![\"Lego](\"https:\/\/www.legalgeek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Jimmy-Vestbirk-duck.jpg\")
The best duck in the world?<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWell, I start by asking clients to build the best duck in the world in 30 seconds,\u201d Shaun explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ask someone to draw a duck and then say \u2018tell me something about that duck?\u2019, they might say \u2018it\u2019s a big duck or a small duck, or a yellow duck\u2019. However, if you ask someone to\u00a0build<\/i>\u00a0a duck they are more likely to tell you a story about it, because building something (in effect prototyping your idea) enables you to expand your imagination, think more laterally and express your ideas more easily. For example, it will now be a duck which is low to the water and can swim fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a typical warm-up exercise and helps to get people into a creative flow, connecting their hands and brain, and enabling them to think in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n
From this point on, Jones’s sessions will go in different directions depending on the client\u2019s fundamental objectives. The quality of the models which participants build is not the most important factor. It\u2019s about building something that can act as a visual metaphor, around which stories and narratives can be developed.<\/p>\n
But how does this lead to fostering innovation in a business environment?<\/p>\n
As Shaun explains, it\u2019s often about de-mystifying what innovation actually is:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you say something has to be innovative people immediately jump to the idea that something has to be space-age. But innovation comes in many forms and can be\u00a0<\/span>as simple as someone pointing out that we need to speak to our clients more frequently to understand their needs, just as much as it covers colonising the moon.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s also common for companies to focus on the \u2018day-to-day\u2019 and not give themselves the time or tools to think creatively about new solutions and what innovation looks like for them and their clients. This can especially be the case where one individual is given the responsibility for \u2018innovation\u2019 in an organisation \u2013 as ironic as that sounds \u2013 ultimately innovation is everyones responsibility, especially in this increasingly changing and technology-enabled landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo in these sessions, I\u2019m focusing on encouraging participants to share their ideas, however small and insignificant those ideas might feel, because they are often the ones that can make the biggest or most immediate impact; a process change or a new best practice example.\u201d<\/p>\n Lego works as the perfect facilitation tool for people accustomed to internalising their thoughts and ideas as it enables them to visualise, express and share those ideas with colleagues.<\/p>\n Jones adds: \u201cAs adults we try and figure out a lot of complex stuff inside our heads \u2013 and expressing those thoughts and ideas in a way others will clearly understand can be challenging. As children we used our hands a lot to communicate ideas and tackle new challenges. As adults we don\u2019t do that nearly as much, that is with the exception of those working in the creative industries. When we build objects we actively connect the hands and the brain and allow ourselves to think differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones became a Lego Serious Play facilitator after participating in a session at Google and witnessing the power of those little plastic bricks held even in an adult environment. Shortly after he underwent an intensive five-day facilitators course working with Lego Serious Play bricks \u201cmorning, noon and night\u201d under the instruction of a Danish ex-army officer and one of the original proponents of the Lego Serious Play methodology.<\/p>\n And his consultancy work now reflects the results-driven nature of his previous employment with every session tailored to a client\u2019s core objectives.<\/p>\n There may be a lot of Lego involved in Shaun\u2019s sessions, but they are far from free play. In fact, they are designed to be challenging and unlock each participant\u2019s creative capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sessions are intentionally pacy, with each build ranging from 1 to 5 minutes. I give participants enough time to express their ideas, but not so much time that they overthink and produce expected or \u2018safe\u2019 results.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe best creative thinking comes from setting constraints. Having too much time means people often over intellectualise and rely less on their gut instincts, therefore limiting their capacity to produce unexpected and novel ideas. But give them shorter time frames and they become more fanciful in their thinking and therefore more creative and innovative, something every organisation is striving to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n