Lego and Me!

So a few days back my wife sent me a whatsapp describing a Lego event at a mall near our home and wanted to check if we could take our son there.

Ever since growing up, I have had a fascination of Legos but never laid my hands on a set. So the inner child in me also wanted to have a peek and who knows if my son doesnt like it, I might!

To our surprise, he loved it inspite of being the smallest kid age wise there. He finished all the 5 stations and dragged us to buy him a set. While there I saw a couple of model cars and picked up 2 for me as well( ahem, its fun when a plan comes together).

So this weekend we got around to opening the sets and we started building the model car set that I bought. While working on it, I kind of fell into a zone and once I finished , I could feel but a sense of elation persisted. When I put more thought to it, I realized, there is much more to Lego than just building blocks. Here are a few things that all of us can learn from Lego:

1. Define What success/completion looks like: Have you seen the box! What exciting pictures and much more those of completed sets not incomplete. The most interesting thing is there is no mention of pieces, no of steps, time it will take etc which will make Lego building daunting. It gives you a sense that the end is near and looks spectacular. This is something that all of you can do in our work lives- instead of defining the complex, difficult to understand and super time consuming strategies which deflate the excitement while showing the big picture we should build the momentum around and how to reach the finished product. It is the picture that speaks the thousand words, which makes you fall in love and much more generate the momentum to make the strategy a success.
2. Interchangeable Parts: My 3.5 year old monkey decided to throw a piece of one set away which meant I was stuck. However I figured out the same piece (extra ) from the other set( not a 100% but enough for me to finish). Maybe I got lucky. Now remember when you lead a project and someone uttered the most amazing words: " Bhai, hum ye kar chuke hain, this wont work because and blah blah blah". Sometimes true , but its not that you have tried , its also the order of pieces. Sometimes all we have to do is look for already existing pieces whether with you or somewhere else that will work.
3. Instructions are only lead to point of application : Don't get me wrong, The instructions are great, in fact down right amazing. Occasionally you do come across, a drawing or a an instruction which is difficult to comprehend . My son at this these times just went on building as best as he could whereas I waited trying to get it perfect. He is far better than me but because he experimented more , failed more and much importantly learnt more. It is this experimentation with fearlessness that is crucial in corporate world. granted there are risks, there are costs and risk of reputation loss. I believe that the real risk is not the consequences, but for the risk of being wrong we don't experiment. It is important nay crucial to experiment and reward those who experiment, learn and keep on repeating.
4. The more the merrier: The first car I built, I did it alone. The second with my son was more fun, with questions, proclamations and much more a very very different thought process.?It is this difference of strengths, perspectives, and experiences that allow us to go faster, further, and stronger.

You always have choice for the way you set the tone, plan and momentum for everyone around you. You can be the roadblock and say no no that how you don't do this, or you can get out of the way and let the experiment happen. As a leader, you need to clarify your expectations, talk through roles and work together .As a leader, your role is to coach and mentor?– to bring your team along with you and that happens when you let the experiment happen. Perhaps the next meeting will be , Lego anyone?