Most consulting firms struggle with growth. GSD Advisors had the opposite problem - they were so successful they needed to figure out what came next.

The challenge: Growing into the future 

GSD Advisors had cracked the code on something many firms struggle with - a genuinely collaborative culture where people loved working. Since 2015, they'd grown to the point that they were contracting 32 specialists across Tasmania, all passionate about advancing the state's prosperity, across a wide vairety of disciplines – from finance, to strategy, to payroll, to project management.

But success brings its own challenges. Three years of rapid growth meant their previous strategy felt outdated. The founders were ready to step back from daily operations to pursue different opportunities. Without proper succession planning, they risked losing key client relationships or having growth stall when leadership transitioned.

They didn't have problems to fix - quite the opposite. They had opportunities to seize. The question was how to build the right foundations now so they could navigate whatever came next whilst keeping everything that made them distinctive.

Our approach: Foundation First

We used our Nimble Index Framework to strengthen what was already working well:

Getting clear on reality

• Surveyed the whole team to understand their biggest strengths and where they saw opportunities
• Ran focus groups to understand what the team’s experience was and what the future could look like

Building the roadmap together

• Ran workshops where everyone helped shape the refreshed vision and strategic priorities
• Designed simple governance that matched their collaborative style but created clear accountability

Making it stick

• Worked alongside key people to embed the new approach into daily operations
• Built their capability to keep evolving the strategy themselves

Key Insights

The project revealed important truths about scaling successful organisations while preserving what makes them distinctive.

• Making the hard choices early enables intentional growth: By working through four fundamental decisions - ownership evolution, organisational structure, workforce design, and leadership timeline - the team could design governance that matched their values while creating clear accountability.
• When everyone sees the whole picture, coordination becomes natural: When team members gained deep insight into strategic priorities and their role in delivery, ad-hoc coordination decreased and proactive strategic work increased.
• Values-aligned infrastructure prevents culture drift: The governance frameworks we helped the team create – meeting frameworks, progress reports, team norms, preserved their collaborative culture while creating structure for independent operation and accountability.

The transformation

Six months later, the GSD team had evolved significantly. One founder had successfully transitioned into the next phase of their career, other senior leaders had been promoted or opted out of the organisation, now that there was clarity on objectives and expectations. Everyone now understood not just their role, but how it connected to the bigger picture.

The new governance around their strategy respected their collaborative DNA whilst creating structure for independent operation. Strategic priorities were visible and owned. Most importantly, they were ready for whatever opportunities emerged next.

The firm has continued to grow and succeed in the consulting and project management space.

The Lesson: Preparation beats reaction

The best time to strengthen your foundations is when things are going well, not when you're forced to. By investing in strategic infrastructure before they needed it, this team created conditions for sustained success rather than leaving it to chance.

Smart preparation meant they could pursue exciting opportunities from a position of strength rather than scrambling to catch up.