Innovation can emerge in the most unexpected corners of the economy—including deathcare. Long viewed as a traditional, slow-to-evolve industry, the end-of-life value chain is now facing a wave of disruption. From digital transformation to customer proximity, this episode of The Insurgent Mindset features Andrew Eriksen of Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT), who shares how a deeply human-centered approach is reshaping one of society’s oldest institutions.
The concept of an “insurgent mindset” is particularly relevant here, focusing on how organizations and leaders can evolve to become challengers, build a challenger culture, and engage with the market and customers differently. This approach is about being front-forward and disruptive, even in industries where tradition and established practices hold significant sway. Understanding how this mindset applies to a sector like deathcare provides valuable insights into broader economic and social adaptation.
From Generalist to Change Maker
Transformation often starts with the people steering it. And in this case, Andrew Eriksen’s generalist background turns out to be a strength. Having led everything from large-scale manufacturing builds to infrastructure operations in horticultural spaces, Andrew brought an unusual but powerful lens to GMCT, one that fused commercial discipline with service delivery, governance, and a deep sensitivity to the community.
The most surprising part? The emotional impact. Helping families navigate grief isn’t just about operations or infrastructure, it’s about being present, reliable, and human. That combination of rigor and empathy has kept Andrew deeply committed to the sector—and shows how versatile leadership can spark outsized value in unexpected places.
The GMCT Model: Legacy, Responsibility, and Renewal
To contextualize the challenges and innovations within this industry, it is essential to understand the structure and responsibilities of organizations like GMCT. Established in 2010 through government amalgamation to bring order and rigor to the sector, GMCT oversees 23 “sanctuaries” or park locations across metropolitan Melbourne.
As a Class A Cemetery Trust, GMCT manages substantial operations:
- Annual revenue of approximately $100 million.
- Handling around 14,000 services per year.
- Welcoming 2 million visitors annually to its parks beyond service attendance.
A critical and unique aspect of GMCT’s operation is its status as a self-funded government agency. This means the Trust sets its own fees and bears a perpetual responsibility to provide services. The financial modelling is therefore paramount, as fees are typically collected only once for services that extend indefinitely. This self-funding model instils an acute sense of responsibility to ensure services remain affordable and accessible, upholding the Trust’s role as an essential not-for-profit government provider. The organization’s core function is to provide essential services within the end-of-life care chain, encompassing the management and maintenance of cemetery grounds and facilities.
Embracing the Insurgent Mindset: Bringing Defragmentation to Life
For an organization with a long history of adding services and processes over time, complexity can become a significant challenge. The insurgent mindset, in this context, involves a strategic “defragmentation” of operations. Much like an IT system that becomes fragmented with accumulated data and deletions, an organization can become complex in its decision-making processes due to well-intentioned but accumulated additions.
The aspiration to lower anxiety for customers, particularly those in grief who are not seeking numerous complex choices, drives this defragmentation. The insurgent mindset in this environment means:
- Promoting purpose and values: Prioritizing enhancement of purpose and values over efficiency.
- Simplifying choices: Rationalizing product and service offerings to provide clear, trusted, and accurate choices for customers.
- Challenging current processes: Systematically reviewing and streamlining every process to make it faster and more reliable.
- Overcoming fear of change: Addressing concerns about negative impact and fear of doing things differently.
This transition requires a conscious effort to move from a “juggernaut” that has grown complex over time to an organization that can respond with speed, simplicity, and ease. It highlights the importance of removing clutter to free up mental space within the organization, enabling it to operate effectively in a new, transformative zone. This process involves intentionally deciding what to simplify, combine, eliminate, and what constraints to manage through. Andrew Eriksen’s analogy of “defragmenting” resonates powerfully, especially for those familiar with earlier computing concepts, to drive transformation in a conservative industry into the digital age.
Leading with Humanity
Piling on change without freeing up space and giving people the opportunity to adapt in a way that feels low-risk can lead to fatigue within an organization. Therefore, the transition towards an insurgent mindset must be managed in a very human way, allowing people to let go of old practices with confidence.
This focus on human-centric change aligns with a broader strategic principle: strategy is not only about what an organization will do, but also what it will stop doing. Being intentional about these decisions is crucial for making significant changes and ensuring that efforts are directed towards what truly drives the organization forward.
What Other Sectors Can Learn
The exploration of innovation within the end-of-life value chain reveals challenges familiar to other industries, alongside elements unique to the human experience. The universal experience of grief, for instance, serves as an anchor point for human history, prompting questions of how to preserve that into the future while finding new ways to bring the experience to life through digital and other means. The focus on digital transformation within this context is particularly insightful.
GMCT’s story is a reminder that no industry is too traditional to reimagine. When leaders adopt an insurgent mindset—rooted in bold choices, customer proximity, and human-centric change—they can breathe new life into even the most time-honored institutions.