Entry point
The Transformation Diagnostic — an operating model assessment for Australia's mid-market.
A structured 2-to-4-week engagement that maps where operating control is breaking down — and gives leadership a 90-day plan for what to fix first.
The Diagnostic is how every Infinikey relationship begins. It is also a complete piece of work in itself. You walk away with a clear view of where your operating model is straining, a quantified register of what is worth fixing, and a 90-day plan you can act on, with us or without us. The lowest-commitment, highest-clarity way to find out whether we are the right firm for your business.
01
What This Is
A short, structured engagement with a real outcome.
The Diagnostic is not a sales conversation. It is the first phase of the Infinikey Operating Method, sold as a standalone wedge. Two to four weeks, depending on the size of the business and the complexity of the operating questions. Senior-led from the first conversation. Built around three working artefacts your leadership team can act on immediately.
Most consulting firms run discovery for free, hope you sign a long engagement after, and disappear if you do not. We have done it differently from the beginning. The Diagnostic is a paid, structured, complete engagement. You get value from it whether you continue with us or not. If you decide to continue into a full engagement, the Diagnostic work feeds directly in. If you decide not to, you keep the artefacts and the plan. Both outcomes are good ones.
02
The Deliverables
Three working artefacts. One 90-day plan.
The Diagnostic produces three named artefacts from the Infinikey Operating Method. None of them is a slide deck. Each is a working tool your leadership team uses immediately and continues to use long after the engagement closes.
01 • The Map
The Operating Map
A single-page representation of how decisions, work and information actually move through your business. Not the formal org chart. The real one. The map your leadership team and ours work from for the rest of the engagement.
The artefact most clients ask for first. Often the first time leadership sees the business represented honestly.
02 • The Index
The Control Index
A scored assessment across four dimensions of operating control: execution, visibility, accountability, and growth-readiness. The honest baseline against which we measure progress if you continue with us, and the diagnostic against which you measure progress if you do not.
Not a vanity score. The numbers tell the truth, and we share them with leadership directly.
03 • The Register
The Priority Register
A prioritised view of what to fix in the next 90 days, what to fix in the next 12 months, and what to leave alone for now. Includes explicit recommendations on what not to do, which is often as valuable as what to do.
The 90-day plan you can run yourself, with us, or with another firm. The register is yours.
All three artefacts are presented in person to the leadership team in a structured close-out session, walked through line by line, and handed over with a written summary your team can use as a working document.
03
The Shape
Week by week. What actually happens.
A typical Diagnostic runs over three to four weeks of engagement time. The structure adapts to the size and complexity of the business, but the rhythm is broadly the same.
Stage 01
Week 1
Discovery and structured interviews.
Interviews with the leadership team and a small selection of operators across the business. We map how work actually flows, where decisions get made, and where the leadership team feels operating control is straining. We review existing reporting, governance documentation, and any operating materials that already exist. Light touch on your team’s time.
Stage 02
Week 2
Operating Map and Control Index drafting.
We build the first draft of the Operating Map and score the Control Index across the four dimensions. This is mostly our work, in our time, with one structured leadership workshop mid-week to validate what we are seeing and pressure-test the early findings.
Stage 03
Week 3
Priority Register and 90-day plan.
We sequence the operational issues into the Priority Register and build the 90-day plan. We work directly with the leadership team to validate priorities, surface trade-offs, and finalise the recommendations. Often the most generative phase of the engagement.
Stage 04
Week 4
Close-out session and handover.
A structured close-out session with the leadership team, walking through all three artefacts and the 90-day plan. We answer questions directly, name the trade-offs honestly, and recommend whether a deeper engagement makes sense or not. The artefacts are handed over as a working document. The engagement ends cleanly.
The leadership team typically gives three to five hours total during a Diagnostic, spread across two structured workshops and a close-out session. We are deliberate about not absorbing more leadership time than the engagement justifies.
04 • The Bridge
The Diagnostic is Phase 01 of the Infinikey Operating Method, sold as a standalone wedge. It feeds directly into a deeper engagement if you decide to continue.
Phase 01
Diagnose
The Diagnostic
Phase 02
Redesign
If you continue
Phase 03
Implement
If you continue
Phase 01
Hold
If you continue
05
Who Runs It
Senior-led from the first conversation.
Every Diagnostic is led personally by Malik, founder and principal consultant. Depending on the sector and the size of the business, one senior associate from the Infinikey team joins the engagement.
The commitment
The person who scopes your Diagnostic is the person who delivers it. We do not pass engagements to associates after the call. We do not subcontract delivery to junior consultants. The team that meets you is the team that does the work.
06
The Fit
When the Diagnostic is the right starting point, and when it is not.
The Diagnostic is the right starting point when:
- You sense the business is straining structurally but cannot quite name what is wrong.
- You are considering a larger transformation engagement and want to know what the right one would look like before you commit.
- You are not sure whether the issue is operating model, workflow, or systems, and you want a structured view of where the work actually needs to be done.
- You are preparing for scale, succession, capital change, or a strategic shift, and want a baseline of operating control before the change happens.
- You are willing to invest a small, defined amount of leadership time into a structured engagement.
The Diagnostic is not the right starting point when:
- You already know exactly what you need built and are looking for a delivery firm to execute someone else's design.
- You are looking for a quick second opinion or validation rather than a structured assessment.
- The business is below the scale where formal operating-model work makes economic sense. We typically work with businesses of 25 to 250 staff.
- You are not in one of our priority sectors and the engagement is unlikely to draw on the depth of operator experience we are building. Construction, field service, and care are where we are most useful.
07
The Deliverables
Three honest paths after the close-out.
A Diagnostic ends cleanly. There is no automatic continuation, no implied lock-in, no pressure to extend. Three things can happen next.
Path 01
Continue with Infinikey.
If we are the right firm and the work is the right work, we proceed into a full engagement. The Diagnostic feeds directly in. The Operating Map, Control Index and Priority Register become the foundation of Phase 02 (Redesign). No re-discovery, no second engagement to scope the first.
Path 02
Run the plan yourself.
If the 90-day plan is something your team can run internally, you should. The artefacts are yours. We are happy to be a sounding board through the implementation if it helps, but most clients in this category do not need us further. The Diagnostic has done its job.
Path 03
Take the plan elsewhere.
If another firm is a better fit for the deeper work, take the artefacts and the plan to them. We would rather you got the right outcome with the right partner than have you do the wrong work with us. The Diagnostic is genuinely a complete piece of work, valuable on its own.
About sixty percent of Diagnostics continue into a full engagement. Forty percent do not, for the right reasons. Both outcomes are signs that the engagement is doing its job.
08 · How to Start
Book a Diagnostic.
A short conversation first to understand what you are facing and to confirm fit. Then a clear scope, a defined timeline, and a fixed engagement. Senior-led. Built to give you clarity, not commitment.