Clear Strategy | Enabling Organisation | Value-Adding Leadership
Helping leaders who want their organisation to reach its full potential since 2012
I help practical, insightful and outcome-oriented leaders who care about both results and people to lead their organisation to its full potential. We work together to get to the bottom of what is holding back their team or organisation so we can create a clear, shared understanding of the situation for everyone involved. We then move forward by creating a clear winning strategy, adjusting the organisation to better enable people, and getting leadership to truly add value. The actions are straight forward to apply and sustain in a way that sees tangible results, individual development and vastly improved group functioning.
My speciality is working with growing organisations that have reached a size where ‘just enough’ structure is needed to avoid chaos…or with established organisations who can feel that their current conditions are going to require real internal change to once again become responsive, agile and creative…while still delivering today.
I work from South Australia and serve clients globally, in both the social sector and the for-profit sector, and also include membership and sporting organisations. Drawing on disciplines of strategic thinking, work and system design, behavioural and cultural change along with individual development, my work creates a virtuous circle of engaged people….. leading to more valuable outcomes…..leading to engaged people….. and we spiral up.
Contact
➤ LOCATION
Based in Adelaide, South Australia
Serving people: Worldwide
☎ CONTACT
adam@torgan.com.au
+61 413 859 392
➤ DOWNLOAD BIO
Click here to download bio
Two Testimonials…
DOMINIC JACOB
GENERAL MANAGER AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES
Raa
“Adam has been working with the Automotive Services management team since January 2018, helping us reset, reorganise and refocus, following a major successful technology change implementation.
During several initial workshops, the senior management team unpacked a range of issues and concerns, and clarified the fundamental purpose of the work being done across the business unit of nearly 300 employees.
The formation of “Circles”, is how we are organising to improve understanding of the business, gain clarity and visibility of business unit priorities, and ultimately, educate and empower our frontline managers to improve work systems to enhance customer value, improve our financial performance or increase the end-to-end customer experience.
The “Circles” are already having a number of positive effects in relation to engagement of front-line managers, improving awareness of priorities and understanding of resource allocation decisions, shaping conversations with a focus on our customers, encouraging greater visibility and use of data, and encouraging greater co-operation and collaboration amongst those involved in critical processes.
MARC TAINTEY
cHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
rIVERGUM GROUP
“Structure, capability, and accountability and unlocking an organisation’s design to achieve its intent. Sounds simple, but generally isn’t. Adam has been a significant part of both my personal development and that of our business and team.
In a challenging and fast paced SME environment, Adam has be integral to our transition from an owner / founder model to a highly capable and organised model for the future. And Adam will continue to support our journey with his unique skill set and ability to evaluate a challenge and navigate a pathway to an outcome. He makes things work.”
Examples of How I Help…
Strategic Facilitation and Development
From initial discussions, to facilitation of sessions creating involvement and insight, to designing and setting up initiative and operational leadership structures to see it delivered.
What’s different? Deliberate techniques to raise the level of dialogue beyond context into new domains combined with a clear focus on what strategy is NOT!
Work Design and Management:
‘Circle Work’ and the ‘Project Factory’
Tailoring and implementation of an operational and initiative management approach that creates agility, integration and buy-in throughout a Division or organisation. This creates a regular cadence for optimising today, improving the whole system, and moving toward tomorrow is created. End result? Increased throughput of both projects and operational outcomes.
What’s different? The methodology is designed to create mindset and cultural changes as it creates better decisions around the work itself. And works within the existing org design.
Organisational Design and Restructures
First…a discussion to ensure there is not another way (restructures are surgery!), to facilitating a process with sufficient involvement to create a new design of roles that is required for the work then setting up ongoing practices to see results through.
What’s different? The level of involvement in combination with deep knowledge of how structures impact behaviours which allows the team to be part of the journey as much as possible.
Cultural and Mindset Change
From initial scans to identify the range of value systems, to engagement and involvement to ensure change ‘with’ not ‘to’, then changing systems, structure and behaviours to create movement toward the new value systems.
What’s different? A deep view of the ‘values code’ that sits behind behaviours, then integration of systems structures and behaviours seeing change on a fundamental level well beyond the standard truisms on the posters and coffee cups
Leadership Programs
Most recently designed program included the modules:
Personal organisation and accountability
Authentic working relationships
Team leadership practices
Work system improvement
Team and cross-functional structure
Facilitating change in work and culture
Developing and managing projects
Course feedback
Ratings on overall workshop, facilitator, making difference to work and recommend to others are consistently >4.5 out 5
Examples of comments:
A great mix of introspective, relationship building and practical elements that you can put into use quickly
There are many tools (learnings are diverse) providing opportunity for people from all levels at the organisation and different work experience backgrounds to add value within their area/team/personally
This was a wonderfully mind-opening exercise. A great way of enabling us to learn but also think practically about our own situation
Adam was fantastic. Wealth of knowledge but most importantly, very real
The workshop was amongst the most valuable uses of time that I can remember of late. Very engaging, thought provoking and insightful
A Case Study….
Mindset and Cultural Change: New System and Process
The situation: after a rough and unpopular implementation of a new Enterprise Resource Planning system, the finance module was going to be switched on at the same time a new budgeting process was going to commence. This would need to be driven from a Finance area which had lost morale during the system implementation. Promises had been made to the Board on the savings that would be surfaced from the new budgeting process and system which were at risk due to understandably negative views across the organisation toward the new way.
What we did together: I was hired to work alongside the project manager specifically on the culture, knowledge and mindset aspects of the project as these were seen as the biggest risk to the benefits. Initial work with the Finance team started the rebuilding of trust through providing space for listening, understanding and developing plans together. Forums and messaging to the organisation were then designed to respect the deep value sets around stability and human connection which included both delivering the bare truth, then supporting people in what this meant. Design of key visuals and meeting structures were then created, with ongoing regular and ad hoc communication put in place.
Outcomes: The expected benefits were doubled. Quoting from the project manager I partnered with: ‘these projects usually have significant noise and resistance throughout which just weren’t a part of this project’. Key people from the Finance area were subjected to high levels of stress as they had to ‘learn to be an expert’ alongside their internal clients; they were able to come through this process. Ongoing changes from the Board throughout were handled in a responsive fashion, allowing the initially scheduled completion date to be brought forward, and the third iteration of the process saw time taken halved as people had quickly gained familiarity and expertise.
Let's Chat.
Use the form below to arrange a time to chat about your situation. Please be as detailed as possible. If you could, first describe what you are observing, then what you would like to be observing after our work together. Alternatively, you can just email or call me to arrange a get together.