Leap Trends · The model
The modelWhy Leap Trends follows four organisational conditions.
The publications are ordered along the model Leap uses to look at organisations. It shows what an organisation needs to achieve its own goals. Leap Trends follows the publications on four organisational conditions from that model, because change in an organisation rarely happens in just one place.
In the model itself, structure, culture and technology are the conditions, and leadership connects the goals with the rest. On Leap Trends we call all four organisational conditions: they are the four places in an organisation by which we order the publications. Each condition contains themes, such as job satisfaction and vitality, and each theme contains topics, such as absenteeism or enjoyment of work.
Five parts that hang together
- At the centre are the goals: what an organisation wants to achieve, and why.
- Around them lie four domains that an organisation keeps developing: shared vision, systems thinking, team learning and collaboration, and craftsmanship.
- Structure, culture and technology are the conditions in which that happens. They either help or get in the way.
- Leadership connects the goals with the rest.
Click a part of the model to zoom in, or read the explanation below.
What the organisation wants to achieve, and the ways in which it wants to keep developing so that it stays successful in the future. Every other part serves these goals.
How the work is organised: roles, mandates, meetings and processes. It determines who decides what, and how work is divided and coordinated. A condition: structure can help or hold back development.
The shared norms, values and unwritten rules that determine how people behave and treat each other. A condition: culture can help or hold back development.
The systems and tools people work with, and how willing and able they are to use them. A condition: technology can help or hold back development.
Giving direction towards the goals and creating the conditions for development. Leadership connects the goals with the four domains and influences the conditions.
The ability to develop a shared picture of the desired future together, and to act on it out of commitment.
The ability to zoom out and see the organisation as a coherent whole. To look beyond day-to-day practice and separate issues, recognise recurring patterns and understand how teams, departments and the organisations they work with affect each other.
The ability to learn together, make use of knowledge and keep improving the work.
The knowledge, skills and professional qualities of people, and the ability to keep developing them.
Choose a part
Domains
Conditions
Developments rarely happen in isolation
Many trend reports are ordered by subject, such as AI, workload or hybrid working. Leap Trends is ordered by the parts of an organisation you can work on yourself. A new AI tool is a shift in technology. Whether it pays off depends on the structure it lands in, on the unwritten rules about making mistakes and on the manager who puts it to work.
That is why every briefing shows its condition and points to related briefings, including those in other conditions. The chart of publications per month on the home page shows, for each condition, where the attention lies right now.
Organisational and development goals
What the organisation wants to achieve, and the ways in which it wants to keep developing so that it stays successful in the future. Every other part serves these goals.
The organisational and development goals are not a condition of their own in Leap Trends. They are, however, the yardstick for every briefing: each one ends with what the development means for the leadership team, in the light of what the organisation wants to achieve.
Structure, culture and technology
These three determine whether an organisation can develop. Each of them can help or get in the way. Leadership, the fourth organisational condition in Leap Trends, is covered separately below, because it connects the other three.
Structure
How the work is organised: roles, mandates, meetings and processes. It determines who decides what, and how work is divided and coordinated.
What Leap Trends follows here: including management layers, span of control, decision-making, processes, meeting structures, work design and the flexible workforce.
Culture
The shared norms, values and unwritten rules that determine how people behave and treat each other.
What Leap Trends follows here: including organisational culture, psychological safety, trust, collaboration, wellbeing and workload, job satisfaction and vitality, and hybrid working.
Technology
The systems and tools people work with, and how willing and able they are to use them.
What Leap Trends follows here: including AI at work, agents, AI governance, digital skills and the digital mindset.
Leadership
Giving direction towards the goals and creating the conditions for development. Leadership connects the goals with the four domains and influences the conditions.
What Leap Trends follows here: including the role of the middle manager, succession at the top, planning and public sector leadership.
Four domains for continuous development
The domains are not a condition of their own in Leap Trends. For now, Leap Trends shows which challenges organisations face and where the attention of research and the market is heading. To follow the domains, we would also have to track approaches and methods, such as new ways to develop craftsmanship or to learn as a team. That is a next step.
Shared vision
The ability to develop a shared picture of the desired future together, and to act on it out of commitment.
Systems thinking
The ability to zoom out and see the organisation as a coherent whole. To look beyond day-to-day practice and separate issues, recognise recurring patterns and understand how teams, departments and the organisations they work with affect each other.
Team learning & collaboration
The ability to learn together, make use of knowledge and keep improving the work.
Craftsmanship
The knowledge, skills and professional qualities of people, and the ability to keep developing them.