Although we can’t quite believe where the time has gone, Monkey Puzzle is 15 years old this month. Much has changed in the world of learning and development, if not the world itself.
In the same year we launched in 2007, a young senator called Barack Obama was announcing his run for US President, the very first iPhone was released and the pound was worth US$2. Well, we did say it’s been a long time.
From the original team of two, Monkey Puzzle is now a team of nine working with a range of organisations. Co-Founders Karen Meager and John McLachlan have also published two co-authored books; Time Mastery; a number one best-selling book, and Real Leaders for the Real World; an IBA finalist. The second edition of Real Leaders is published on November 10th.
In this article, Karen and John reflect on why they launched the business and share some of the breakthrough moments and lessons learnt as both L&D practitioners and entrepreneurs.
Where did it all start, and why?
Karen picks up the story, looking back to what she and John wanted to do differently. “We set up Monkey Puzzle to bring a fresh approach to training, coaching and people consultancy. In our many years of working in leadership positions in businesses, we found development to be formulaic, too prescriptive, too inflexible and frankly, ineffective. We found L&D either too academic, too much compulsory fun or too generic. It was also really hard to see whether anyone actually learnt anything! We also felt that they didn’t adequately prepare leaders for the stress and pressure they experienced in their roles. So we decided to create our own programmes that focused on developing leaders that were well rounded human beings, fit to be the role models their positions required.”
Before forming Monkey Puzzle, Karen had worked in leadership roles in fund management for 15 years and had retrained as a clinical psychotherapist and John was a partner in an accountancy firm and a group FD. As John explains, even before they met, they both had the same ideas and values around learning and growth. “We had both separately sought different personal development experiences through learning about psychology, therapy and hypnotherapy. We also felt that the personal growth field was often too scary and unapproachable for many people, especially in organisations. So we set about making the latest academic thinking, practical and easy to implement for organisations. Combining a deep understanding of the every day organisational frustrations and challenges with our clinical psychology qualifications, we set out to help organisations build and maintain healthy and productive cultures and ways of working.”
What’s different about Monkey Puzzle’s delivery style?
A lot of our work helps organisations where technical experts need to develop strong leadership skills very quickly. As John explains, Monkey Puzzle’s programmes are designed around real life business issues leaders are experiencing. “The plan from the start was to be more real, more tangible, more practical, and that was really the goal. Can we make it something that people really want to do? We found that a lot of the training available when we started, and still today, is very ‘follow this process and people will do X,’ and that’s not how the real world works. Our style is about making it real for the human being. That’s why we talk a lot about the need to be emotionally regulated, not to be a robot, to actually understand your own feelings because they impact how you behave, they impact how you lead, they impact how you see the world. That’s why we guarantee no role plays or silly hats, which are a poor (not to mention agonising) method for simulating real life practice. Our exercises help people focus on the issues that matter to them, their work and their teams.”
Karen talks about the type of clients Monkey Puzzle work with, and the role that coaching plays. “Our clients are CEOs and leaders in organisations who are innovators, visionaries, and game-changers in their fields. Often in the creative, design and technology sectors, they have a very clear vision of where they want to go. With a strong focus on personal development, our training helps leaders evolve as individuals with the skills to handle the pressures and complexity of work and the ability to manage people issues. An essential ingredient in our approach is to mix group work with one to one coaching, which enables people to make the most of learning with their peers, alongside a confidential space to explore concepts and approaches and work through their personal blocks and challenges.”
Where do you feel you’ve made a difference in 15 years?
For Karen, one of the drivers for starting Monkey Puzzle was in response to the stress and anxiety endemic in organisational life. “For me, Monkey Puzzle was a vehicle for improving the mental health of people working in organisations by designing programmes and interventions which were practical and fairly easy to implement but with improved mental health built in. Mental health is a fashionable topic now, but it wasn’t back in 2007 and stigma was a real problem, so we had to help people by the back door almost in an undercover way. Thinking back, my life goal has been to improve the mental health of people working in organisations. This sounds quite lofty, but through our work at Monkey Puzzle I do think we have done our bit in making a difference. Thankfully that stigma is becoming a thing of the past now and it’s about time too.”
John reflects on how some of the issues Monkey Puzzle set out to help with in the beginning are now in the mainstream. “Topics like burnout and authenticity are on everyone’s lips today but we were looking at them right from the start. Our work has always been about helping people gain energy so they don’t burn out. How we can help leaders show up as the best of their authentic selves, and not as a caricature. Employee welfare and wellbeing is something we’ve been focusing on for a long time through emotional regulation and employee health. There’s a very simple reason, if someone is healthy then they’re going to be better at work.”
What have been your biggest business challenges?
As with many businesses, the right formula takes time to develop, not to mention the self belief to stick with the objectives held at the outset. John talks through how the business grew. “We didn’t intend to become entrepreneurs as such, but during the early years we experimented heavily with different approaches and methods, working closely with a few businesses who were willing to join us on the journey, and soon we were building a reputation for being leading edge in our field. Despite launching at the start of a recession, we resisted the temptation to take on easy, straightforward training and coaching work and continued to invest in the products and services we offer. Looking back, those early years of Monkey Puzzle were difficult financially, we invested extensively in testing our ideas and in our own development. More recently, the most difficult challenge we’ve experienced is in scaling effectively. Running an organisation where your clients are effectively buying your time can make consultancy organisations very people heavy and ineffective. Finding good people we trusted to represent us was really tough, we made lots of mistakes and learned a lot. At least it proved we were human! This experience deepened our understanding and empathy of what many growing organisations face. We now have a great team that works amazingly well together and are excited about what the next 15 years will bring.”
And personal challenges?
Both Karen and John have combined academic study with running and growing Monkey Puzzle. Karen has achieved 4 masters degrees; an MBA, psychotherapy, an MSc in Psychology and an MA in Health Research in which she conducted research on burnout. Likewise, John has also combined academic development alongside the business and explains why. “It was important to do mainly because so many in the training and consultancy industry are massively under-qualified and it helped me to consolidate my thinking. I love getting stuck into things but gaining academic achievements hasn’t been easy for me, I don’t like structure and don’t have much patience! So achieving an MSc in Psychology with Business in one year, whilst running a business and working with a client on a huge cultural change project, was a huge (if tiring) experience. I’ve just completed an MA in Health Research though so it didn’t put me off too much!
What have been your breakthrough moments?
Karen is proud of the books she and John have written together and attributes being a published author as a springboard in Monkey Puzzle’s development. “The turning point for us in terms of growth was in 2015 when Real Leaders for the Real World was published and we became clearer about our services and programmes. The investment in the development of the business started to pay off as our work became well regarded and as people we’d helped in the early years began to land important senior roles and called us up for some additional support. But it’s not just down to the books of course. Our growth has been achieved chiefly through word of mouth as people we’ve worked with have developed their exceptional careers and taken us with them.”
The future – the next 15 years
Karen and John reflect on both trends in business, and what the future holds for Monkey Puzzle. Having seen so much change during the pandemic, it’s not surprising to see hybrid working growing along with more emphasis on technology, as John explains. “I think there’s obviously more hybrid working. AI is going to bring different opportunities and challenges, so businesses are going to be different from that point of view so as usual, technology is going to advance and that’s going to have an impact. I personally think it’ll have a positive impact, but it’ll be an adaption for a lot of people so that’s the biggest change I think. This excites us because we believe that people who are at the forefront of building powerful technologies like AI, should be well rounded humans led by excellent leaders – which is why people will still need human connection. There’s always a need to build relationships and I think that’s the core of what we focus on in leadership. Technical expertise, skills, processes, all these things are really important, but actually at the core of it is human beings interacting with human beings. That’s what an organisation is and that won’t change. It’s also what real leadership is about. Bringing their real selves to the organisations they lead and setting the tone by being real.”
As for the business itself, Karen and John continue to work closely with clients, with up to 70% of their time onsite with clients leading change projects and working with boards, HR leaders and CEOs. And more recently the Monkey Puzzle business model has changed. Karen talks through the new structure. “We have moved away from a model of using associates to deliver our programmes and made the commitment (during the pandemic) to employ 6 people who were working with us in an associate capacity, offering them job security and investing in their growth and development. We are planning to develop our online tools and resources. write a third book on organisational performance (committed to publish in 2023) and develop our wellbeing services on the back of our academic research. We will also be investing in the development of the team and are planning to expand our delivery team by 3 people to meet the growing demand.”
Great British Entrepreneur Awards
One special bit of news came in the summer by being finalists in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards as Service Industry entrepreneurs of the year, where there were over 5,300 entries. Karen talks about what this means to her and John. “It’s nice to be recognised as business owners as well as for our leadership development and consultancy work. The experience of being business owners has deepened our understanding and empathy of what many growing organisations face and how important their people are as part of this. Thanks to our own great team and the many people we’ve worked with and helped develop their exceptional careers over the years. We won’t find out if we are winners until later in November but to get this far is already lovely recognition, especially as Monkey Puzzle celebrate 15 years since we launched this year.”
About Real Leaders
Real Leaders: A Practical Guide to the Essential Qualities of Effective Leadership is published on November 10th. Organisational Psychologists Karen Meager and John McLachlan. Unpack and examine all the psychological and behavioural traits that characterise many great leaders. Through an accessible mix of pragmatic and practical guidance, they demonstrate how to adopt and adapt these common attributes and develop your own authentic leadership style.
Click here to buy Karen and John’s new book on Amazon UK.
