HOW OUR WORK IS GROUNDED
The foundations behind our frameworks
CKC Cares Group builds frameworks and practical tools by connecting established research, professional standards, regulation, cross-sector experience and observed human challenges. Each entry below shows the problem a framework addresses, the foundations it draws on, what CKC Cares Group has added and how it is applied.
How to read these entries
Research foundations, practical application and formal evaluation answer different questions. Research shows where an idea comes from. Application shows how it is used. Evaluation asks what it achieves under stated conditions.
These entries cover the first two. Unless an entry says otherwise, each framework is informed by research and developed through professional practice. None has had a formal independent evaluation.
Selected frameworks
Open an entry to see its foundations, contribution, application and references.
The Digital Polycrisis
A framing for how AI, privacy, cybersecurity and social pressures interact rather than sit in separate silos.
The problem it addresses
AI, privacy, cybersecurity, digital change, governance, work, identity and wellbeing are often treated as separate issues, even when their effects interact and intensify one another.
Established foundations
- Polycrisis and systems thinking
- Cybersecurity
- Privacy and data protection
- AI ethics
- Governance
- Organisational resilience
- Digital wellbeing
- Social and technological change
CKC Cares Group contribution
An integrated lens showing how technical, ethical, psychological, organisational and social pressures compound one another and reach the people working inside those systems. Polycrisis is an established concept in systems thinking, and this is its application to AI, digital systems, governance and human experience.
Practical application
Sensemaking, education, strategic discussion and finding where connected pressures call for a joined-up response.
Human Scaffolding
A human-centred layer of support for identity, agency, voice, judgement and capability during technological change.
The problem it addresses
Organisations often concentrate on systems, deployment and efficiency while underestimating what people need to keep their judgement, agency, confidence, voice and capability through technological change.
Established foundations
- Scaffolding and learning theory
- Organisational psychology
- Psychological safety
- Change and capability development
- Human factors
- Human oversight
- Digital wellbeing
- Sociotechnical systems
CKC Cares Group contribution
A human-centred architecture for supporting identity, agency, voice, judgement and capability as AI and digital systems change how people work, learn and make decisions.
Practical application
Learning design, leadership support, transformation, facilitated reflection, organisational assessment and the design of human-centred interventions.
References
Scope
A framework for learning and organisational support. Therapy, clinical treatment, diagnosis and occupational-health support sit outside it.
Zone of Disrupted Identity (ZDI)
Language for the unsettled space that opens up when change outpaces a person’s sense of role, value or expertise.
The problem it addresses
Technological and organisational change can move faster than people can absorb what it means for their role, expertise, value, voice and professional identity.
Established foundations
- Professional identity
- Role transition
- Organisational change
- Self-efficacy
- Technology-mediated work
- Workplace identity
- Psychological safety
- Digital transformation
CKC Cares Group contribution
Language for the unsettled space that can open up when technological change outpaces a person’s ability to absorb what it means for their role, value or expertise.
Practical application
Reflection, facilitated discussion, leadership development, education and spotting human pressures during digital transformation.
Scope
A reflective and organisational concept. Clinical diagnosis and medical labels sit outside it.
Digital Twin Self
A lens on the gap between who a person is and who their digital footprint says they are.
The problem it addresses
Digital platforms, organisational systems and AI can build partial representations of a person from profiles, records, behavioural data and inferred information, and those representations can affect how the person is seen or treated.
Established foundations
- Digital identity
- Profiling
- Inferred data
- Reputation
- Data protection
- Human digital twins
- Algorithmic decision-making
- Identity management
CKC Cares Group contribution
A human-identity lens that separates the whole person from the partial representation assembled across platforms, records and AI systems.
Practical application
Identity reflection, privacy education, digital-governance discussion and examining the gap between a person and their digital representation.
Prime 7 Invisible Human Harms
A seven-part taxonomy for harms that conventional technical risk registers can miss.
The problem it addresses
Technical and compliance risk registers can miss harms to dignity, knowledge, identity, capability, human judgement and participation.
Established foundations
- Human factors
- Organisational risk
- Epistemic injustice
- Dignity
- Sociotechnical systems
- Workforce displacement
- Academic displacement
- Governance and capability gaps
CKC Cares Group contribution
A seven-part taxonomy for recognising human and organisational harms that stay hidden when attention rests on technical performance or formal compliance: Human Scaffolding Gaps, Governance Drift, Distributed Sensemaking Loss, Epistemic Violence, Dignity Erosion, Infrastructure Solutionism and Academic Displacement.
Practical application
Awareness, learning, facilitated discussion, diagnostic prompting and spotting risks that need a closer look.
The Prime 7 Invisible Harms Studio
Scope
A prompt for discussion and diagnosis. Psychometric measurement and employee scoring sit outside it.
Drift Literacy
A way of noticing when systems, governance or capability quietly drift from their original purpose.
The problem it addresses
Risk can build gradually as technology, policy, behaviour, knowledge, capability and culture move away from their original purpose or expected state.
Established foundations
- Model drift
- Concept drift
- Policy and practice gaps
- Organisational culture
- Capability decay
- Knowledge management
- Human oversight
- Distributed sensemaking
CKC Cares Group contribution
An expanded drift lens that looks beyond technical model drift to governance, knowledge, capability, culture, mirrors and distributed sensemaking.
Practical application
Recognising gradual divergence, prompting review and supporting conversations about whether systems, people and governance still line up.
The Drift Literacy Executive Platform
References
Scope
A recognition and discussion framework. Measurement comes from an assessment that defines its own measures.
Shoelace Framework
An architecture linking diagnosis, environment and governance into one coherent explanation.
The problem it addresses
Organisations can identify human risks without connecting them to the environment that produces them or the governance response they call for.
Established foundations
- Risk diagnosis
- Operating context
- Human oversight
- Sociotechnical governance
- Organisational learning
- Capability and talent governance
CKC Cares Group contribution
A connected architecture that links Prime 7 as the diagnostic lens, Drift Literacy as the operating environment and Human Systems Talent Governance as the governance outcome.
Practical application
Explaining how the diagnostic, environmental and governance approaches connect. Individual assessments carry their own criteria and methods.
AIR Assessment
An annual organisational diagnostic across Adaptability, Innovation and Resilience.
The problem it addresses
Organisations need a structured way to see whether their governance, leadership and capability are keeping pace with AI and digital change.
Established foundations
- Organisational readiness
- Resilience
- Innovation
- Governance
- Continuous improvement
- NIST approaches
- ISO-aligned management principles
- Human oversight
CKC Cares Group contribution
A structured organisational diagnostic across Adaptability, Innovation and Resilience, producing a weighted score, the primary drift identified and a prioritised roadmap.
Practical application
An annual organisational check supporting leadership discussion, prioritisation and follow-up action.
Services · Book an AIR Clarity Check
Status
A practice-led organisational diagnostic informed by research.
References
Scope
The AIR Assessment gives a diagnostic and a roadmap. ISO certification, legal advice, compliance certification and psychometric validation sit outside it.
AI First Aid
A non-clinical way to pause, orient and find a next step when AI-related disruption hits.
The problem it addresses
People and teams can feel confused, uncertain, pressured or unsettled when AI changes their work, identity, decisions or expectations.
Established foundations
- Psychological first-aid principles
- Digital literacy
- Incident stabilisation
- Escalation
- Responsible technology adoption
- Human-centred change
CKC Cares Group contribution
A non-clinical stabilisation approach that helps people pause, orient themselves, identify immediate concerns and find a suitable next step.
Practical application
Initial awareness, team learning, stabilisation, signposting and support during AI-related disruption.
Scope
A non-clinical orientation approach, delivered with escalation and referral routes. Medical treatment, diagnosis, emergency response and therapy sit outside it.
E-AMP Leadership
An integrated model for staying human, deliberate and relational as a leader through change.
The problem it addresses
Leaders working through digital pressure and organisational change need more than technical knowledge. They need a structure for keeping ethical judgement, adaptability, awareness and human connection.
Established foundations
- Ethical leadership
- Empathy
- Mindfulness
- Authenticity
- Adaptability
- Purpose
- Presence
- Reflective leadership practice
CKC Cares Group contribution
An integrated leadership model that supports deliberate, relational and human-centred leadership through complex change.
Practical application
Leadership development, facilitated learning, reflective practice and team discussion.
Further reading
Background reading on topics named in the foundations above.
- NIST AI Risk Management Framework
- NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0
- UK National Cyber Security Centre phishing guidance
- Information Commissioner’s Office human review toolkit
- UK Health and Safety Executive Management Standards
The frameworks support education, organisational learning, assessment, advisory work and facilitated discussion. Entries are reviewed as the work develops. Last reviewed: September 2026.
More ways in
- Our Work and Experience
What we have built and published, and the expertise behind it.
- The Digital Polycrisis
The thinking that connects the different parts of CKC Cares Group.
- Services
Advisory, assessment, training and coaching for organisations.
- Contact
Tell us what is going on and we will help you find a starting point.