The HPO mindset: definition and manifestations in published HPO case studies

Background: Although the HPO literature offers a validated framework for diagnosing and improving high performance, it does not yet provide a clear construct-level definition of the HPO mindset. Objective: This article defines the HPO mindset and identifies its most recurrent manifestations in published HPO case studies. Methods: The study uses an abductive qualitative secondary analysis. It combines literature on continuous improvement, organizational mindset, learning, and high performance with an adapted Bessant-de Waal framework. A screened corpus of 56 published HPO case studies was reviewed, of which 22 manifestation-rich cases were coded in detail. Results: The analysis shows that the HPO mindset is the shared way of thinking and working in which managers and employees continuously strive to improve performance, openly discuss problems and opportunities, act in a disciplined and collaborative way on what matters most, invest in long-term stakeholder value, and develop both processes and people in order to achieve results superior to those of peers over time. The most recurrent manifestations are visible leadership commitment, clear target-setting and follow-up, coaching-oriented leadership, open cross-level dialogue, collaborative problem solving, stakeholder-focused improvement, process simplification and alignment, performance transparency, and continuous employee development. Conclusion: The article clarifies the HPO mindset as a distinct construct and makes it concrete through empirically grounded manifestations that are useful for both researchers and practitioners.