The Back Story - Inside the Work Sam Fraser

Sam Fraser

We speak with Sam Fraser, a Principal with our office in Asia since 2021. Sam believes the gap between good outcomes and great ones isn't the technology - it's whether your people can actually live with the change.

What is a common assumption in your field that you believe is wrong – or at least outdated?

A lot of what we do involves helping people to change in a way that drives business value. A common assumption is that you can reliably get people to change by giving them facts or information. I believe this is wrong. In my experience, to get people to change you must change their beliefs, by listening to them, role modelling, and giving them experiences with feedback loops.

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"A good outcome is the achievement of a deliverable.
A great outcome is helping a client achieve sustainable business results."

Describe a moment at ADAPTOVATE when your thinking changed materially. 

I came from a digital and technology background and when I joined ADAPTOVATE I had more of a technology solutions mindset. I still love new tech but I have evolved to focus much more on working on the core business problem and get the operating model right before jumping into technology platforms.

What is a difficult decision you’ve had to make recently where there was no obviously “right” answer?

In any difficult decision I always come back to our ADAPTOVATE values, integrity, respect, teaming, value-centricity, agility and sustainability.

 When a client or stakeholder strongly disagrees with you, how do you usually handle it? 

Disagreement is healthy and doesn't matter as long as we are clear on why we disagree and can commit to one direction together.

Part of our job as consultants is to help our clients with evaluation or decision-making, where differences of opinion are common. I always keep an open mind, and recognize there are many valid perspectives on a problem. I typically steer clear of opinions and stick to a solid, fact-based, defensible framework based on clear assumptions.

What separates a good outcome from a great one in the type of work you do? 

A good outcome is the achievement of a deliverable.

A great outcome is helping a client achieve sustainable business results.

What skill are you deliberately trying to get better at right now – and why? 

Right now I am spending a lot of energy keeping up with developments in artificial intelligence, and especially staying on top of the ever-expanding ways it can be applied to drive value for organizations. So every day that I get to talk with clients about their challenges and think about how to address them with technology and AI is a good day.

What do you pay attention to that most people in your role ignore?

I always try to stay grounded in reality in terms of how we are going to achieve sustainable business value for clients. It's very easy to get distracted by fancy, complicated operating models or shiny new technology.

I try to keep things simple and outcome-focused: how are the humans in this equation going to adopt the process and technology changes required to deliver? What is going to motivate them to do what is needed, whether through prioritizing the right things first, designing better experiences, building capabilities or coaching leaders on how to lead their teams?

Outside of work, what activity reliably sharpens your thinking or perspective? 

As consultants we are lucky that the work itself continually sharpens our thinking and perspective, whether interacting with clients or fellow ADAPTOVATors. Outside of work I focus on healthy habits that drive cognitive benefit: sleep, exercise, eating well, and spending time with loved ones.

What is one belief you held strongly five years ago that you no longer hold?

Five years ago I was still fairly fresh to Singapore. Coming from Australia and working in an Australian bank looking at domestic growth, I didn't have much of a global outlook. Coming to Singapore and working for a global company like ADAPTOVATE has been an amazing experience. In Singapore everyone is thinking about regional and global expansion, and working with clients and colleagues from Asia, Australia, North America and Europe has given me a truly global perspective.