Mark Ashton and Ingmar Elm are cofounders of MAD Business, a consultancy focused on delivering powerful experiential learning days to improve team cohesion and performance. MAD Business was founded in 2024 to provide MAD events in the UK and other countries outside Estonia, where MAD was founded in 2002, has delivered more than 2,000 team learning days for over 500 client organisations of all sizes, and that Ingmar has been a lead coach for MAD in Estonia since 2004. MAD itself was originally founded in Estonia in 2002 and has delivered more than 2,000 team learning days for over 500 client organisations of all sizes. Ingmar has been a lead coach for MAD since 2004.

We unpack the neuroscience of high performance from how emotions overpower logic, to why psychological safety isn't a “soft” concept but the hard foundation of innovation and resilience. We talk about the real cost of hidden fear in consultancy cultures, how founders can accidentally sabotage performance despite good intentions, and what leaders must do to build trust that scales. Mark and Ingmar also share practical tools and frameworks like “experience days” and behavioural pattern diagnosis to help you unlock the true performance potential of your team.

Whether you're looking to exit, scale, or simply lead more effectively, this episode is a must-listen for founders who want their consultancy to thrive well beyond themselves.

• Why teams, not individuals, are the true units of performance
• How the brain’s emotional wiring affects collaboration
• The neuroscience of trust, decision-making and conflict
• What psychological safety really is and how to create it
• How founders unintentionally destroy safety and performance
• “Experience days” and filming teams to reveal behavioural patterns
• The power of collective awareness and creating new team norms
• Building a culture that flows (not one that grinds)
• How to transition from founder-led control to shared leadership
• What high-performing teams do differently consistently
  
  

Linkedin: Mark Ashton

Linkedin: Ingmar Elm

Website: https://mad-business.com/