Phil Wilson: [00:00:09]
On today’s episode of The Left of Boom Show, we had the pleasure of interviewing Megan Cook from Happy Companies. We talked about a wide range of topics, from work styles and getting people with different personalities to work together. We talked about the use of AI as a leadership coach, the difficulty of scaling leadership coaching, and how to apply technology to be able to do that. And then also, what TV character would you like to have as a coworker? So, enjoy this week’s episode with Megan Cook from Happy Companies.

Michael VanDervort: [00:00:46]
Welcome to another episode of the Left of Boom show. I’m here with my co-host Phil Wilson, and our guest today is Megan Cook. We’re going to talk about technology and how it’s used to measure and enhance employee engagement and sentiment in the workplace. And I think that the technology angle, I mean, it’s not completely unprecedented, but we want we hopefully want to have a little bit of a fresh take on it about how Happy Companies has adapted technology and AI and assessment tools to help companies be better in measuring their employee engagement and feedback and that type of stuff.

[00:01:21]
So, that’s the conversation we’re going to have today. And I’m going to introduce Megan. She’s the chief administrative officer and the co-founder of Happy Companies. Welcome to Left Of Boom Show. How are you doing today?

Phil Wilson: [00:01:34]
Welcome.

Megan Cook: [00:01:34]
Great. Thank you. Thank you so much. I’m so excited to join you guys today and to dig in.

Michael VanDervort: [00:01:40]
We’re happy to have you. So, I neglected to ask you this in the pre-show. Where are you geographically located? Where do you live?

Megan Cook: [00:01:47]
So, I live in Southern California a little town, not as little anymore, but a little town called Temecula about an hour north of San Diego.

Michael VanDervort: [00:01:57]
I’ve never been there.

Megan Cook: [00:02:00]
You should come visit us. It’s a beautiful place. The Company is headquartered here, and that’s where I’m out of.

Michael VanDervort: [00:02:06]
Nice. Well, let’s jump to. Why don’t you give us your brief bio and tell us a bit about Happy Company, and then we’ll start into the conversation.

Megan Cook: [00:02:16]
Yeah, definitely. So, my background is really rooted in financial and administrative operations. So, I always like to say it’s like all the fun stuff. So, the financial aspects of it, compliance, legal, and really that also includes human resources. So, I’ve spent a long time working in that, probably the last ten years or so at an executive level where really being able to help drive business operations and integrate those aspects of my work into business strategy. And spent a long time with my co-founder running a different company which was a media company in the automotive space.

[00:03:01]
And about five years or so ago, we started to kick around the idea of Happy Companies, which led us to found Happy Companies within the last couple of years. So, we really started in earnest in 2023. And Happy Companies is essentially a tool. It’s built off of a technology that’s meant to help companies that are looking to build team dynamics, better collaboration, improve communication, and through the process of understanding each other better. And so, taking what we felt we experienced in terms of running really effective and dynamic teams and creating a tool that helps people deploy that in their own teams and in their own workspaces, and utilizing the aspect of technology (which I know we’ll dig into a little bit more) to improve what we would consider that old legacy model of addressing that understanding of your team.

[00:04:06]
And helping business leaders integrate that into the business outcomes, right? Because at the end of the day, oftentimes, what business leaders are going to naturally be focused on is what we consider organizational successes. And happy companies believe that those organizational successes are tied to our people. And so, how are we tapping into our people, our greatest asset, and using that to really transform the workplace and end up creating the strongest competitive advantage for the company through people leadership, and helping people work better together?

Michael VanDervort: [00:04:47]
So, why don’t you go ahead and ask the mentor question?

Phil Wilson: [00:04:51]
Yeah. We’re big around here on what we call the hero assumption. And a big part of being a great leader is believing in your team, even sometimes when things aren’t going great. And so, one of my favorite questions is to ask our guests, who was that leader in your life, the person who maybe believed in you before you thought of yourself as a leader? Who is someone who believed in you maybe when you didn’t believe in yourself? And that could be in your personal life or professional career. Who do you think of when I talk about a leader like that?

Megan Cook: [00:05:34]
Yeah, that’s a great question. And I think it’s really powerful because it oftentimes is that ability for others to see within us things that we can’t necessarily see for ourselves, to understand their perspective that we’re able to really fully tap into that potential that’s there. And truly, the person that immediately comes to mind is my co-founder, James. So, I started working for James about 15 years ago. And he’s the CEO of the company that we worked for previously. He’s run many, many companies.

[00:06:09]
And so, my role initially was just as an individual contributor. We just had a regular manager-and-employee type of relationship. I think it was through the process of him pushing me towards stepping outside of myself and being willing a little bit to sometimes be uncomfortable because I was doing things that weren’t my natural tendency because he did see in me and believe in me in terms of my leadership. So, if I was going to think back maybe even ten years ago, and we’re talking about those business successes that I had mentioned earlier, I really would have been giving you a different answer, because at that time, I was what I like to think of as a very like compliance minded contributor to the team.

[00:07:06]
So, especially in my role working in the HR aspects of it, I approached it very administratively. And there’s such a need for that. It’s not to take away the fact that that type of contribution is extremely valuable. You have to make sure that the rules are being followed and all of the boxes are being ticked.

Phil Wilson: [00:07:28]
You’re not one of those rare people who don’t care about the rules.

Speaker5: [00:07:33]
Yeah, exactly. That’s not what we want, right? What I found really was that James had offered me the opportunity to work with a leadership coach that he was working with, and it was a great leadership coach who was really the first person to introduce to me the idea of diving into self-assessment and utilizing the information of that self-assessment in order to better understand myself and work better with my team, and then to start to better of understand my team.

[00:08:06]
So, this idea of leadership being my ability to meet other people where they need me to be. And so, I was extremely focused on, like I said, my natural task orientation and detail orientation. And I wasn’t necessarily seeing the impact that that was having. And the example that I tend to go to is that my communication style, just naturally, I’m like I said, very task-oriented, so I want to get to business, I can be very direct in my communication, and I want to just work through things.

[00:08:42]
And through the process of that coaching, I was able to understand that other people maybe were perceiving that differently, and to have to sit with the fact and think about the fact that while I saw it as like, ‘Oh, we’re just getting our stuff done,’ they saw me as being a little bit, maybe even cold at times or too direct. In order to really be able to work effectively with them, I had to adapt out of that and give them some more of what they needed in terms of warmth in the conversation.

[00:09:18]
Or hey, let’s start with a personal check-in before we just dive right into all of the business talk and things along those lines. And that process really allowed me to understand, okay, wow, when I do this, I see better results. I am able to see the direct impact that I have by being able to understand my behavior and understand the needs of my team, and then adjust and adapt my behavior in order to be a more effective team member or a more effective leader. And the outcomes were better.

[00:09:55]
And so, I was able to kind of shift my focus a little bit and understand, yes, those business outcomes, productivity, profit, obviously, those are all essential but at the end of the day, they’re all tied to the people that are a part of our organization. And when I’m a better people leader, when I’m able to really dive into my people leadership, I end up having better outcomes and better results. And so, I think that James, for me, really pushed me to understand the importance of that adaptive nature and understand how powerful that can be when you’re working with a really diverse team of people that all need a little bit of a different version of you.

[00:10:45]
And then beyond that, providing me the, the tools, the tangible tools in order to go through that process of self-reflection and development and really being able to continue to grow outside of that initial mindset that I had of just trying to manage the tasks and learning how to really tap into leading humans, all full of the diverse nuances that come with our humanity.
Phil Wilson: [00:11:14]
We’ll switch gears in a second, but two questions. First, is James wired similar to you or opposite of you?

Megan Cook: [00:11:22]
Opposite.

Phil Wilson: [00:11:28]
Go ahead.

Megan Cook: [00:11:29]
Oh, I was just going to say, yeah, that’s one of the unique natures of our ability to work together and our work relationship is we are extremely different in the way that we naturally approach anything. James is a dynamic, big-picture thinker. He has a lot of energy that he’s bringing to the table all the time. He’s more naturally just comfortable in certain situations with people and stakeholders. And I am definitely more naturally reserved. And I think of things in a more analytical nature. I like to dig into data.

[00:12:07]

And so, I think one of the things that helped us become a successful pairing and really be able to work well together is the idea that we could find the synergy in that rather than focusing on where the differences are. Recognizing we have two very different styles, but how do those styles actually complement each other, and how can we give each other what we need at different times, rather than just sitting in the friction that could come from two people looking at things very differently? And you have to be willing to make some changes and really meet someone in the middle or sometimes be on the middle in order to be effective in that way.

Phil Wilson: [00:12:54]
That was my second question because you’re not naturally wired. I can see Michael is laughing because this is very similar to our workplace here. So, I’m James, and then we have a Megan. That’s not her name. Actually, her daughter’s name is Megan. So, it’s not natural necessarily for you. Your go-to is the like, let’s get to work. And we do something around here we call best and best. But it’s like, what’s the best thing going on in your personal life? What’s the best thing going on at work? But for someone who’s naturally wired as let’s get to work, that conversation at the beginning can sometimes be- that’s not necessarily your sweet spot. I’m just curious. How do you manage that?

Megan Cook: [00:13:43]
Yeah. So, that type of thing, those types of icebreakers even or just getting that part of the conversation started could for me, if I’m just sitting with my natural tendencies, create a little bit of anxiety, I’ll start to overthink it. I’m like, oh, I got to have like the perfect answer rather than just going with it. And so, part of it was just the practice of being uncomfortable enough that it stops being uncomfortable. And so, we talk about this with my team sometimes, and I like to say to them that as long as we’re not unsafe, it’s okay for us to be uncomfortable if that is where the growth is happening.

[00:14:28]
And I do think that this is one of those skill sets that develops over time. And it’s both ways, right? So, it’s regardless of what you’re tapping into, if you’re looking to grow in a certain area that is important, then the practice of the discipline of just doing it and, and then it starts to feel more comfortable. Like I said, you know, years ago, it was a different version. I probably would not have been comfortable getting on a podcast or sitting in front of a camera and having this conversation.

[00:15:05]
And so, it is a testament to the idea that we’re not static in those tendencies of ours, and through practice and through intention, we can develop the ability to work outside of ourselves. It doesn’t mean that you know you’re changing or that you have to be inauthentic. It just means that you can learn to tap into that skill set that maybe is not your natural strength.

Phil Wilson: [00:15:32]
I tell leaders all the time that if you don’t have that sort of gut feeling of I’m a little anxious about having this next conversation, you’re not leading. That’s what leadership feels like. Not like all the time. If you feel like that all the time, then maybe you have other issues. But if you’re not occasionally feeling that feeling, you’re probably not really stretching or having the conversations that you should be having.

Megan Cook: [00:16:01]
100%. It’s that discomfort, right? That little part of us that’s like, oh, I don’t know that I love this. But that’s where that growth is happening. So, you’re right. Stretching ourselves, otherwise you’re just staying in the same place. And to your point, staying in the same place isn’t leadership. Because leadership means that you’re constantly evolving. You’re constantly having to continue to push yourself into a new space. We can never feel that we have reached the pinnacle. We have to consistently drive ourselves towards that growth place.

[00:16:38]
So, Phil wrote a book and has built a substantial part of our consulting practice around the concept that he calls approachable leadership. And he talks about things like low and high-power distance and a bunch of other things. And it sounds like you walk the path where you really learned to decrease the power distance that you had from- not necessarily that you weren’t a were unlikable, but you were just doing your stuff, right? And now, it sounds like you’ve really, really shifted your leadership dynamic. That’s really cool.

Megan Cook: [00:17:12]
Yeah. think that there was a part of me that may have been a little bit, not necessarily- again, it’s not that I didn’t value my relationships with my team or truly care about them, but I was failing at making them know that. I was so stuck in my way and my approach and thinking that that was the right way to do things, that I was failing to let them know the full picture of it. And so, once you’re able to get past that mental hurdle, and for me, just seeing the impact that it had you know, you really start to understand how it can be super powerful and transformative to your team.

Michael VanDervort: [00:17:56]
Very well said. Let’s talk about the happy platform and the happy assessment and some of those things. So, you walk this really challenging and amazing path with James. And you guys have started this business that I guess in some way maybe seeks to help perpetuate the very things that he helped you with earlier in your career, which I think is a great story. But talk to us and let’s start out with what is the happy platform. Talk to us about what it is and how businesses use it, how you help your clients.

Megan Cook: [00:18:33]
Yeah. So, at the heart of it, the platform is again built as a way to create understanding. So, there’s this idea that we have in terms of getting the whole picture. And when I think about the challenges of every workplace that we’re talking to, at the end of the day, they’re people challenges. So, you have a challenge with productivity, that’s a people challenge. You have a challenge with profitability, that’s a people challenge. Executing strategy, that’s a people challenge. So, how can we help to create ways to address the people challenges?

[00:19:12]
And for us, that comes through this concept of really being able to understand the whole picture of somebody and the whole picture of your team. And so, what happy does is we have an assessment. It’s a happy assessment. And it’s a very quick assessment. It helps create this work style report essentially that then drives this understanding. And so, the happy assessment is based off of the methodology of DSIC. And I don’t know if you guys are familiar at all. Many people are. It’s a very popular methodology within businesses and the military.

[00:19:58]
Tons of people have taken a DISC assessment. And so, what we were finding, I guess, in the process of thinking through happy and thinking through the way that we use tools like that is that DISC assessments on their surface, any assessment is great. It gives you a lot of information. But these legacy tools require a tremendous amount of cognitive load in terms of just being able to retain all of that information about somebody, and then it doesn’t necessarily give you the actionable way to deploy it in your day-to-day.

[00:20:32]
So, if I know that I’m going into a meeting with James and I want to think through things, I have to grab my binder of assessments out or search for the PDF or whatever it is, and then do my review and work to figure that out. And what we do is we put all of that into a platform that puts that information directly at your fingertips. So, whether you’re on your laptop or you want to pull it up on your phone, you get access to all of that, but then it takes it a step further because it also provides a coaching aspect to it as well.

[00:21:03]
So, one of the things that we’re thinking through as we went through the process of, you know, coming up with happy and really ideating how we could make a big impact within teams at scale was understanding that we felt like technology was going to be the driver for that. We knew that this understanding of people was powerful. We knew that assessments and those types of reports were really great at helping to create that understanding for people, but we weren’t finding a great tool that could propel that at scale. And so, I spoke a little bit earlier about the fact that James was pivotal in my own journey by providing me the opportunity to have coaching.

[00:21:51]
And coaching is amazing. You can’t replace human coaching. That’s very pivotal for a lot of people. But once you get to a place of maybe beyond 50 employees, let’s say, what we’re learning at, you know, the level where we’re getting the executive coaching, so let’s say we’re C-level or management or things along those lines- every level that you have that it’s a little bit harder to continue to drive that information down. And it’s unattainable really for most companies to be able to provide that to everybody.

[00:22:25]
So, you have 1000 people. Are we going to be able to provide 1000 people with access to all of that? So, how can we not ever replace what human coaching is doing, but utilize technology to help make that accessible in a way that democratizes that access across organizations? And so, Happy as a platform uses the happy assessment to create and power the happy work style, which is that work style report. It helps us all understand each other. You can look at mine and you can look at James and you can see all those differences in terms of our communication style and how we problem-solve.

[00:23:05]
But then you also have the opportunity to actually get this AI-enhanced coaching. You can go in and solve specific problems. So, within the platform, you’re going to go pitch an idea to somebody. You pull up specifically, ‘Hey, I’m pitching an idea. It’s this person.’ Behind the scenes, the platform is taking into consideration your specific style, their specific style, and it’s giving you very personalized coaching on how to approach that conversation, how to work through a problem, how to enhance your communication with them, how to have better one on one team meetings. So, there’s all of that.

[00:23:43]
And then in addition, it starts the process of really surfacing this coaching in the tools that you’re using every day. So, for instance, in our company, we use Slack as a communication tool and we integrate with Happy, of course, through Slack. And so, every day I get a Slack from Happy. That provides me a little piece of coaching for either myself in terms of self-development, or it provides me coaching on one of my team members. And if I see that and I’m like, oh, I think that’s really helpful, I’m going to click into it and I can get a deeper dive.

[00:24:19]
But beyond even just surfacing that into our day-to-day flow of work tools, it also enhances that because it knows who I’m working with behind the scenes. It’s aware, okay, these are the people that are the core part of Megan’s day today. These are the people she’s working with the closest. And it’s going to supercharge the amount of coaching that I’m getting. So, the happy as a tool knows I work with Brittany, you know, pretty closely. Let’s make sure that Megan’s getting consistent coaching on Brittany. So, it’s really trying to help build that in the places that you need it most and it brings it to you rather than you having to seek it out.

[00:25:02]
So, not only is it accessible when you’re looking for it, but it’s also creating these moments where it’s surfacing it automatically and it’s surfacing it in the tools you already have open to be there when you’re not necessarily even looking for it, but you may need it.

Phil Wilson: [00:25:21]
That’s interesting. That’s really that’s a fascinating tool. So, do frontline employees also get a read on their boss and are they getting that same feedback in the other direction?

Megan Cook: [00:25:37]
Yes. So, everybody within the workspace. So, you can have a workspace of a thousand people. And certainly, you can pare it down so that you’re getting just your team. You can create coaching circles so that you’re able to view it based off of projects, who’s on your specific project team or who’s within your department, things like that. But everybody has access to the information. Everybody has access to view anybody in the organization. So, frontline workers can be, you know, better understanding and looking at anyone from their direct manager all the way up to the CEO of the company.

[00:26:15]
And the same thing works both ways. It’s bidirectional. So, it really opens up that ability for us to develop that understanding and get that whole picture, regardless of where someone sits within the organization. And it creates that space for us to start to better understand, okay, how do I develop my communication style, my ability to collaborate with them in a more functional way to get those outcomes that we’re all looking for? We tend to all want the same things at the end of the day, when we’re looking at business outcomes and just what we’re looking for from work.

[00:26:56]
At work, we want to be successful. We want to make sure that the job gets done. We want to also feel heard and understood. And so, this is a great way to help people hear and understand everyone that’s a member of their team, regardless of where they sit.

Michael VanDervort: [00:27:14]
You mentioned Brittany, I think is the name you used. Can you give us just a generic example of something that you might see on any given day- what that would look like in terms of specific?

Phil Wilson: [00:27:29]
Watch out. It sounds like Brittany might be a real person, so change the names to protect them.

Megan Cook: [00:27:38]
I could give you a generic example for sure, but I would be happy to even give the real deal too. So, you might be sitting there and just get a quick Slack that says, hey, this is a better way to communicate with Brittany or how to understand Brittany’s problem-solving. What is the way that Brittany approaches problem-solving? And it’ll just give you a very short, quick, snippet a tip, so to speak, to keep in mind of that person’s style. So, what are the types of natural behaviors that they would exhibit? Or what are some things that you could do to maybe enhance communication to make sure that you’re working effectively on a team?

[00:28:24]
So, it could be something along the lines of if somebody was getting a coach on me, it might say, you know, better understanding Megan’s communication style. On the on the other end, if someone wanted to adapt into me, it might say, get to the point of the conversation quickly or come to Megan with a logical background in terms of what you’re asking her to do. Megan tends not to like emotional appeals. She’s going to want to see data. So, be prepared with the facts in order to prove your case. Just things along those lines. And let’s say they were like, ‘Oh, that’s a great bit of information. I’m just going to click on Get More.’ It expands it out, gives some additional information, gives additional coaching context.

[00:29:13]
And then really if you wanted to even from there. You could click directly into the work style and profile, learn even more about me, or go into a more in-depth long-form coaching article that provides, again, specific to the person that’s getting coaching on me based off of their style, how they might they present something to me, or how would they best communicate something to me.

Michael VanDervort: [00:29:37]
Interesting.

Phil Wilson: [00:29:43]
You have to have a certain mindset if you’re a leader in an organization to really take- you have to be like you were when James was like, hey, I want you to get some coaching. And some people are really open to that. Others are more resistant to that. And I also think a little bit about different generations at work. And so I could see an older generation, maybe not feeling all that comfortable getting a bunch of advice from a robot. Whereas a younger worker might not want to be put into a certain box. Even if it’s a psychological profile that’s based on your own answers to a survey. I’m just curious. How do you deal with challenges like that?

Megan Cook: [00:30:32]
So, a couple of things come to mind. The first being one of the things that we try really hard to do as an organization is emphasize the fact that you have if you want to get buy-in, if you want to be able to get someone’s endorsement for something and for them to really get the buy-in, you have to do exactly what we’re talking about, which is present the case in a way that appeals to their underlying motivations. So, we would probably start by working with whoever you know is on this team and whoever is managing the rollout to look at that person’s happy profile or understand maybe even without that, just through talking what their style might be, and help to develop the case that helps them see the benefit in a way that appeals to them.

[00:31:19]
So, if it’s somebody that’s strongly based in terms of relationships, you build the case and you explain the benefit in terms of the relationships. If it’s somebody that’s looking at very action bias, somebody that just wants to make sure that we’re moving through and getting things done, and they like to work through achievement- how can you connect this towards showing them that it helps have good outcomes in terms of achieving goals? So, we always want to try to look at creating a benefit based off of the specific motivations that everybody has. And that’s the big picture of what we’re talking about.

[00:31:58]
In terms of those different perhaps resistance that people might have, it definitely is something that we work through with teams. Especially when you’re talking about the idea of getting put in a box. That is a true concern. And it’s one of the things that we were really thoughtful about as we developed the tool and as we developed the assessment itself. Intentionally part of what we created was something that tries not to do that because it could be very easy, like, ‘Oh, this is my DISC assessment. It says that I’m a Core I and that’s all that anyone ever really thinks about me.’ And we start to use that language, almost like putting someone in that box.

[00:32:46]
And so, it’s really important to emphasize the message, that this is a tool in terms of understanding, but it’s not the big picture or the whole picture, I guess. But it’s also important for us to create opportunities for people to present themselves in a way where they have agency over that presentation, and they have agency over even the language that’s being used. And so, when we created the Happy Workstyles, we worked to make sure that there were those opportunities within the process.

[00:33:20]
So, for instance, when you’re building out the or when you’re going through the assessment process, there are opportunities behind the scenes that already knows, okay, this is where we’re placing someone in terms of their happy work style. We believe that this is where they land for these general behaviors. And it gives you the opportunity to actually select for yourself the words that you would use to describe that. And that’s what gets built into the actual work style report that then gets shared to your coworkers. So, you have an opportunity to have agency in how you’re presenting yourself.

[00:33:55]
So, you’ve chosen the words to describe yourself. You’ve chosen hey, under stress, for example. These are some of the different ways that someone with your style might respond to stress. What do you think resonates with you the most? And so, people can opt into that language. And we find that that allows them to feel like they have more control over that presentation because they’ve been able to use language that they’re comfortable with. That allows for the same messaging. It gets people the same information about them, but they’re able to choose the language in terms of their representation.

[00:34:33]
And then there are also sections within the work style and the profile where you can actually use your own words. You can choose to fill the sections out or not. It depends on how much you want to share. And those are places where you can tell a little bit about yourself, or you can answer specific questions to help people see a fuller picture and to get that whole picture perspective. So, there’s an opportunity for me to say these are the three things that really make me happy at work. These are the three things that make me grumpy at work. And I’m telling you what that is.

[00:35:13]
So, it helps to break down that initial resistance of you just stuck this label on me- it doesn’t feel good because I didn’t have any choice in how that came out. Because we are providing the opportunity for the choice and the self-representation. And beyond that, we really tried to make sure that we created a tool that took into account the thousands of different types of work styles that really are out there and all of that is happening behind the scenes. So, it really isn’t like, oh, we’re going to stick you in one of four boxes or one of eight boxes. And being able to demonstrate that to teams, I think can be very powerful in moving that conversation forward.

Phil Wilson: [00:36:03]
I’m familiar with DISK. We’ve done working genius here. There’s StrengthsFinder. There are a lot of different ways to do this. And it seems to me there are two things. Your letter could be I, but you might actually be right on the borderline. And so, you’re going to behave a lot differently than someone who is an E, a strong E. So, there’s that whole component to it. So, the label itself, you have to go a lot deeper than the label. And it sounds like you do. But the other thing to me about these tools is that the tool is a really good starting point and like a shorthand place to start a conversation. The actual magic is the conversation that you have, right?

Megan Cook: [00:36:57]
Exactly.

Phil Wilson: [00:37:00]
We talk about the tools that we’ve used but then we really pretty quickly switched to look, as your boss, as your leader, what are some things that I do that you’d like me to do more of or keep doing? What are some things that I do that you’d like me to stop doing? That’s a really simple, powerful, like, conversation. Those things change over time. And then having a fallback of this other language where we could talk about work styles is obviously useful, especially for someone who isn’t all that comfortable starting those conversations. It’s a real good place to start. But at the end of the day, it’s really the ongoing relationship, right?

Megan Cook: [00:37:50]
Yes. Agreed. 100%. So, that’s very in line with the way that we think about it. It’s a tool, but a tool isn’t going to get you really 100% past the finish line. And so, it’s the implementation of that. And we really try to work very closely with teams to make sure that training and that implementation is strong. And one of the things that you mentioned, I think in terms of maybe that’s a starting point and it gives people that quick access to begin the conversation. Another place where we find it can be very effective is in new managers or emerging leaders, because they don’t always have the language built yet.

[00:38:30]
And so, this is a tool for their toolkit. It’s not going to suddenly snap your fingers oh, and the whole thing is done, but it provides them with the access and the language to start those conversations in a natural and comfortable way. And sometimes that’s just what people need, right? They need that starting point. They need that little spark to be able to be the catalyst of moving that forward and to feel more confident in it- to go into it feeling a little bit more confident because they have that preparation. Yeah.

Michael VanDervort: [00:39:06]
I’m curious what a typical happy client is. You don’t need to name names, but what does a typical client for you guys look like? You mentioned 7000 people. In scale, that seems like a big, big client.

Phil Wilson: [00:39:22]
Well, they’re all happy, I can tell you that.

Michael VanDervort: [00:39:27]
What’s the normal? Small, medium large.

Megan Cook: [00:39:31]
Small to medium. I would say that the most effective is going to be over 50 for sure. Smaller teams can definitely utilize the tool and it can be great. But where we start to really see the challenge for having that level of understanding and being able to work through the layers that come with the company’s hierarchy is at that point, it becomes a little bit more difficult to convey the messaging in a consistent way and to really be able to have access to all the different people and the different moving parts. So, that’s really like probably where the sweet spot starts.

[00:40:04]
And then really, honestly, anywhere up to teams of 3000 or something along those lines. So, what’s great about it is that ability to be effective depending on the level of scale that you’re looking at. And some companies may choose to deploy it just within a specific place. Right. So, they may have one specific team that they feel this is a really beneficial tool for and so they’re deploying it there. And they may choose to move it into other areas you know, over time. But it doesn’t have to be the entire company in the workspace. It can be really adaptable in terms of how you choose to deploy it and how you choose to use it within the size of your company or what the needs of your company are.

Michael VanDervort: [00:40:52]
I always do a bit of a LinkedIn dive on our upcoming guests to see what you’re posting and that kind of thing. And some of the words that I noticed, you talked about building exceptional teams. You talk about building or creating extraordinary workplaces, fostering deeper connections, and understanding team dynamics. But you also talk about AI and technology. I’m big into AI tools. I love playing with them and trying to figure out how to use them for business and that stuff. But you talked about how AI might be able to help us create a more human touch, and I found that to be very intriguing. Can you expand on that and how that happens?

Megan Cook: [00:41:36]
Yeah. So, that’s a great question. I personally find the emerging technology of AI to be very exciting. And so, just in terms of the dichotomy of what you’re talking about there in that statement. For someone who’s like, oh, I’m a very people-centered leader, and I love AI. Some people are like, oh, that seems a bit conflicting, help me understand. And the reason is going back to part of what I was saying earlier, is that AI is an amazing tool that allows us to do great things in this space that I will never replace. So, I understand and believe that there are parts of our ability as humans that we’re just not going to ever replace as a tool.
[00:42:22]
And a lot of that comes to the things that we were just talking about with regards to really taking it beyond just here’s your coaching and now you need the human to implement it. Now you need to actually have the tough conversation. Now you have to actually be able to build the connection. And so, you can provide the tools and it helps to create opportunities to move into that. And that’s where I think AI is really powerful. I like to look at ways to use AI in terms of automating certain aspects of my day-to-day life. Those places where maybe the admin takes up so much of the time that I have.

[00:43:04]
And because it has to get done, I have to put off some of the other things that are probably the more important in some ways or some of the things that really, truly could only be done by a person, by a human. So, I can find ways to integrate AI and use technology that allows me to free up the space to dive into that part of creativity and building my team, relationship building. So, when I say or when we say that AI technology can help towards actually building that human touch it’s because, to me, AI is never going to replace that human touch, but it is going to free us up to be able to tap into it more, and it’s going to free us up to be able to really utilize those parts of our whole selves, our, our intellect, our creativity, our hearts, our compassion in a way that maybe we were spending a lot of that energy on stuff that we can now get done in a more efficient, effective way.

[00:44:12]
With even looking at the ways that we would integrate AI with happy, we utilize it primarily in terms of generating the coaching. When we’re talking about thousands of different work styles and making sure that you’re getting personalized coaching based on all of these work styles, that just the scale of that is incredible. And so, AI allows us to create that and to generate it at scale. But then we do still go through and we have that reviewed by business experts, leadership coaches, experts within the space so that we’re curating the coaching that’s actually the best coaching, and we’re making sure that what’s being generated is actually going to be helpful.

[00:44:58]
And so, you still do need that eye on it. So, it’s moved us forward. It’s allowed us to create things at scale and at a speed that we probably wouldn’t be able to do just on our own. And then that allows us to go in and add the human touch and to create the place of it that I can’t do, and to put that integration into the platform. And so, that’s the way that I look at it. I tend to have a really positive and excited view about the way that it could transform workspaces and workplaces because you’re going to be able to focus on areas and innovation that you weren’t previously able to because of the admin really.

Phil Wilson: [00:45:46]
That’s great.

Michael VanDervort: [00:45:47]
Any last question from you, Phil?

Phil Wilson: [00:45:50]
I just had a quick reaction to that, which is another way, and I’ve used it myself this way, but it’s a place where you can actually get some, some no-risk reps practicing a conversation. So, you can go into ChatGPT and say, look, I’ve got an employee and this is the situation. And you could even probably throw in some of the coaching that you have offered. And you go, I want to just practice this conversation. And it’ll do a really good job of the back-and-forth of that conversation. And then you can go back and say, give me feedback about the conversation I just had. And it gives you really good practical tips.

Megan Cook: [00:46:35]
Yes, I agree with that wholeheartedly. I think that that is such a great use of it. And it’s freeing you up because you’re able to work through that in a very effective way that’s really giving you good outcomes. And also, it’s practical. So, you’re actually being able to take something and put it into practice and see really great outcomes from it. So, I do that as well. I love it. It allows me to spin things up really quickly, that I can then adjust and change on my own. So, it can be really powerful if we’re using it with the correct intentions.

Michael VanDervort: [00:47:14]
Literally just before we came on, I saw an article in a newsletter that I got and it said that ESPN just started using AI to generate sports summaries of sports events. So, it’s creating, instead of having a human do that. And it did a great job of reporting on a tennis match or something. I forget what the exact event was, but it said that it did a great job of reporting all the stats and all the plays and everything, but it also missed and failed to mention at all that a famous player announced their retirement because it like the machine missed the human aspect of it.

Megan Cook: [00:47:50]
Yeah, that’s why you got to have that human part of it still.

Michael VanDervort: [00:47:54]
Which brings us back to where we started, the human touch. You need both. So, we’re up on time. We’re going to wrap up with our fun question that we always do. I always try to theme the question to the guest. So, the question that I’m going to pose to you, Megan, is if you could pick any TV or movie character to join your team, given your fascination with building exceptional teams, who you pick and why?

Megan Cook: [00:48:25]
That’s a great question. And it’s a tough one because part of our philosophy is this idea that you really want to have a diverse team that’s full of so many different people, right? And there are so many different strengths that different types of characters can bring to a team. But I got to go with Ted Lasso. I have to go back to- I don’t know if you guys have watched the show, but Coach Ted Lasso. And the reason why I think for me is, what a great representation of empathy and emotional intelligence and the outcomes that can come from employing that on a team and working with, again, a very diverse group of people.

[00:49:10]
If you look at the team that he was working with, lots of different motivations, and different types of people and behaviors. It was his empathy and his ability to connect and create those relationships and his emotional intelligence in addressing situations and conflict that really was able to drive that success. And so, if I was going to bring anybody on board from a television show or a movie, for sure, I’d grab Coach Lasso for sure.

Michael VanDervort: [00:49:42]
Not a not a bad pick at all. Phil, did you come up with one?

Phil Wilson: [00:49:47]
Not really. I would probably do like Tina Fey. I think she’d be hilarious to work with. So, I don’t know if I have to pick a show. I guess, 30 Rock.

Michael VanDervort: [00:50:01]
I was going to say which version of Tina Fey. I’m not sure I’d want to be Tina Fey. Although I did go with a different presidential show for mine. This came from an email that we were copied on, and I was watching What’s Next, your approachability minute that you did. So, West Wing, right? And Leo McGarrity, the chief of staff to Martin Sheen’s Josiah Show.

Megan Cook: [00:50:29]
That show is near and dear.

Michael VanDervort: [00:50:30]
Because Leo was the guy that was no BS. He always said he always told the truth, and he always pushed to do the right thing, even if it wasn’t the popular thing. And I think every organization needs somebody like that. So, I saw that in this video that somebody shared with Phil and I, and I was like, that’s my guy for this.

Phil Wilson: [00:50:51]
That’s good. That’s a good one.

Michael VanDervort: [00:50:53]
I had forgotten about it.

Megan Cook: [00:50:53]
That’s a really good one.

Michael VanDervort: [00:50:56]
I want to thank you, Megan, for coming on, especially on a Friday afternoon, and doing the show with us. It was great to have you as a guest, and we look forward to learning more about Happy down the road. We Hope you have a great rest of your week.

Megan Cook: [00:51:10]
Yeah, thank you guys so much. It was a pleasure. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Phil Wilson: [00:51:15]
Great to see you.

Michael VanDervort: [00:51:15]
Have a great day.