It’s nice to find research that backs up what I do. Recently there was an article in the NY Times about the research Google has been doing to create the perfect team. Among their findings, ‘As long as everyone got a chance to talk, the team did well. But if only one person or a small group spoke all the time, the collective intelligence declined.’
I’ve been saying this for a while now. The team makes better decisions when everyone gets involved. Sometimes teams need help getting everyone to participate. LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® can help with that. LSP isn’t the only way, but it is one way.
Another finding was that team members needed to feel safe. If they felt safe and accepted, then they could come up with more interesting ideas – they could say things that were maybe silly or off the wall without feeling judged. These ideas could end up sparking a really great solution – or they could just be banter to help people feel connected and secure. Both results are important. Again, LSP is one way to help people expose parts of themselves in a safe and controlled way. There is no way to fail if you’re playing.
A lot of work these days is done in collaboration. Google knows this. If your team isn’t allowing everyone to participate – call me! Or Google. But I don’t think they answer the phone. 😉
Play Dates with Talia 