This page is a work in progress - it aims to map the adjacent fields where our work fits, and list a series of keywords from the field that make up, so to speak, the shapeshifter word cloud

1. Boundary roles and cross functional collaboration

Work in organisational theory / management study / org has been looking at the overall of cross-functional collaboration (how to make the parts of an org interact better), and boundary spanning roles (functions / people who specifically look after this collaboration).

Some of the key concepts here are:

• boundary roles
• bridges and brokers
• gatekeeping and buffering
• cross-functional teams
• Orgonomics (Joan Lurie), Teal organisations (Laloux)

1. Liminal & fractional careers

Focused not on the organisation but on the lived experience of individuals in those roles, there is literature from leadership studies and organisational psychology that looks at the career patterns of people who operate ‘in-between’ – and potentially, their mental make up or development

Some of the key concepts here are:

• portfolio careers
• fractional leadership
• liminal employment
• adaptive leadership
• precarity and flexibility
• autonomy and identity