Chapter 3 — The AMVA Theoretical Framework

3.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the Action Monitoring Values Analysis (AMVA) framework as a structural model for understanding how human systems generate, degrade, and recover sustainable work outcomes.

AMVA integrates six interconnected elements:

• Care
• Care-Ability
• Trust
• Ability
• Work-Ability
• Work

into a unified system in which outcomes are not produced directly by effort, policy, or intent alone, but through a series of structural relationships mediated by experience, capability, and trust.

The framework advances the proposition that:

Sustainable work outcomes are dependent upon Care, mediated through the Trust Membrane, and realised through Ability and Work-Ability.

To formalise this relationship, AMVA introduces:

• A two-plane model (Care Plane and Work Plane)
• A mediating mechanism (the Trust Membrane)
• A six-domain flow model
• A dual pathway structure (failure and recovery)
• A nine-state diagnostic model
• An operational cycle (Action–Monitoring–Values Analysis)

Together these elements provide explanatory, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive capability.

3.2 Core Constructs and Definitions

AMVA defines six primary variables:

c(t) — Care

The conditions supporting safety, recognition, fairness, inclusion, and participation.

ca(t) — Care-Ability

The system's practical capacity to deliver Care through leadership, resources, structures, processes, and behaviours.

t(t) — Trust

The confidence individuals place in people, systems, processes, and organisational intent based on lived experience.

a(t) — Ability

The knowledge, skills, competence, resources, and capacity available within individuals or groups.

wa(t) — Work-Ability

The degree to which available Ability can be applied effectively under current system conditions.

w(t) — Work

The realised outcomes of the system, including productivity, quality, completion, sustainability, and impact.

These variables operate over time and collectively determine system performance.

3.3 The Core Model: Planes and Membrane

3.3.1 Care Plane

The Care Plane represents the foundational environment within which individuals operate.

It includes:

• Psychological safety
• Recognition and respect
• Fairness and consistency
• Leadership behaviour
• Resource availability
• Role clarity
• Support structures

Care is not defined as sentiment, but as the observable conditions that enable participation, trust formation, and capability activation.

3.3.2 Work Plane

The Work Plane represents execution and outcomes.

It includes:

• Task completion
• Productivity
• Quality
• Coordination
• Sustainability
• Organisational outcomes

The Work Plane is the visible expression of underlying system conditions.

3.3.3 Trust Membrane

Between the Care Plane and Work Plane sits the Trust Membrane.

The Trust Membrane is the relationship layer through which Care is experienced and converted into Trust, and through which Trust enables Ability to become productive Work.

Trust is therefore not simply an outcome but a structural mechanism influencing whether:

• Care is believed
• Ability can be activated
• Systems are relied upon
• Work can be performed effectively

The Trust Membrane may:

• Strengthen
• Thin
• Collapse
• Recover
• Stabilise

depending on system conditions.

3.4 The Care and Trust Principle

AMVA is underpinned by the Care and Trust Principle.

The principle proposes that sustainable Work depends upon Ability, Ability depends upon Trust, and Trust develops through the consistent experience of Care.

This relationship may be expressed as:

Care → Care-Ability → Trust → Ability → Work-Ability → Work

Formally:

t(t) = f(c(t), ca(t))

wa(t) = f(t(t), a(t))

w(t) = f(wa(t))

This establishes a continuous structural dependency between Care and Work.

The Trust Membrane acts as the primary mediating mechanism within this relationship.

3.5 Dual Pathway Model: Failure and Recovery

3.5.1 Failure Pathway (Fracture)

AMVA proposes a predictable degradation sequence:

Psychosocial Hazard
→ Care Degradation
→ Care-Ability Reduction
→ Trust Thinning
→ Trust Collapse
→ Ability Constraint
→ Work-Ability Reduction
→ Work Degradation

Psychosocial hazards such as overload, exclusion, inconsistency, system dysfunction, or organisational instability act as initiating stressors within the Care Plane.

3.5.2 Recovery Pathway (Regeneration)

Recovery follows the reverse sequence:

Care Restoration
→ Care-Ability Improvement
→ Trust Recovery
→ Ability Reactivation
→ Work-Ability Improvement
→ Sustainable Work Recovery

A key implication is:

Recovery cannot begin at the Work Plane. Sustainable recovery must originate in the restoration of Care and the rebuilding of Trust.

3.6 AMVA System States

AMVA identifies nine recurring system states representing different patterns of interaction between Care, Trust, Ability, and Work.

System States

• Healthy System
• Balanced/Baseline
• Membrane Thinning
• Imminent Fracture
• Phantom Work
• Trust Collapse
• System Fracture

Transitional States

• Recovery Phase
• Stabilisation

These states provide the framework's primary diagnostic layer and support the identification of emerging risks, intervention priorities, and recovery pathways.

3.7 AMVA Operational Cycle

AMVA functions as a continuous operational loop:

Action

The execution of work, decisions, and interventions.

Monitoring

Observation of system behaviour and performance over time.

Values Analysis

Evaluation of alignment between stated intent, lived experience, and observed outcomes.

The operational cycle acts as a self-correcting mechanism that helps prevent drift between organisational intent and actual system performance.

3.8 The Triangulation Model

AMVA may also be applied as a triangulation process:

Baseline (Values)

Define the intended condition.

Implementation (Action)

Execute activities consistent with those values.

Validation (Monitoring + Values Analysis)

Confirm that the intended values are being experienced and reflected in outcomes.

This ensures success is evaluated not only through outputs but through alignment between intent, experience, capability, and outcome.

3.9 The AMVA Principle

The framework may be summarised as follows:

Sustainable Work depends upon Ability.

Ability depends upon Trust.

Trust depends upon the consistent experience of Care.

Or more simply:

Care enables Trust. Trust enables Ability. Ability enables Work.

This reframes performance as a function of system conditions rather than individual effort alone.

3.10 Propositions and Hypotheses

From the framework, the following propositions are derived:

P1: Care positively influences Trust formation.

P2: Care-Ability influences the conversion of Care into Trust.

P3: Trust mediates the relationship between Care and Work outcomes.

P4: Trust influences the activation of Ability and Work-Ability.

P5: Degradation of Care leads to Trust thinning, collapse, and system fracture.

P6: Interventions at the Care Plane produce greater long-term performance improvements than interventions focused solely on Work outcomes.

These propositions are tested in subsequent empirical chapters.

3.11 Implications of the Framework

AMVA provides:

• A diagnostic framework for identifying system conditions.
• A predictive framework for understanding likely state transitions.
• A prescriptive framework for guiding interventions.
• A measurement framework for assessing Care, Trust, Ability, and Work over time.

It reframes system failure as a consequence of structural conditions and relationship dynamics rather than individual deficiency alone.

3.12 Conclusion

This chapter has formalised AMVA as a structural framework linking Care, Care-Ability, Trust, Ability, Work-Ability, and Work.

By defining variables, mechanisms, pathways, and system states, it establishes the theoretical foundation for empirical investigation and practical application.

The following chapters apply this framework to real-world case studies to examine its explanatory, diagnostic, and predictive validity.