourcing, contract outsourcing, extended supply chains, etc. And, a general background of societal uncertainty.

Against this background, ‘shapeshifting’ – all the work of local adaptation, shock absorption, emotional support, bringing calm, making things work, translation across mental models, etc – is clearly useful for organisations. Depending on what happens with AI, it may also be critically important for local communities and industry sectors as large parts of the workforce are displaced and need to be retrained and reinserted in other workplace – while those who remain will have to redesign their work around new technology.

A better understanding of shapeshifting and shapeshifters will help organisations and societies better navigate and negotiate all sorts of transformation and turbulence – reducing the human and material costs and risks associated.

How we conceive of change: a probabilistic, holistic approach

Our core belief is that individuals play roles and perform functions in context: in organisations, industry sectors, human communities, societies, etc. For a person to exert their role and their function well, two things are needed: for that person to have the right skills, tools, mindset, etc, but also for the context to be somehow ‘able to receive’ that person and what they do. What this means is that our goal, ‘give shapeshifters voice and visibility’, needs to be understood individually and collectively. Meaning, we seek to find balance between:

• Helping shapeshifters speak more clearly, louder, more confidently, represent themselves better, etc. Including, like a membership organisation, we want the shapeshifters who directly engage with us, come to our events, read our posts, etc, to benefit directly.