THE IRIS FRAMEWORK
See Your Learning System Clearly. Build What Lasts.
The Iris Framework helps organisations understand, assess and improve their learning capability. Built around forty practical checkpoints, it provides a structured approach to identifying strengths, uncovering gaps and creating meaningful improvement.
Most organisations can measure activity. Far fewer can see how effectively learning supports performance, capability and organisational goals. The Iris Framework was created to bridge that gap by providing a practical model for reflection, discussion and action.
THE CHALLENGE
Most organisations can see training activity. Few can see learning capability.
Learning teams often work hard, deliver quickly and respond to constant demand. However, without a clear view of the wider learning system, it becomes difficult to know what is working, where gaps exist and which improvements matter most.
Activity Without Impact
Training is delivered, attendance is recorded and feedback is collected. Yet leaders may still struggle to see whether learning has changed behaviour, improved performance or strengthened capability.
Improvement Without Direction
Teams know that change is needed, but priorities can feel unclear. As a result, effort is spread thinly across too many initiatives instead of being focused where it can create the greatest value.
Investment Without Visibility
Organisations invest in platforms, content, people and programmes, but they do not always have a clear way to judge whether those investments are building a stronger learning system.
WHAT IS THE IRIS FRAMEWORK?
A practical framework for understanding and improving organisational learning
The Iris Framework is a diagnostic and improvement framework designed to help organisations understand the health of their learning ecosystem.
Built around six interconnected areas and forty practical checkpoints, it provides a structured way to identify strengths, expose weaknesses and focus improvement efforts where they matter most.
Rather than prescribing a single way of working, the framework helps organisations understand their current position, explore opportunities for improvement and make informed decisions based on evidence rather than assumption.
Whether you are leading a learning team, managing organisational change or reviewing capability across a wider workforce, the framework provides a practical foundation for discussion, planning and action.
Assess
Review current maturity across all six areas using forty practical checkpoints.
Visualise
Create a clear picture of strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement.
Prioritise
Focus time, effort and investment where it will create the greatest impact.
Improve
Develop targeted actions that support meaningful and sustainable change.
THE SIX AREAS
The Iris Framework looks at the whole learning system
The framework is built around six connected areas. Together, they help organisations examine purpose, design, progression, collaboration, team capability and the delivery environment that supports learning.
Purpose and Priorities
Clarifies the strategic direction of learning and ensures effort aligns with organisational goals, workforce needs and measurable outcomes.
Learning Design
Examines how learning experiences are designed, structured and improved so they support real performance, not just content delivery.
Pathways to Progress
Looks at how people build capability over time through clear development routes, meaningful practice and visible progression.
Stakeholder Collaboration
Reviews how learning teams work with leaders, subject matter experts and operational partners to create shared ownership.
Team Capability
Focuses on the skills, confidence and capacity of the people who design, manage and deliver learning across the organisation.
Delivery Environment
Explores the tools, systems, time, resources and conditions that enable learning teams to deliver consistently and improve sustainably.
HOW ORGANISATIONS USE IT
From reflection to practical improvement
The Iris Framework gives learning leaders, business teams and senior stakeholders a shared way to discuss capability. It can support reviews, workshops, transformation planning and long-term improvement across the learning function.
Diagnostic Reviews
Use the framework to assess current maturity, gather evidence and build a clearer picture of how the learning system is performing.
Strategic Planning
Turn insight into priorities by identifying which areas need attention, where investment should focus and what needs to change first.
Leadership Workshops
Bring leaders, learning teams and stakeholders together to explore what good looks like and agree practical next steps.
Learning Transformation
Use the framework to support deeper change across learning design, delivery models, stakeholder engagement and team capability.
FROM DIAGNOSIS TO ACTION
A framework is only valuable when it drives meaningful change
The Iris Framework is designed to move beyond assessment. While understanding strengths and weaknesses is important, the real value comes from turning insight into action.
Organisations use the framework to support strategic reviews, leadership discussions, team development, transformation programmes and capability planning. The process helps create a shared understanding of priorities and provides a practical foundation for improvement.
Whether working with a small learning team or a large organisation, the framework can be adapted to support local needs while maintaining a consistent approach to evaluation and decision making.
Consultancy
Independent reviews, strategic advice and capability assessments that help organisations understand where they are today, identify opportunities for improvement and focus effort where it will create the greatest impact.
Workshops
Facilitated sessions that bring together learning teams, leaders and stakeholders to explore findings, align priorities and build momentum for change through practical discussion and action planning.
Speaking
Conference presentations, keynote sessions and leadership discussions that explore learning transformation, capability development and the organisational factors that shape long-term success.
THE BOOK
Explore the framework in greater depth
The Iris Framework is explained in detail in The Iris Framework: 40 Checkpoints to Drive Lasting Change in Organisational Learning.
The book explores each of the six areas, introduces the forty checkpoints and provides practical guidance that organisations can use to assess, discuss and improve their learning capability.
Drawing on real-world experience, the framework was created to help learning teams move beyond activity and focus on capability, performance and sustainable improvement.
START THE CONVERSATION
Ready to explore your Iris?
Whether you are reviewing an existing learning function, planning transformation or looking to strengthen organisational capability, the Iris Framework provides a practical place to start.