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Triggers
A trigger is defined as a catalyst event—internal or external—that compels an organisation to adapt. It is not a standalone structural element but a contextual stimulus that prompts changes to strategy, activates capabilities, or demands cross-functional coordination. Triggers may include legislative changes, customer demands, or performance breaches.
A Trigger is not a standalone structural element of an organisation but an external or internal event, condition, or hypothesis that causes the organisation to:
Mobilise capabilities,
Evaluate policies,
Adjust strategies,
Initiate new initiatives,
Coordinate across services and information flows.
In the Orthogramic Metamodel:
Trigger is a supporting artifact, not a domain.
It is only relevant in the context of a
strategicResponseModel.
Trigger catalogue
The trigger catalogue provides a curated and expanding set of predefined triggers that can be used to initiate strategic responses. Each trigger is tagged to relevant business architecture domains, enabling efficient strategic response planning and alignment across organisational activities.
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Trigger Category
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Example Triggers
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Regulatory or compliance
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New legislation, compliance audit mandate, data sovereignty changes
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Technological change
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AI rollout, cybersecurity breach, platform deprecation
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Environmental & safety
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Natural disaster preparedness, climate risk disclosures, workplace injury reform
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Operational transformation
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Business process outsourcing, shared services implementation, lean redesign
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Strategic re-alignment
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Mergers and acquisitions, board-level strategic pivot, budget realignment
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Customer & stakeholder
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Community expectations shift, digital service demand surge, key account loss
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Workforce & skills
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Critical skill shortage, union action, remote work policy adoption
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Performance response
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KPI threshold breach, repeated incident occurrence, audit fail
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Political or social
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Public inquiry, ministerial intervention, social licence erosion
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Innovation-led opportunity
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Grant funding availability, pilot program success, ecosystem partnership offer
Each strategic response triggered using this catalogue links back to relevant Orthogramic Metamodel domains—such as capabilities, services, initiatives, and stakeholders—to produce a dynamic view of organisational readiness and response.
Definition of trigger as a new open entity
Triggers are defined as a new open entity within the Orthogramic Metamodel, enabling them to be referenced independently and reused across strategic responses. Each trigger includes a unique identifier, category, description, and links to strategic responses in which it plays a role.
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Attribute
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Type
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Description
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triggerID
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UUID
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Unique ID
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label
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Text
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Short name (e.g. “Cybersecurity Incident”)
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category
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Enum
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From defined set (e.g. Technological, Regulatory, etc.)
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description
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Text
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Explanation of why this trigger matters
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examplestrategicResponseModels
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List of strategicResponseModel
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Optional reverse reference
Trigger JSON Schema
{ "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema", "$id": "https://orthogramic.org/schema/trigger.json", "title": "trigger", "type": "object", "required": ["triggerID", "label", "category"], "properties": { "triggerID": { "type": "string", "format": "uuid", "description": "Unique identifier for the trigger" }, "label": { "type": "string", "description": "Short, human-readable name of the trigger" }, "category": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "Regulatory or compliance", "Technological change", "Environmental & safety", "Operational transformation", "Strategic re-alignment", "Customer & stakeholder", "Workforce & skills", "Performance response", "Political or social", "Innovation-led opportunity" ], "description": "Classification of trigger context" }, "description": { "type": "string", "description": "Expanded explanation of the trigger’s relevance" }, "examplestrategicResponseModels": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string", "format": "uuid" }, "description": "Optional references to related strategicResponseModel artefacts" } }}Triggers initiate the Strategic Response Model by identifying changes, observations, or opportunities that warrant a strategic or operational response. Each trigger represents a catalyst—whether anticipated or unanticipated—that compels the organisation to act. See: Strategic Response Model
Triggers serve as the evidentiary foundation for change, ensuring that strategic initiatives and responses are not conceived in a vacuum, but are grounded in real-world shifts, obligations, or forward-looking insights.
Expanded use: proactive strategic initiatives
Tiggers are not only focused on reactive responses to external or internal conditions—such as regulatory changes, stakeholder demands, or performance shortfalls. However, the Orthogramic Metamodel also supports proactive triggers that signal intentional strategic opportunities rather than external pressures.
These proactive triggers may arise from deliberate internal planning, capability reviews, or innovation roadmaps, and are used to initiate responses even in the absence of external drivers. This positions the trigger taxonomy as a tool for both risk response and opportunity-led transformation.
Examples include:
Identifying a market expansion initiative in response to positive trend analysis
Launching a strategic repositioning program based on foresight and scenario modelling
Enhancing core capabilities to support long-term digital transformation objectives
By supporting anticipatory time horizons and strategic planning origins, the model enables the capture and classification of future-oriented thinking and long-range planning decisions.
Trigger taxonomy
Orthogramic triggers follow a structured taxonomy to ensure clarity, governance, and analytics across strategic responses.
Each trigger includes:
Primary category – broad context for the trigger (e.g. Regulatory compliance, Strategic opportunity)
Subcategory – specific focus within the category (e.g. Innovation initiative, Market expansion)
Origin – where the trigger comes from (Internal, External, Strategic planning, Hybrid)
Time horizon – the timeframe of the trigger (Immediate, Short term, Long term, Anticipatory)
Impact level – estimated organisational significance
This classification enables:
Proactive identification of high-value opportunities
Consistent linkage to rationales and strategic responses
Improved transparency across strategic planning cycles
Enhanced auditability and traceability of decisions
Example
Trigger | Strategic Opportunity – Capability Enhancement |
|---|---|
Description | Business planning process identifies need for workforce upskilling in AI analytics |
Origin | Strategic planning |
Time horizon | Anticipatory |
Impact level | High |
Linked rationale | To prepare the organisation for competitive positioning in data-driven decision making |
The standardized taxonomy also supports governance and auditability by ensuring that triggers are documented according to consistent criteria, making it easier to trace decision-making patterns over time.
Linking to rationales
Triggers can lead to multiple Rationales. Each Rationale references the originating trigger and justifies a different response path. This many-to-one structure allows a single trigger to influence several domains. See: Rationale
Example
See https://orthogramic.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/OM/pages/291242002 for reference cases.
Trigger and rationale linkage examples
See: https://github.com/Orthogramic/Orthogramic_Metamodel/blob/main/examples/trigger-rationale-links.md
Trigger JSON Schema
See: https://github.com/Orthogramic/Orthogramic_Metamodel
Schema properties
Field | Type | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| string (uuid) | Yes | Unique identifier for the trigger |
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| string | Yes | Short, human-readable name of the trigger |
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| string | No | Expanded explanation of the trigger's relevance |
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| string (enum) | Yes | Primary classification of trigger context |
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| string | No | More specific classification within the primary category |
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| string (enum) | Yes | Whether the trigger originates from inside or outside the organisation |
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| string (enum) | No | The temporal nature of the trigger |
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| string (enum) | No | The potential significance of the trigger |
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| string (enum) | No | The current status in the lifecycle of the trigger |
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| string (date) | No | Date when the trigger was identified |
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| string (date) | No | Expected end of relevance for this trigger |
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| string | No | Reference to source document or authority identifying the trigger |
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| array of uuid | No | References to other related triggers |
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| array of uuid | No | References to related Strategic Response artefacts |
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This schema allows organizations to systematically capture and manage triggers that necessitate strategic responses, ensuring traceability and alignment across the enterprise architecture.
Enumeration Values
primaryCategory
"Regulatory_Compliance"- Changes in laws, regulations, or compliance requirements"Strategic_Opportunity"- Forward-looking opportunities to create value"Market_Shift"- Changes in customer preferences, competitive landscape, or market dynamics"Technological_Change"- Emergence of new technologies or technical disruptions"Risk_Management"- Response to identified risks or vulnerabilities"Performance_Issue"- Internal operational or business performance challenges"Stakeholder_Demand"- Requirements from stakeholders (customers, employees, shareholders)"Resource_Constraint"- Limitations in financial, human, or material resources"Capability_Enhancement"- Need to develop or improve organizational capabilities"Innovation_Initiative"- Internal drive for product, service, or process innovation
origin
"Internal"- Trigger originates from within the organization"External"- Trigger originates from outside the organization"Strategic_Planning"- Trigger arises from deliberate strategic planning processes"Hybrid"- Trigger has both internal and external components
timeHorizon
"Immediate"- Requires action within days or weeks"Short_Term"- Requires action within months"Medium_Term"- Requires action within 1-2 years"Long_Term"- Requires action over multiple years"Anticipatory"- Proactive planning for future conditions
impactLevel
"Low"- Limited impact on operations or strategy"Medium"- Moderate impact requiring significant adjustment"High"- Major impact requiring substantial response"Critical"- Existential impact requiring immediate, comprehensive response
status
"Identified"- Trigger has been recognized but response not yet planned"Analyzing"- Trigger is being assessed to determine appropriate response"Responding"- Organization is actively responding to the trigger"Monitoring"- Response has been implemented and effects are being tracked"Resolved"- Trigger has been fully addressed"Archived"- Trigger is no longer relevant but retained for reference"Ongoing"- Trigger represents a continuing condition requiring sustained response
This schema allows organizations to systematically capture and manage triggers that necessitate strategic responses, ensuring traceability and alignment across the enterprise architecture.