A Professional Home
for People who Guide Change
Shapeshifters Group
Shapeshifters do the liminal work in organisations and society.
That work is essential yet under-recognised.
We created Shapeshifters Group to give shapeshifters voice and visibility.
Casting Light
on Liminal Work
What is a shapeshifter?
In organisations and professional ecosystems, some people specialise in the work that falls between the cracks.They align strategy and operations. They translate between teams and stakeholders. They weave systems together. They hold coherence through change.They work as chiefs of staff, transformation leads, program coordinators, fractional executives, senior individual contributors, and many forms of middle management. They cumulate roles and functions, formal and de facto, across silos and sectors.We call them shapeshifters.
From Vibes to Craft
What we do
Shapeshifters do essential work. Yet they're often under-recognised and under-resourced. This places them at risk of burn out, to the detriment of all.Many feel frustration, neglect, and loneliness. Many struggle with professional structures and norms optimised for stable specialists, not agile bridge makers.To address this challenge, our main focus is to document and demystify shapeshifter work. If that work can be seen, it becomes more possible to recognise it, enable it, and generally create better conditions for it.To that end, we curate an open-source wiki: a commons grown from consultation, research and design work conducted with shapeshifters and those around them.On our wiki, we share a set of models to describe and understand shapeshifting work, as well as practical tools for individuals and organisations. We also run gatherings where shapeshifters can meet peers who get it, and we shift the conversation on liminal work through various forms of engagement and advocacy.
Shared Language
for Shared Awareness
Keep us in mind
We're not here to sell a product, build up a following, or drag you down a sales funnel. Rather, we hope you keep us in your awareness, and turn to us if or when you need it.
If this is for you later, bookmark this page. You can return to it when or if needed. For a performance review, to design a job description, or just next time you feel professionally lonely.
If this is for someone you know, send them a link. You might write: 'I often hear you say that your work doesn't fit in a box. I came across this website, it made me think of you.'
If this is for you now, browse our wiki. Learn about shapeshifting as a function, skillset, and type. Track signals and precedents to make sense of your work. Test yourself against our competency framework. Or share your experience with us.
Peers who Get It
Meet the Team
Shapeshifters Group is based in Melbourne, Australia, with a distributed global team.
Julien Leyre
Julien is a French-Australian philosopher, editor, and facilitator. He helps people find personal and professional clarity as they engage with the complex challenges of the 21st century. His past job titles include tutor, (co)founder, author, strategy and evaluation officer, festival director, chief culture officer, executive support officer, director, producer, advisor, editor, editor-in-chief, and philosopher in residence. He likes to listen and look for common ground.
Helen Palmer
Helen is a workplace shapeshifter—part coach, part catalyst, part quiet conjurer of clarity. She slips between roles and realities, spotting patterns others miss and helping people dance with change instead of dreading it. With decades of deep experience and a toolkit full of practical enchantments, she transforms theory into something useful, human, and occasionally magical. She’s the kind of invisible ally who leaves visible ripples.
Magnus Irvine
Magnus is a facilitator and coach specialising in organisational dynamics and leadership development. With an extensive background in the IT industry, research, the non-profit sector, and politics, Magnus brings diverse experience and perspectives to his work.
Patrick Laudon
Patrick Laudon is a French Organizational development consultant, educator, and coach based in Tokyo. He helps companies align their cultures and structure to their strategies, and works with teams and individuals to improve their collaboration.
Ashish Chopra
Ashish is an Indian-Australian data shapeshifter. He balances technical, commercial, cultural, operational and human intelligence to help organisations deliver projects, achieve outcomes and make more informed decisions in ambiguous contexts with unclear ownership and mixed accountability.
Shapeshifters Group Inc. is a non-profit organisation registered in Victoria, Australia. ABN: 75 411 357 678.
We never sell your data. Check out our privacy statement.We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuous connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present.