I hope like me, you are a lover of the TV Show Lego Masters.
Even though I never played with Lego as a child or an adult (until a few years ago), I love watching this show for 3 reasons:
1. To see the amazing creativity and technical ability of the contestants who build such amazing masterpieces in a very short timeframe.
2. The fun and pure joy which surrounds this show as you see people loving what they do, and the admiration (in a competition no less) of the skills and expertise of others.
3. As someone who wrote a book about building a brick business... one brick at a time, and this is my mantra to anyone I coach; it's a bit of a no-brainer.
P.S If you haven't got a copy of my business book The Five Little Business Pigs, you can get the first three chapters and your copy here.
There are so many lessons and attributes in the show which should be embraced by everyone working in a small business.
So here's my Top 7 Bricks which must be in every small business to maximise your profitability, productivity and performance.
Top 7 Lego Bricks (aka Lessons) For Every Small Business
BRICK 1 LEADERSHIP
The CEO MUST be The Brickman – whether you own the business or are running it on behalf of the owner.
Brickman is awesome.
Not only does he have amazing technical skill and creativity but as the judge of this wonderful competition, he oozes leadership in his:
• Authority
• Positivity
• Support
• Encouragement
• Calmness
• Constructive Feedback and Advice (with a bit of measured tough love when needed)
So are you actively portraying these Leadership Bricks each and every day to your team, or do you need to add some of them to your repertoire?
BRICK 2 TECHNICAL
Every contestant has a high level of technical skill in building Lego masterpieces (otherwise they wouldn't be on the show); but the expertise in all things Lego varies from one contestant to another. Eg some are highly skilled in using Technic pieces, others are just learning this skill on the show.
The common denominator though is every contestant is eager to keep learning ... learning new skills, new techniques, new NPU (Nice Part Usage); and not resting on their laurels of 'this is my ONLY strength and the way I like building Lego models so I'll just do that.'
So is everyone in your small business (including you) eager to learn and willing to stretch outside their comfort zone so they improve their Technical Bricks; or has complacency set into your business?
BRICK 3 CREATIVITY
Part of the judging criteria is how the teams demonstrate their storytelling ability simply through the bricks, as well as making their build aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Creativity appears in many ways in your small business – through the products and services you provide, to the wow factors you create as part of your customer experiences, and your simple systems and processes.
So how is your small business demonstrating its Creative Brick Story ie what makes your business different from another one, through its marketing, website and branding; as well as its products, services and customer experiences?
Side comment: Please don't tell me your quality products, fabulous team and excellent customer service is what makes you different to every other small business because that's my baseline expectation as a customer of any small business so what else do you have?
BRICK 4 TEAMWORK
I believe one of the reasons just about everyone loves Lego Masters is because even though it's a competition; everyone is driven to working together, admiring other people's creations and helping out where they can.
This is evident as you see teams planning their builds together, sharing ideas, listening to each other and then working to their strengths. By doing this, it enables the build to come together as one complete masterpiece because everyone worked in their sweet spot.
There are also so many examples of kindness and a willingness to help out other teams including empathy when pieces suddenly break or fall on the floor. None more so than in Season 2 when Summer fell ill and Iona had to complete an elimination build on her own. Both Alex and Stani made some Lego lollies to put inside her pinata because they knew she would run out of time.
So how would your small business rate on the Teamwork Brick scale; both in people working in their sweet spot (ie the work they are good at and love to do), as well as the kindness and sharing factors?
BRICK 5 FLEXIBILITY
As much as a plan is essential to help us remain focused and understand the outcome we are trying to achieve, unexpected things often hit us which means the plan won't work and has to change.
We see this a lot in Lego Masters like in Season 2, when Trent and Josh were making a birdcage and initially they lost a lot of time making something which ended up not working. But instead of giving up, they worked together to come up with a solution which ended up being fantastic – though different to what they had originally envisaged.
And it's through this flexibility and change of direction that ensures contestants rarely compromise quality and their brand.
So how willing is your small business to be a Flexible Brick, to change the plan so it will still work to achieve the desired outcome... for your business, your team and your customers?
Or are you dogmatic that this is way we've always done it and we will continue this way regardless?
Side comment: Hopefully, COVID has changed the dogmatic thinking of anyone running and working in small businesses.
BRICK 6 EXPECTATIONS
At the start of each challenge, Hamish outlines the brief and the timeframes, and then Brickman states the judging criteria. It is then interesting to see the planning process of each team. Some quickly have a chat and then head to the Brick Pit, others spend the first part of the build methodically etching out their design and who does what.
One of the critical factors which impacts on teams is often their underestimation of how long it will take to build particular components. And sometimes, their creative flair can get in the way of the task at hand which is to clearly meet the brief within the allocated timeframe.
So how often do you and your team meet the brief (aka the Expectation Brick) within the allocated timeframes in your small business, whether it's completing daily tasks or developing a product or service for a specific client?
Always, sometimes or not very often?
And what's then the domino effect of people not being forthcoming in how long tasks will actually take to complete?
BRICK 7 SYSTEMS
I believe everything is a system: You just have to find it and then make it simple.
The simplest system we see in Lego Masters is the Brick Pit which is sorted into various bins by colour, specific pieces eg sharks, common pieces at an easy to reach level etc.
So how many Systems Bricks does your small business have in place to ensure consistency and high productivity?
For example, are the electronic files in a logical order which everyone can find easily; or is there a bit of chaos and hope for the best approach because time is not being invested to develop the systems which will make everyone's life easier in the long run?
BONUS BRICK FUN!
There is no doubt every contestant, Hamish and Brickman love Lego and being part of this show.
Even when the stress levels are high, it's the fun of the activity and remembering why they love playing with Lego which enables the teams to keep pushing through to create their masterpiece.
For followers of the show, who didn't love Jordan sprinting back and forth from the Brick Pit?
So how often does the Fun Brick appear in your small business... not only in eg your store but in the workplace (be it physical or virtual); or do you need to bring back some reminders about why you and your team love working in your small business?
