Collective Campus vs Orange Squid

Australian leaders who are weighing up Orange Squid and Collective Campus are usually trying to answer one question: do we need an advisory partner to shape our strategy and change, or a capability building partner to change how our people work? This guide compares the two honestly, using only what Orange Squid says on its own public site, and explains who each one suits.

Short answer

Orange Squid, by its own description, is a Melbourne-based consulting firm offering strategy development, innovation, change management and AI services, with a strong psychology and people lens. Collective Campus is a capability building company that runs hands-on programmes for teams across AI adoption, innovation, design thinking, agile, productivity, psychological safety and high-performance culture. Choose Orange Squid for strategy and change advisory. Choose Collective Campus to build team capability. Many organisations shortlist both.

At a glance comparison table

Who Orange Squid is

Everything in this section comes from Orange Squid's own homepage and navigation, and is attributed accordingly.

Orange Squid's homepage title describes it as "Australia's #1 Innovation Consulting & Strategy Firm." That is their self-description, and we have not verified the ranking. The homepage positions the firm as "Your Partner in Navigating a New Era of Strategic Performance and Innovation." Their listed address is 162 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000, and they list a Melbourne phone number and a general contact email.

The four service areas their site describes

Their homepage organises the business into four headline areas, each introduced with the phrase "A new era in..."

Strategy. Their site says it is time to be bold and to "ditch outdated strategy development methods," developing a strategy that is "dynamic, innovative, actionable, and measurable." The navigation lists Strategy Development, Strategy Workshops and something called The Situation Room.

Innovation. Their site says the aim is to "deliver innovative products, services and value propositions your customers love." The navigation lists an Innovation Audit, Innovation Strategy, Innovation Workshops and Training, Product Innovation, an Innovation Masterclass or Keynote, and Innovation Coaching.

Change. Their site says it implements "best-practice change programs which actually deal with peoples' psychological responses to change." The navigation lists Change Readiness Audit, Change Strategy, Change Capability, Change Management Masterclass, Organisational Design and Organisational Transformation.

AI. Their site says organisations should "integrate AI in your organisation with a strategic, people-focused approach." The navigation lists an AI Roadmap, AI in Strategy, AI in Change, AI in Innovation and an AI Masterclass.

Their content and orientation

Their blog, according to the homepage, covers "innovation, strategy, organisational psychology, behavioural change and more." Recent post titles on the homepage include "Between the Lines: What psychology reveals about strategy, innovation and change," "False Productivity And Its Impact On Workplace Innovation," and "Strategy and the People Trap (and how not to fall in it)." There is also a series titled "Innovation vs. Parenthood." The pattern is clear: Orange Squid writes about the human and psychological side of strategy, innovation and change.

The contact form on their site invites enquiries about Strategy, Innovation, Transformation and Change, or Other. Their top navigation also lists About, Case Studies and Testimonials pages. We have not reviewed those pages for this comparison, so we do not characterise their clients, results or team.

What their public pages do not say

To keep this comparison fair, here is what the pages we reviewed do not state: pricing, programme durations, group sizes, named facilitators, specific delivery locations beyond Melbourne, and detailed methodologies. None of that means those things do not exist. It means a buyer will need to ask. Where it matters below, we write "not stated on their public site."

Who Collective Campus is

Collective Campus is a capability building company for teams. Its positioning is "Building high-performance culture and teams for the AI world." It was founded in Melbourne by Steve Glaveski and Sean Qian, and it is not an AI-only provider. It builds capability across a connected set of disciplines, and the AI work sits alongside the rest rather than replacing it.

Programme breadth

Programmes span:

• AI training and adoption, including structured AI programmes such as the 90 Day AI Adoption Sprint, AI Champions and the Leadership Team AI Immersion
• AI governance and online AI training
• AI design sprints
• Design thinking and customer experience
• Lean startup and product sprints
• Agile and productivity
• Psychological safety and critical thinking
• High-performance teams

History and style

Collective Campus has done innovation work since 2015 and AI work since 2022. Its workshops are known for energy and entertainment, a product of founder Steve Glaveski's background in stand-up comedy and bands, combined with practical tools that participants can use the next morning. Steve still leads flagship workshops. You can read more on the about page.

How programmes are scoped

Collective Campus does not publish a fixed price list or fixed formats. Programmes are tailored after a scoping call, which looks at the team, the outcomes, the constraints and the organisation's context. That is why this article does not quote prices, durations or group sizes for Collective Campus.

Deep comparison across eight dimensions

1. Approach: advisory consulting versus capability building

The most useful way to frame this comparison is the difference between advice and capability.

Orange Squid's public positioning is that of a consulting and strategy firm. The language on their homepage is about developing a strategy, auditing innovation, designing change and building a roadmap. Their menu includes audits and strategy documents as service types, which suggests an advisory flavour: diagnose, design and recommend. That is a sensible and valuable model when an organisation does not yet know what its strategy, change path or AI direction should be.

Collective Campus works from the other end. It assumes a team has a direction, or can reach one quickly, and focuses on whether the people have the skills, habits and confidence to execute. A workshop is not primarily a vehicle for producing a deck. It is a vehicle for changing what participants do on Monday. The emphasis is on tools, repetition and practice.

Neither approach is better in the abstract. A leadership team that is arguing about where to play and how to win needs strategy work first. A team that knows what it must do but cannot get adoption of new tools or ways of working needs capability building first. Plenty of organisations need both in sequence, which is why the strategy-first versus capability-first question matters more than the brand names.

2. Breadth of offering

Orange Squid's public menu is broad across four pillars, and within each pillar there are several service types: workshops, masterclasses, audits, coaching and strategy design. For an organisation that wants one advisory partner across strategy, innovation, change and AI, that integrated pitch is attractive. The AI offering is framed through the lens of strategy, change and innovation, which fits a consulting model well.

Collective Campus's breadth is different. It covers the capabilities that sit underneath execution: AI fluency and adoption, design thinking, customer experience, lean startup and product sprints, agile, productivity, psychological safety, critical thinking, AI governance and high-performance teams. It does not offer enterprise strategy development or large-scale organisational design as a headline service, and buyers who need that should say so early.

A practical test: list the three problems you are trying to solve this year. If they read like "decide our five-year direction" and "redesign our operating model," that points toward an advisory firm. If they read like "get 400 people using AI well and safely" and "help product teams validate ideas faster," that points toward capability building. When the list is mixed, it can make sense to pair providers rather than force one to cover everything.

3. Depth of behaviour change

Behaviour change is where both providers make claims, and where buyers should probe hardest.

Orange Squid's site puts psychology front and centre. Their change language refers to dealing with "peoples' psychological responses to change," and their blog explores organisational psychology and behavioural change. That suggests a deliberate focus on why people resist or adopt change, which is a real strength for change management work. How that translates into specific session formats, practice routines or follow-up is not stated on their public site, so a buyer should ask.

Collective Campus approaches behaviour change through practice. Participants work on real problems with real tools, and the programme design aims for use the next morning rather than a good feeling on the day. The surrounding disciplines reinforce this. Psychological safety programmes address the conditions that let people speak up and experiment. Critical thinking work addresses decision quality. High-performance team work addresses how groups operate together. Our article on what makes a high-performing team in the AI world lays out the thinking.

The honest caveat is that no single workshop changes behaviour permanently, from any provider. Durable change comes from the surrounding system: manager reinforcement, visible leadership use, a place to practise and a reason to keep going. When you evaluate either provider, ask what happens in the ninety days after the session, not just what happens in the room.

4. Leadership involvement

Both approaches depend on senior leaders, but in different ways.

In a strategy or change engagement, leaders are typically inputs and decision makers: they supply context, make trade-offs and sign off the direction. Orange Squid's offering around strategy workshops and a "Situation Room," as named in their menu, suggests structured leadership sessions, though the format is not described on their public site.

In a capability programme, leaders are also participants and role models. If executives do not use the new tools or behaviours, teams notice. For that reason Collective Campus offers leadership-focused formats such as the Leadership Team AI Immersion, and Steve Glaveski leads flagship workshops personally. Our guide on how to run an AI workshop for your leadership team goes into the mechanics, and our piece on design thinking training for executives covers a similar question in the innovation space.

Whichever way you go, ask who from the provider will be in the room. Named senior facilitators matter, and who leads sessions is not stated on Orange Squid's public site, so it is a fair question to put to them directly.

5. AI and risk

Both organisations treat AI as a major theme, with a different slant.

Orange Squid's AI pillar is framed as strategic and people-focused. Their listed services are an AI Roadmap, AI in Strategy, AI in Change, AI in Innovation and an AI Masterclass. That reads as a strategy-and-change treatment of AI: where it fits, how it affects the organisation and how to bring people along. Whether they provide dedicated AI governance, policy or risk frameworks is not stated on their public site.

Collective Campus has AI work since 2022 and treats AI as a capability to be built across the workforce. Its AI offering includes the AI training programmes, structured sprints, champions networks and a dedicated AI governance stream, so that responsible use and risk are part of the conversation alongside productivity. For regulated sectors, this matters. See our pages on AI training for government, financial services and legal teams for how the content shifts by context.

The practical difference is this. If your question is "what should our AI strategy be and how do we manage the change," an advisory approach fits. If your question is "how do we get everyone using AI well, consistently and within guardrails," a capability approach fits. A large organisation may legitimately need both a roadmap and a training engine. Our article on how to choose an AI training provider in Australia covers the buying criteria in more detail.

6. Measurement

Measurement is a place where precise language helps and vague claims hurt.

Orange Squid's homepage says it develops strategies that are "actionable, and measurable," and lists audits (an innovation audit and a change readiness audit) as services. Audits imply a baseline, which is a sound foundation for measurement. Beyond that, the specific metrics, dashboards or impact reporting they use are not stated on their public site.

Collective Campus does not publish invented statistics, and neither should any provider that cannot back them. The sensible approach to measurement for a capability programme is to define success before it starts: which behaviours should change, which workflows should be different, which adoption signals matter and who owns tracking them. Those definitions emerge in the scoping call and are tailored to the organisation, not pulled from a generic template.

When you speak with any provider, ask what they will measure, when, and who in your organisation will own it. A good answer is specific and slightly uncomfortable, because it commits to something. A weak answer is a list of satisfaction scores. Our case studies page shows how Collective Campus documents its work.

7. Facilitation style

Style matters more than buyers expect, because a flat session wastes a day of expensive people.

Orange Squid's public pages convey a thoughtful, psychology-informed voice, visible in blog titles that blend strategy with organisational psychology and even a lighter "Innovation vs. Parenthood" series. That suggests an intellectually engaged, people-aware style. Their actual in-room facilitation approach is not described on the pages reviewed, so buyers should ask for references or a preview.

Collective Campus is known for energy and entertainment. Founder Steve Glaveski's background in stand-up comedy and bands shapes how sessions run: they keep a room awake and participating, then get into practical tools that people can use the next morning. That is not a gimmick. In our view engagement is a precondition for learning, particularly for sceptical or time-poor participants, and a facilitator who can read and work a room changes outcomes. Steve still leads flagship workshops himself.

Different organisations value different styles. A reflective, analytical leadership group may prefer a quieter advisory tone. A large, mixed group that includes sceptics often responds better to a high-energy, hands-on approach. Ask any provider to describe a typical session minute by minute, and where possible watch a clip or speak to a past participant.

8. Fit for Australian organisations

Both providers sit in an Australian context, with some differences in footprint.

Orange Squid lists a Melbourne CBD address. Whether it delivers in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra or elsewhere is not stated on their public site, though many advisory firms travel as needed, so it is worth asking.

Collective Campus was founded in Melbourne and works with teams across the country, with city-specific pages for high-performance teams in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and design thinking in Sydney and Melbourne. It also supports Canberra-based and government teams. For multi-city organisations, consistent delivery across locations is worth checking with any provider.

Context also includes sector. Australian public sector, financial services and legal organisations have specific governance and risk expectations, and a provider's familiarity with them shapes how credible and usable the content is. Ask for examples relevant to your sector, and check whether the AI content addresses local regulation and policy settings.

Who each suits

Choose Orange Squid if...

• You need a strategy developed or refreshed and want an advisory partner to lead that work. Their site puts strategy development and strategy workshops first.
• You are planning a significant change, transformation or organisational redesign and want a firm whose public positioning centres on the psychological side of change.
• You want audits as a starting point, such as an innovation audit or a change readiness audit, as listed in their menu.
• You want one advisory partner spanning strategy, innovation, change and AI, with AI treated as part of strategy and change.
• You value a psychology-led perspective and enjoy the style of thinking visible in their blog.
• You are based in Melbourne and want a local advisory partner, though you should confirm availability for other cities.
• You need a roadmap or a masterclass or keynote rather than a sustained skill-building programme.

Choose Collective Campus if...

• Your priority is building capability across teams: getting people using AI well, working more productively and applying methods such as design thinking, lean startup or agile.
• You want a leadership team to experience AI hands-on in a structured immersion before setting policy.
• You need an AI champions network or an adoption sprint that creates momentum inside business units.
• Governance and responsible use matter, and you want AI governance covered alongside training, especially in government, financial services or legal contexts.
• You are worried about culture, psychological safety, critical thinking or team performance as AI changes how work is done.
• You want energetic, entertaining sessions that people remember, with practical tools usable the next morning.
• You want content tailored after a scoping call rather than a fixed catalogue, and you are comfortable with that conversation happening before any numbers are discussed.
• You are in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra or another Australian city and want delivery across locations.

When to consider both

Some organisations sensibly combine the two types. A firm might use an advisory partner to set a strategy and manage the change story, then a capability partner to equip teams to execute. If you go that route, make sure the two sets of materials and messages align, and nominate one internal owner to coordinate.

Alternatives to Orange Squid in Australia

This section is deliberately brief and neutral. The Australian market for innovation, change and AI capability is crowded, and a good decision rarely comes from comparing only two names.

Collective Campus. A capability building company with programmes across AI adoption, innovation, design thinking, agile, productivity, psychological safety and high-performance teams. See the innovation capability page and our guide to the best AI training for teams in Australia.

Large management consultancies. The global strategy and transformation firms offer scale, deep sector benchmarks and large delivery teams. They are typically suited to major transformation programmes and bring a different cost and engagement model from boutiques.

Boutique strategy and change consultancies. There are a number of smaller advisory firms in Melbourne, Sydney and other cities that offer strategy facilitation, change management and organisational design. Quality varies, so check named facilitators and client references.

Innovation and design agencies. Design-led agencies often run sprints and innovation programmes, and some bundle build capability with training. They suit organisations that want to ship something as well as learn.

University and executive education providers. Business schools offer executive programmes in innovation, leadership and AI. They bring academic depth and credentials, usually with less customisation to your specific context.

Technology vendors and platform trainers. Vendors provide tool-specific training, which is useful for adoption of a particular platform but not a substitute for broader capability, governance or change work.

Internal capability teams. Some organisations build an internal academy or centre of excellence and use external providers selectively.

Shortlist three

Whatever your category, shortlist three providers and speak to each. Comparing only two tends to turn into a binary choice, while three gives you a useful third reference point on approach, style and commercial structure. Use the checklist and questions below to keep each conversation consistent, and score them afterwards while memory is fresh.

Decision checklist

Work through this before you commit to any provider, including Collective Campus and Orange Squid.

• We have written down the specific problem we are solving in one or two sentences.
• We know whether our primary need is strategy and advice, or skill and behaviour change.
• We have identified an internal owner who will be accountable for outcomes after the sessions finish.
• We have defined three or four observable behaviours or outcomes that would tell us the work succeeded.
• We know who the participants are and what they already know about the topic.
• We have consulted the sceptics in the group, not just the enthusiasts.
• We have clarified whether senior leaders will participate and use what is taught.
• We have asked who will actually facilitate, and checked their experience.
• We have asked for a session outline, ideally minute by minute for a typical day.
• We have asked how the provider tailors content to our sector, context and tools.
• We have asked what support is available after the main sessions finish.
• We have asked how the provider handles AI governance, data privacy and risk where relevant.
• We have asked how success will be measured and who will track it.
• We have confirmed delivery options for our cities and, if needed, online or hybrid formats.
• We have asked for references or case studies we can verify.
• We have compared at least three providers using the same questions.
• We have checked how the engagement fits our budget cycle, procurement and approval process.
• We have agreed what happens if the scope needs to change midway.
• We have decided how we will communicate the programme internally before it starts.
• We have a plan for reinforcing learning in the first ninety days.

Questions to ask any provider on a scoping call

How a scoping call with Collective Campus works

Collective Campus does not run on a fixed catalogue with a fixed format. The scoping call is where the programme takes shape, and it is designed to be useful whether or not you proceed.

Before the call

A short summary of your context helps: who the team is, what you are trying to change, what you have tried already and any constraints you know about, such as sector regulation, tooling or timing pressures. You do not need a polished brief. A few honest sentences are enough.

During the call

The conversation typically covers:

• The outcome you want. What should be different for your people and your organisation once the work is done, in observable terms.
• Who is involved. Participants, sponsors, sceptics and any teams who will be affected.
• Where you are starting from. Existing skills, tools in use, prior training and any past efforts that stalled.
• Context and constraints. Sector, regulatory settings, security considerations and internal approvals.
• Fit across programmes. Whether an AI adoption sprint, an AI champions network, a leadership immersion, a design thinking or innovation programme, or another format suits best.
• Reinforcement. How learning will be supported and measured after the sessions.

After the call

A tailored proposal follows, shaped by what was discussed. Details such as format, cadence and group structure are set in that proposal for your organisation, rather than being published as fixed numbers. If a different type of provider fits better, including an advisory firm, we say so.

For an overview of how Collective Campus works across programmes, start with the about page and the guides.

FAQ

Is Orange Squid an innovation consultancy or a training provider?

Orange Squid's homepage describes it as an innovation consulting and strategy firm. Its service menu spans strategy, innovation, change and AI, and includes workshops, masterclasses, coaching and audits. Collective Campus describes itself as a capability building company for teams. Whether you need advisory consulting or capability building should drive the choice more than the labels.

What are the main differences between Collective Campus and Orange Squid?

Orange Squid, per its own site, leads with strategy, innovation, change and AI advisory work with a psychology lens. Collective Campus leads with team capability building across AI adoption, design thinking, agile, productivity, psychological safety and high-performance teams, with practical tools used the next morning. Both can involve workshops, but the underlying purpose differs: advice versus capability.

Does Orange Squid offer AI training?

Their site lists an AI pillar with an AI Roadmap, AI in Strategy, AI in Change, AI in Innovation and an AI Masterclass, framed as a strategic, people-focused approach. How those services are delivered, and whether they include hands-on team training or governance, is not stated on their public site. Ask them directly.

Does Collective Campus cover AI governance?

Yes. Collective Campus has a dedicated AI governance offering alongside its AI training and adoption programmes, so that responsible use, risk and policy are addressed with the capability work. Content is tailored to your sector and regulatory context, which matters for government, financial services and legal teams.

Which is better for strategy development?

Orange Squid lists Strategy Development and Strategy Workshops as headline services, so strategy is a core part of its stated offering. Collective Campus focuses on building the capability to execute rather than developing enterprise strategy. If your main need is a new strategy, an advisory firm is the natural fit. If you need teams to execute well, a capability partner is.

How much do the two providers cost?

Orange Squid does not state pricing on its public site. Collective Campus does not publish prices either, because programmes are tailored after a scoping call. The practical route with both is to describe your outcome and context, then request a scoped proposal. Avoid comparing on day rates alone, since scope and follow-up vary widely.

Can Collective Campus work with teams outside Melbourne?

Yes. Collective Campus works with organisations across Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra, and offers online options. City pages exist for high-performance teams and design thinking. Orange Squid lists a Melbourne CBD address, and its delivery in other cities is not stated on its public site.

Who facilitates the sessions at each provider?

At Collective Campus, founder Steve Glaveski still leads flagship workshops, supported by the wider team. Who facilitates at Orange Squid is not stated on the pages we reviewed, so ask who will actually be in the room and what their experience is. Named, experienced facilitators are a fair expectation from any provider.

Should a buyer use both an advisory firm and a capability provider?

Sometimes, yes. A common pattern is to use an advisory firm to set strategy and shape the change approach, then a capability provider to build the skills and habits that make it real. If you do, coordinate messaging, nominate one internal owner and make sure the two providers know about each other.

How does a buyer choose between several providers?

Shortlist three, use the same questions with each, and score them afterwards. Focus on the problem fit, who facilitates, how behaviour change is reinforced, how governance and risk are handled and how success is measured. Our guide on how to choose an AI training provider in Australia walks through the criteria.

Is Collective Campus an AI-only company?

No. AI is a major part of the work, with AI training since 2022, but Collective Campus also covers design thinking, customer experience, lean startup and product sprints, agile, productivity, psychological safety, critical thinking and high-performance teams. Innovation work goes back to 2015. The aim is team capability for an AI-shaped world, not AI tools in isolation.

What happens after a Collective Campus workshop?

Programmes are designed so participants can use practical tools the next morning, and follow-on support is scoped per organisation during the scoping call. That may include reinforcement activities, champions networks or further sessions, depending on your goals. The specifics are tailored rather than published as a fixed package.

Next step

If you are weighing up strategy advisory against capability building, the most useful thing you can do is write down the outcome you want and who needs to change what they do. From there, a scoping call with Collective Campus is a low-pressure way to test whether a capability programme fits, and we will say so plainly if another type of provider, including an advisory firm like Orange Squid, is the better choice. Book a scoping call to talk through your context.

Sources

• Orange Squid homepage: https://orangesquid.com.au
• Orange Squid site navigation (Strategy, Innovation, Change and AI service menus), as listed on https://orangesquid.com.au

Orange Squid claims in this article are attributed to their own public pages as reviewed. Anything not on those pages is marked "not stated on their public site." We recommend verifying current details directly with Orange Squid before making a decision.