The Lego Lesson
Just like each block in a Lego set is unique and different, so is every single member of a Team.
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I grew up playing with Legos. This was before the days of Lego-themed sets and Lego Model Cars. You bought a box with a specific number of pieces, all varying in shape and size. From there, it was up to you and your imagination.
I built the typical things most kids would build, houses, buildings, and pyramids. But when wheels and gears were added, I started building cars, cranes, and a working safe with a combination lock. Well, it “kinda-sorta” worked – at least in theory.
After all, how secure can snap-together blocks really be in the real world?
The projects you could create with a box of Legos were only limited by your imagination (and the types of blocks in your box). The individual pieces could be arranged and rearranged, based on the desired creational outcome.
As you added more pieces to your collection, the more you could stretch the bounds of what was possible – and the creations became much more detailed and much, much larger.
Then came the Themed Sets, with creativity giving way to functionality. Cityscapes, Police & Fire/Rescue, Space Adventures, Medieval Knights and Castles, Pirate Ships, along with popular movie and video game themes like Star Wars and Zelda.
Today, Lego sets have become even more intricate and demanding. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of highly detailed parts go into sophisticated models of the Titanic, the Eiffel Tower, the Lord of the Rings, the Disney Castle, the Orient Express Train, Batman, the World of Harry Potter, Jurassic World, and high-end sports cars like a Porsche 911 RSR. There’s also a Technic line of Lego sets that are based on real-life construction vehicles. The amount of detail in these high-end Sets is at times overwhelming, requiring more than 2000 individual pieces to assemble a finished project.
A friend recently showed me a Lego Porsche 911 RSR his son had assembled. It was, in my opinion, a work of Art. The attention to detail was staggering. The finished project was a compilation of more than 1500 individual pieces, some incredibly small, requiring hours and hours of tedious work to assemble.
My thoughts went back to the “good ole days” when we glued together plastic models of cars, trucks, boats, planes, and even the starship Enterprise and a Klingon battle cruiser. The pieces were extruded from plastic, which we cut apart with an Exacto knife, glued together, painted, and applied stickers. Plastic models were cool, and I still have a couple on display.
However, these high-end Lego sets take model building to an entirely different level.
Think 21st century, thousand-plus-piece, high-tech, 3-dimensional puzzle.
Each piece served a purpose. Some pieces served more than one. The individual pieces were designed to fit together, in a specific order. It required a plan, an outline for success, to be followed, to achieve a desired outcome. And it required someone to take the lead in the process of building. But, when all the pieces were assembled in the proper sequence, the finished product was incredible to behold.
There’s a leadership lesson here.
Several, in fact.
Let’s focus on one: Team Building.
Team building is defined as the act or process of causing a group of people to work together cooperatively, collaboratively, and effectively as a cohesive unit. It is a process of uncovering what each individual team member does best and how they can support one another on the team so everyone can accomplish his or her goal.
It’s about allowing each team member to excel, both individually and corporately.
Think of each person on the team as a Lego block. Each block in a Themed Set is unique. It’s different than the other parts in the box. It may be able to perform more than one purpose, but there is one specific thing that each piece is best at doing. When it is performing that “one thing” it is doing what it was created to do while supporting the other pieces around it, as well as the entire project.
Each person on the team is uniquely gifted. There are some things they can do well, others not so well, and still other things they can’t do at all. Some team members have specific expertise or life experience that can be invaluable to organizational success. Black Belt Leaders take the time to uncover the 20% of each team member’s greatest giftedness and allow them to prosper and grow in that role. Where they have experience or expertise, they are given the opportunity to lead in that area.
Each Lego block snaps together, connecting one block to another. The same is true of a Team. When each team member can collaboratively and cooperatively work together, they become “sticky” as a unit. More gets done in less time as responsibilities are shared and output is multiplied.
This is how high-performance, non-leader-dependent teams are formed.
Note the two key elements of this: collaboration and cooperation. Collaboration is the process of getting individuals to work together to produce or create something. Each one contributes, uniquely adding his or her experience and expertise, to accomplish a task, project, or assignment.
Now add to that cooperation, the process of getting individuals to work together for a common goal, purpose, or outcome, and the results continue to scale. When team members can willingly and agreeably work together in “perfect harmony” (to borrow a phrase from Napoleon Hill), the contribution of the group exceeds the individual contribution of each team member.
Remember, each part in a Lego set plays a unique, important role. The model isn’t complete if a single piece is out of place. The same is true of any team. An essential role of building an effective team is helping each individual member to learn to value and appreciate each other, not just for what they do but who they are as individuals.
Just like each block in a Lego set is unique and different, so is every single member of a Team. No two members are exactly alike. Each brings his or her own life experience, talent, ability, and skills to the workplace. As such, every single team member is valuable, as there is not another person like them in the entire world.
High-performance, non-leader-dependent teams recognize this, and they celebrate the individuality and uniqueness of each team member from the janitor who sweeps the floors to the forklift driver who loads the trucks, to the cafeteria worker who prepares lunch, to the bookkeeper who writes the checks, to the leadership team who directs the effort. Everyone has a role to play, and the organization isn’t complete without every single person on the Team contributing.
So, from the CEO down, every team member needs to learn to value every other team member in the organization and look for opportunities to add value to them. We look for ways to help them improve, and contribute to their success or well-being. We take time to be present with them, giving them our full attention. We believe and encourage them, and we recognize and affirm their talent and contribution.
A Lego Porsche 911 RSR isn’t complete without side mirrors, headlights, or a spoiler.
Who are those people on the Team?
My friend was telling me that when his son was building the Porshe 911 RSR model car, a small connecting piece went missing. Hours of intense labor came to an abrupt end as Dad and his son stopped everything, dropped to their hands and knees on the floor, and combed the son’s bedroom until that small, intricate, but important piece was located.
Once it was found, and returned to the assembly table, the work could continue.
Think about that 1000-piece puzzle you worked on for days or weeks as a child. Slowly the pieces found their way together and the picture began to take shape. As you near the completion, you notice that one piece is missing. What do you do? You stop what you’re doing, frantically searching high and low, so the picture can be completed.
Back to Team Building.
When a team member goes missing, due to illness, injury, or even vacation, do we stop what we’re doing, even for a moment, to let that person know they are valuable and their absence was notable to the other members of the team?
When all the pieces are assembled, in the right order, the end result is a work of Art. When one piece is missing, even if it is a small, obscure piece, the work remains undone.
One more team-building lesson from Lego.
When it comes to building a Model, or a Team, someone has to be in charge. That person has to figure out what needs to be done, and in what sequence, gathering and sorting all the component elements so the task of building can begin. That person has to identify the process necessary to get to the desired outcome and see to it that each piece is properly aligned to accomplish its assigned role.
This is the person who is ultimately responsible for the outcome, good or bad.
That person is the leader.
In the world of Lego, there are beginner sets, basic sets, creator kits, and expert kits. Each corresponding level of complexity demands a higher degree of knowledge and experience.
Leadership is like that too.
As a leader, you start by leading yourself well and making good choices.
This is beginner leadership.
From there, you’re given an opportunity to lead, or others choose to follow you because of the example you’ve set before them.
This is basic leadership.
Once you start achieving some level of success, the opportunity to expand presents itself. Now you’re adding new team members, new responsibilities, and new challenges. You’re not only leading, you are starting to develop team members who can step into leadership roles within the organization.
Now you’re moving into creator leadership.
As you demonstrate competency and results, more opportunity presents itself. More members are needed, and the process of leading them, and teaching them to also lead others, gets even more complex and challenging.
Now, you’re starting to move into expert leadership.
Each progression in your leadership brings more opportunity, and a greater degree of sophistication, planning, and coordination as more individuals join the team. The Lego Set of Team Building continues to get even more difficult, but once you master this level of leadership, the rewards keep getting better and better as well.
This is the Lego Lesson of Team Building.
Are you ready to start building?