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Attributes of the t3 framework:
the right stuff

The "right stuff" is about ensuring the right people are in place and ready to deliver. They feel strongly that they are working with a group of people they respect and can get the job done. The foundation of any team are the people who comprise it. The needs of any team go far beyond ensuring they "can do" the job itself (competence) and extend to areas that allow the team, and its individual members, to work effectively together in delivering the desired outcomes.

These include, for example, possessing a growth mindset, allowing people to adapt more effectively to adversity and solve problems that lead to a breakthrough (‘can do’ attitude). Openness to other’s ideas (a true team player), grit and positivity are other examples of traits of people that are important on any team.

Simply put, members of the team "can do, can do".

clarity & alignment

People and teams are clear on what they need to do and why it is important. High-performing team feel strongly that the direction is clear, and line-of-sight exists between their work and that of the teams or organization on the whole.

There is clarity in the vision, mission and objectives of the team and clarity in how such objectives cascade down to each and every member within it.

Clarity is nothing without alignment, at least over the longer-term. People who know what to do can certainly deliver some good results, within their own sphere of influence; however, alignment is vital for sustained execution excellence. Alignment suggests that people are committed to their role and what they need to do to produce good results.

Simply put, members of the team "know what to do."

empowerment

Empowerment is all about ensuring people have the freedom, support, and tools to deliver on what is expected along with the systems and process to work effectively together.

The nature of the way organizations are designed and the likelihood that most are populated by human beings leads to a natural dysfunction that often is referred to as silo thinking or behavior. Left alone, silo behavior and potentially relational-based conflict WILL arise. This calls for organizations to install a ritual that ensure these are outlined, clarified, and negotiated so that people can work effectively together in driving value for their customers, and the business.

Additionally, we find many teams that have too many priorities that are crippling the team’s effectiveness and/or leading to burnout. Typically, ad hoc demands from the business may be the culprit, and without a priority reconciliation process, frustration emerges.

Simply put, members of the team are "allowed and enabled to".

belonging

Belonging suggests that people fit within your organizational context—they "belong" here and are connected to the organization.

Organizations cannot afford to have disengaged employees—and yet, many in the workforce report being actively disengaged. Others are passively disengagement manifesting in some form of "quiet quitting." This results in lost productivity and an unhappy workplace in general.

While there are many factors that may be at play here, the most important one is a sense of connection people have with their company, a belief that they (the company) are doing the right thing (beyond making money) and that they are operating in a way that is consistent with making a real contribution to society. For newer generations of workers this is of particular importance. It all starts with purpose and values.

Simply put, members of the team "believe it's right to do".

agile execution

Agile Execution is all about how the team works together to adapt to dynamic conditions. It is our belief that no initial plan will survive for very long, placing a burden on the team to pivot consistently in order to deliver upon their strategic outcomes.

In today’s VUCA world, planning is taking on new forms as organizations recognize that within weeks after initiating any plan, it can be rendered, at worst case, useless, or in best case, intentions remain on track but how one gets there changes rapidly. The environment is simply too dynamic to invest months preparing, planning, and budgeting for a reality that may not exist in six months.

In our view, get the strategic intent right, plan on how to get there, and instill agile execution rituals that allow the team to adapt to the realities of executing against the plan.

Simply put, members of the team "will do what it takes with integrity".

togetherness

A sense of togetherness results when the teams do the other five attributes well, leading to sustained high-performance and lots of enjoyment working with fellow colleagues. No matter how remote a team may operate, leaders need to work to secure this sense of "togetherness" and, ideally, bring people together every so often.

In such teams, not only do you have exemplary engagement and behaviors from all constituent members but that final piece of "social glue" -- individuals motivated also by the very company of their team colleagues. This is the zone where intra-relationships are defined by shared levels of high professional respect and, indeed, deep friendships.

Team members bearing this attribute scale even greater heights (sometimes literally!) because not only are they passionate about what they do (as built on all the preceding qualities) but it is this comradeship that sits at the very nexus of this passion. There is no place they would rather be than with the companionship of their comrades and, with this fellowship, a sense of collective invincibility. For such teams, there is a mindset of "anything together".

Simply put, members of the team "build a legacy".

organizational health

Laboratoires Expanscience case study: t3® diagnostic in action

back to all insights organizational health

Context

In 2023, the leadership team at Laboratoires Expanscience partnered with Perpetual to strengthen the effectiveness of their leadership system and prepare the organization for its next stage of growth.

While the leadership team was already considered strong and cohesive, leaders recognized that sustaining performance at scale required more than individual leadership excellence. They wanted to better understand:

  • how effectively the leadership team operated as a collective system
  • where alignment, execution, and decision-making could improve
  • which organizational conditions would enable the company to move from a strong team to a high-performing tribe

To establish an objective baseline, the leadership team completed our t3® diagnostic, Perpetual’s structured methodology for measuring organizational health and team performance capability.

Learn more about how the t3® diagnostic measures organizational health: read our article here


Establishing the baseline: the 2023 t3® diagnostic

The initial diagnostic provided a comprehensive view of the leadership team’s operating dynamics across six core dimensions of organizational health.

Metric2025 Baseline
Overall Score7.46 (Good)

This score indicated a well-functioning leadership team with strong cultural foundations, but also highlighted several opportunities to strengthen the system enabling execution and alignment.

Key opportunities identified included:

  • improving clarity of strategic priorities
  • strengthening execution disciplines
  • increasing decision autonomy and empowerment
  • aligning leadership operating rhythms

These insights became the foundation of a targeted leadership journey designed to elevate the team’s collective performance.

One of the transformation journeys that followed the diagnostic is explored in this case study: read the case here


The leadership transformation journey

Following the diagnostic, Perpetual partnered with the leadership team to address the structural drivers of performance identified in the assessment.

The journey focused on strengthening the leadership operating model across several dimensions:

Leadership alignment

Leaders clarified strategic priorities and strengthened alignment around shared objectives, ensuring the entire leadership team operated from a common strategic framework.

Decision and empowerment structures

The team worked on improving:

  • decision clarity
  • ownership and accountability
  • leadership autonomy

These changes helped reduce organizational friction and accelerated execution.

Leadership rituals and operating rhythms

New leadership rituals and operating cadences were introduced to support:

  • faster decision-making
  • stronger cross-functional collaboration
  • more disciplined execution

Together, these changes created a stronger leadership system capable of sustaining higher performance.


Measuring progress: t3® diagnostic follow-up (2025)

Two years after the initial diagnostic, the leadership team repeated the t3® Diagnostic to measure how the organization has evolved.

Metric2023 Baseline2025 Follow-upMovement
Overall Score7.46 (Good)8.34 (High-Performing)+0.88

The team crossed the 8.2 threshold for high-performing teams, indicating a structural shift in performance capability rather than incremental improvement.

Attribute-Level Improvement

Attribute20232025Change
The Right Stuff7.388.32+0.94
Clarity & Alignment7.148.32+1.18
Empowerment7.318.36+1.05
Belonging7.968.43+0.47
Agile Execution7.168.16+1.00
Togetherness7.788.47+0.69


Interpreting the shift

1. Stronger strategy execution

The most significant improvements occurred in Clarity & Alignment and Agile Execution — two of the most important drivers of leadership effectiveness.

These areas moved from “average/good” into the high-performing range, indicating that leadership alignment, decision clarity, and operational discipline improved materially.

2. Leadership system interventions delivered structural change

Empowerment increased meaningfully, suggesting improved:

  • decision autonomy
  • clarity of priorities
  • removal of organizational friction

These are consistent with leadership operating model redesign and leadership team rituals implemented during the journey.

3. Cultural foundations were already strong — and strengthened further

Belonging and Togetherness were already positive in 2025 and strengthened further in 2026, indicating:

  • improved trust
  • strengthened collaboration
  • stronger shared ownership of outcomes

4. Talent and team capability improved

“The Right Stuff” saw a meaningful uplift, reflecting improvements in:

  • onboarding readiness
  • role clarity
  • talent alignment with organizational direction


Executive insight: from a strong team to a high-performing tribe

The progression from 7.46 → 8.34 indicates not incremental engagement improvement but a system-level shift in team performance maturity. This type of movement typically occurs only when leadership behaviors, operating rhythms, decision processes, and team alignment evolve together—precisely the focus of the Perpetual Team-to-Tribe (t3®) journey.


Why the t3® diagnostic matters

Many organizations attempt transformation through strategy, structural changes, or talent upgrades alone.

However, research consistently shows that organizational health is one of the strongest predictors of sustained performance.

The t3® diagnostic provides leaders with:

  • a structured and scientific measure of organizational health
  • a shared leadership language for performance capability
  • clear, data-driven transformation priorities
  • a repeatable mechanism for building high-performing teams

By measuring team health regularly, organizations can move beyond isolated initiatives and build a disciplined journey of continuous performance evolution.

Conclusion

Over a 24-month period, the leadership team at Laboratoires Expanscience progressed from a “good team” to a clearly “high-performing team,” achieving nearly a full-point increase in overall organizational health.

The most significant gains occurred in:

  • clarity and alignment
  • empowerment structures
  • execution disciplines

These improvements demonstrate the measurable impact of a structured leadership journey grounded in organizational health and team performance science.

Ultimately, the t3® diagnostic enables organizations to establish a baseline, focus transformation efforts, and track progress over time — turning capable teams into aligned, resilient, high-impact tribes.

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