San Luis Potosí
No. 196, Suite 206
Roma Norte
06700 CDMX
E. hello@thrust.com.mx
T. +52 8190 1290
M. +52155 40941527
How did we help GDA build an operational and cultural adoption engine to power its inorganic growth model?
Grupo Diagnóstico Aries (GDA) is Mexico’s leading clinical diagnostics consortium, with over 340 locations across 13 states and a multi-brand network spanning 13 laboratories with decades of history —among them Swisslab, Olab, Jenner, Dr. Moreira, Liacsa, Biomédica de Referencia, and Bioclinsa— along with its recent international expansion through Access Medical Labs in Florida.
In recent years, GDA has accelerated steady growth by expanding its portfolio and territorial reach, building a team of more than 5,000 employees who serve over 5 million patients a year. That pace of growth, paired with technological innovation, has positioned the group as a benchmark in healthcare, with a focus on people and diagnostic quality.
A New Direction That Called for a New Mindset
This accelerated growth pushed GDA to rethink its structure and the way it brought its brands together under one operating and commercial model. After defining a new vision and structure with EY in 2022, built around user segments rather than individual brands, the challenge was turning that architecture into a living system: adopted by every team, workable at every business unit, and scalable both nationally and internationally.
In 2023, GDA brought Thrust on as a strategic partner to build a change process that would align this new way of operating with the organization’s culture. The design was solid on paper, but bringing it to life on the ground meant working on several fronts at once: uncovering hidden barriers within the organization; adjusting the operating structure and processes, working alongside Syner Group, workflow design experts; and activating the levers needed to land a roadmap that was clear, sustainable, and strong enough to support the group’s new commercial model.
Calibrating the Organization’s Readiness for Change
To bring this vision to life, GDA first needed to understand how change was actually being experienced across the organization. Our Change Readiness AI™ model mapped the organization’s readiness for change and anticipated the factors that would make the difference between a strategy on paper and one truly aligned with expectations and efficiencies.
The analysis pointed the effort toward a few key areas: greater clarity around goals, roles, and processes; a more collaborative environment between brands and departments, grounded in shared best practices and efficiencies; and recognition as a driver of engagement, in service of operational excellence.
Building the Bridge to Change
Mapping the system allowed us to design a strategic plan on two fronts: on one side, optimizing processes and roles to align with the new structure; on the other, designing operating practices to activate the new model through specific behaviors and KPIs that could measure adoption at the structural, commercial, and cultural level.
From there, we built a 12-month roadmap that guided implementation and transformation in a structured way, bringing clarity to the “what,” the “who,” and the “how” at every stage of the process.
Narrative as an Engine for Transformation
Alongside this, we built a communication strategy that served as both a guide and proof point for change, shaping a communication pipeline built around a strategy that blended neuroscience with gamification —sparking high-dopamine moments, fueled by rewards and results at key moments of truth over the course of a 12-month “race.”
That’s how SPRINT was born (in spanish: Sistema de Priorización de Respuesta e Impulso para una Notable Trascendencia), a concept that helped drive behavior and action through a mindset of healthy competition on two levels: individual, pushing each employee to show what they’re capable of; and collective, rallying teams around a shared goal.
Communication became more than messaging. It became an installed mindset that embraces change and makes it sustainable.
Bringing the Experience to Life, Every Day
To activate the communication strategy, we created tools that made the purpose of change tangible —designing a system of symbols, objects, and rituals that went beyond the functional, working as living reminders of why we do what we do, and shaping a measurable mindset and set of behaviors around change.
These elements connected with people’s everyday lives, building a bond with the new way of operating. Every communication touchpoint added up to a shared experience, reinforcing pride in being part of GDA and keeping the purpose and payoff of the transformation front of mind.
Transformation as a Built-In Capability
The adoption system we installed allowed GDA to sustain its growth vision through strategic moves like the CDPQ investment, the Family Labs and Clinical Diagnostics Group acquisitions, the addition of Access Medical Labs in Florida, and a partnership with Veritas Genetics to bring preventive genomic medicine to Mexico.
That system translated President Ernesto López Clariond’s vision of excellence and patient obsession into something people could act on every day: processes, practices, indicators, messaging, and a mindset of healthy competition, where running SPRINT on the last mile is now simply how the group operates.
Today, that vision shows up as more than 340 locations across 13 states and over 5 million patients served every year, backed by a team of more than 5,000 employees — what keeps GDA the benchmark consortium in clinical diagnostics within its category, powered by a growth engine built by people, for people.
San Luis Potosí
No. 196, Suite 206
Roma Norte
06700 CDMX
E. hello@thrust.com.mx
T. +52 8190 1290
M. +52155 40941527
