What We Think

Welcome to The Great Reframe where we leave crisis behind. We believe humans were made to flourish – not resign – and now is the time to unlock potential at scale. Join us as we explore innovative ways to unlock potential and positivity across your organisation and beyond. What will you unlock?

35 minute watch

Driven by a determination to find true purpose, Ronni Kahn founded OzHarvest in 2004 with the intent to rescue and redistribute the surplus 125 tonnes of food that Australia bins each week. Now Ronni Kahn inspires other leaders to do the same; connect their head and their heart to make a difference in their life.

Maximus • 12 minutes Reading Time

This year, as distinct from any previous New Year, requires a radical rethink. Whilst I’m sure you have been in review and are already making some resolutions, it’s a different style of radical reframe that I am talking about. Despite everything going on around us, it’s time to boldly shift gears, to unlock potential with a new approach, to think differently and leave the current state of crisis behind.

Maximus • 5 minutes Reading Time

November 2021 marks 20 years since the founding of our firm. To celebrate this milestone, we commissioned a unique artwork by Indigenous artist Alison Simpson to represent the impact we have had with leaders illustrating how their impact ripples across organisations, communities and society more broadly. Alison explains the thinking behind her painting.

Maximus • 5 minutes Reading Time

Founding Maximus was Vanessa Gavan’s ‘unreasonable ambition’. Two decades on, she shares some of the wisdom she’s uncovered in herself and others as she and her team have helped leaders to discover their own purpose – and act on it.

Maximus • 5 minutes Reading Time

Brent Duffy, Joint Managing Director of Maximus shares his perspective on why leadership is not a choice and why conviction and clarity are such key qualities for great leaders.

Maximus • 5 minutes Reading Time

Maximus Directors spend a mind-opening hour with Peter Coffee, VP for Strategic Research at Salesforce, exploring how Salesforce built a customer-obsessive culture and scaled a Founder’s Mindset as they grew from a start-up to a global enterprise with over 50,000 employees. We dive deep into the world of exponential change, technology, AI, and explore how the pandemic has brought technology trends forward by 5 years.

56 minute watch

Expand your horizons, gain strategic foresight, and learn vicariously through direct exposure to the world’s sharpest minds. Maximus Directors Vanessa Gavan and James Keeler are joined by Chemi Peres, one of Israel’s foremost venture capital and innovation pioneers with a portfolio of some 230 global hi-tech companies in our first taster session of The Expedition. As the son of the late Israeli President and Nobel Peace Laureate, Shimon Peres, Chemi is an integral part of the thriving Israeli innovation scene and a key player on the global entrepreneurial stage.

57 minute watch

If we know anything it is that things, people, the world and businesses are constantly changing, iterating and flexing. To design the future, we must let go of the past. Iterative strategy demands it and the constantly changing dynamics of leading transformation require it. “Leading has to start with the human within. If you don’t intrinsically know who you are, you cannot permissibly expect others to follow.” – Vanessa Gavan Founder & Joint Managing Director, Maximus.

Maximus • 10 minutes Reading Time

As we continue to navigate the challenges of COVID-19, we are faced with a decision point of how we respond and show up for ourselves and others. More and more we are experiencing a chronic state of languishing which dulls motivation, disrupts focus, and narrows people’s focus inward. Presently we are on the cusp of ‘The Great Resignation’, with a 2021 Microsoft Survey data suggesting that a staggering 41% of employees are thinking of quitting their job. What impact is this having on us and the organisations we lead? What impact will this have on society in years to come? And as leaders, how do we lean into this challenge, for ourselves, for our organisations and for society more broadly? Joined by Angus Hervey, Co-Founder, Future Crunch, we explore the parallel of collapse and renewal, and what we can learn from these stories to combat the challenge that we face into right now.

35 minute watch

It’s more important than ever for leaders to elevate their humanity. To take teams successfully through digital transformation, into new kinds of jobs and truly sustainable futures. Here, we talk to our own leaders at Maximus about the path to self-disruption and share our learnings on how these fundamentally human characteristics drive positive action across industry; leverage humanity rather than control; and unlock emotional commitment, along with the will and motivation of those who follow you. Now is the time for a bold re-set of leadership capabilities…

Maximus • 6 minutes Reading Time

How ready are you to lead transformation across your organisation? Maximus’ Founder, Vanessa Gavan and Director, James Keeler are joined by guest speakers Andrew Chanmugam, Executive General Manager – Strategy & Transformation at Suncorp Group, and Danielle Mair, Acting Chief Strategy & Impact Officer at Sunsuper as we explore the changing dynamics of leading transformation. From understanding iterative strategy, flexible IT architectures, rapid funding mechanisms, and carefully curated ecosystems of partners, we share the lessons learned from working with leaders at the edge and the fundamentals required to accelerate transformation within your business.

35 minute watch

From understanding iterative strategy, flexible IT architectures, rapid funding mechanisms, and carefully curated ecosystems of partners, we share lessons learned from working with executives and leaders at the edge. Maximus Directors are joined by special guest speakers Maria Digregorio, CFO, The Salvation Army, and Ayala Domani, GM Future Business, AGL, both of whom have significant experience leading successful transformations including technology, commercial and culture-based transformation agendas, and Dan Monheit, Co-Founder of Hardhat and Australia’s leading thinker on Behavioural Science, brand transformation and consumer behaviour.

35 minute watch

COVID-19 has changed the way executive teams strategically focus their organisations and the rapid adoption of digital technologies means the fundamentals of strategic and operational execution have changed. The Australian Financial Review spoke with Maximus Founder Vanessa Gavan, and Associate Director Katherine Boiciuc, about the fundamental leadership capabilities and mindset, required to transform an organisation.

Maximus • 5 minutes Reading Time

We’re leading our organisations through a period where our closest associates may be existing in a context completely different to our own. Leaders have no choice but to get comfortable with this paradox and take a more humanistic, empathic approach.

Maximus • 5 minutes Reading Time

Along with the severe health and humanitarian crisis caused by the pandemic, executives around the world face enormous business challenges: the collapse of customer demand, significant regulatory modifications, supply chain interruptions, unemployment, economic recession, and increased uncertainty. And like the health and humanitarian sides of the crisis, the business side has been lunged into new ways of making decisions, in strategy, operating model, people and technology. Maximus Directors are joined by Amir Haramaty, Chief Commercial Officer at SparkBeyond,and Emma Hogan, Secretary of NSW Department of Customer Service, and to talk to the differentiators of 21st century leadership and the job to be done this year.

43 minute watch

After a year of unexpected lockdowns, working from home, and dwindling motivation, many leaders feel challenged by the prospect of fostering a growth mindset within their teams. Julie Trell, SheEO Australia Country Lead, joins Maximus Directors Mark Sowden and Shane Currey to review the year that was, the impact on morale and share leadership strategies that will turn what feels like the impossible into momentum.

48 minute watch

Ben Moir talks about how partnering with the public can position a business for innovation success.

Maximus • 6 minutes Reading Time

Setting new habits is a powerful tool for transforming leaders’ behaviours. And where leaders go, corporate culture will follow. We discuss how to set habits with purpose…

Maximus • 6 minutes Reading Time

As machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)increasingly take on work within service organisations, it’s up to leaders to distinguish how machines and humans vary when it comes to learning and leverage the opportunity for improved human performance.

Maximus • 6 minutes Reading Time

Will we leave time bombs or heirlooms in our wake? Much depends on applying foresight and good judgement to decisions made today, as Maximus discovers…

Maximus • 10 minutes Reading Time