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Author: Mart Gordon

Creating a principled organisation

Posted on by Mart Gordon

By many estimates over half of the S&P 500 companies will no longer exist in a decades time at least according to the research carried out by Innosight. There are a number of reasons why this is happening as seen in the Inc. article linked to above. But one thing stands out to me in the article. The lack of simple guiding principles.

Getting caught up in present-day obligations

In a survey of executives from 91 companies with revenue greater than $1 billion across more than 20 industries, Innosight asked: “What is your organization’s biggest obstacle to transform in response to market change and disruption?” Forty percent of survey respondents blamed “day-to-day decisions” that essentially pay the bill, but  undermine our stated strategy to change.” It was by far the most prevalent response. The next most popular answer, at 24 percent, was “lack of a coherent vision for the future.”

Inc.com

The biggest obstacle to transformation for organisations was aligning the day-to-day decisions to the change strategy they have put in place. This is a very common problem across organisations of all sizes in that strategies are undermined by habitual thinking and taking the easy path. It is often the case that we do not notice that this is happening because we have not set out the new strategy in a way that is clear enough for all parts of the business to work into their operation.

What is needed is a set of guiding principles to aid everyone within the organisation with making decisions that fit the values that are set out by the new strategy.

How do we create such a set of guiding principles?

I would put forward the use of Lego Serious Play or a programme of facilitated meetings based on liberating structures to explore the values of the organisation so that the guiding principles emerge from within the organisation. This way everything the organisation does and every decision they make can be aligned with the values by following the guiding principles.

Many organisations get this wrong including large organisations and some of them suffer because of it. As an example, we can look at how organisations use moments in the cultural zeitgeist to appear to have the same values and stand for the same things as the public. Look at M&S’s recent support of LGBTQ+ rights through the launch of the LGBT sandwich (A BLT with added Guacamole). This, on the face of it, seems like a good thing, and there is an argument that it is helpful to normalise the celebration of non-binary lifestyles. But, how does this fit with M&S opening stores in Saudi Arabia since 2014? Those values look to be lip service when the organisation is also making a decision to open stores in a country with a terrible record on LGBT rights.

With a solid set of simple guiding principles, decisions can be taken that align with the organisation’s values and purpose. This can help them avoid conflicts between their values and their functional operations. Allowing the organisation to adapt to change while still knowing what they stand for and being able to communicate that to their customers.

Talk to us today to discuss how we can help you discover the guiding principles for your business.

Unlocking your knowledge

Posted on by Mart Gordon

Unlocking your knowledge means being able to access knowledge that you may not have previously been aware of. Some people may refer to this as connecting the dots or discovering patterns. How can we purposefully unlock our knowledge? Can we rely on a methodology for this?

Knowledge emerges from play

One of the most common things to hear from participants in a Lego Serious Play workshop is “I had no idea I knew this”. This phrase often occurs when the participant has already felt anxious about not knowing what to build or where to start. The interesting part to this is that once the participant begins to build they let the idea or knowledge emerge. The method of LSP is designed to help this deeply held knowledge to surface and to some it can feel like alchemy.

Many moments of great insight and inspiration can feel like the idea or the knowledge popped in to your head from somewhere else. Paul McCartney is said to have dreamed the song Yesterday and the Oasis songwriter, Noel Gallagher has said that the “good ones just fall out of the sky” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-cBct4EKRs). The truth of this is that it is always within us that we create ideas and can uncover deep knowledge.

Plato wrote about the idea that knowledge comes from within in the dialogue that Socrates has with Meno. In the dialogue there is a passage where Socrates uncovers deep understanding from a slave or servant boy of Meno. The boy was not previously aware of what emerges but discovers it through the questions Socrates asks.

Soc. What do you say of him, Meno? Were not all these answers given out of his own head?

Men. Yes, they were all his own.

Soc. And yet, as we were just now saying, he did not know?

Men. True.

Soc. But still he had in him those notions of his-had he not?

Men. Yes.

Soc. Then he who does not know may still have true notions of that which he does not know?

Men. He has.

Soc. And at present these notions have just been stirred up in him, as in a dream; but if he were frequently asked the same questions, in different forms, he would know as well as any one at last?

Men. I dare say.

Soc. Without any one teaching him he will recover his knowledge for himself, if he is only asked questions?

Men. Yes.

Soc. And this spontaneous recovery of knowledge in him is recollection?

Men. True.

Soc. And this knowledge which he now has must he not either have acquired or always possessed?

Men. Yes.

Soc. But if he always possessed this knowledge he would always have known; or if he has acquired the knowledge he could not have acquired it in this life, unless he has been taught geometry; for he may be made to do the same with all geometry and every other branch of knowledge. Now, has any one ever taught him all this? You must know about him, if, as you say, he was born and bred in your house.

Men. And I am certain that no one ever did teach him.

Soc. And yet he has the knowledge?

Men. The fact, Socrates, is undeniable.

Through the Socratic Method the boy was able to uncover the knowledge that he was not aware that he knew. Within LSP we do the same by using the bricks but we add the teaching found in Seymour Papert’s Constructionism. Papert is quoted as saying:

What we learn in the process of building things that we care about sinks much deeper into the subsoil of our mind than what anyone can tell us.

This alludes to the power of concrete thinking, thinking by using the hands to create a representation of the knowledge and ideas over purely abstract thought. Thus concrete thinking allows us to find paths to knowledge and ideas that we may not easily find through other means.

This is how LSP can help you unlock your knowledge.

Talk to us today to discuss your needs and we can design some bespoke workshops for you.

The problem with conformity.

Posted on by Mart Gordon

Conformity contributes to how we feel part of a movement, a tribe, a family or any grouping of human beings. But, there is a price for this mechanism that allows us to feel part of something. That price was illustrated by Solomon Asch in his famous psychology experiment.

The Asch Experiment

The aim of the experiment was to investigate how social pressure from wanting to be part of a group leads us as humans to conform. In this case by ignoring the obvious answer so as to conform with the view of the majority.

The basic experiment used a group of people that was asked a simple question. In this case the question was “is the line drawn on this board equal to the length of line A, B or C on this other board?”. There was always an obvious answer but there was a twist. Out of the group only one member was being experimented on, the rest were all actors. The actors gave the wrong answer, for example saying the answer was line C when it was clearly A. Over the full set of trials of the test the subject conformed about 75% of the time. You can see an example of the test here in this video:

The interesting thing that was done though was to change the experiment’s parameters. A second round was undertaken where the actors all gave the answer C which was wrong except for one of them. This actor gave the answer B, which was also wrong. The result of this round showed that the person being experimented on conformed only 1% of the time, although we have to allow that they may have just got it wrong.

This shows that conformity is a powerful behavioural problem. Whether we do this out of fear of being ridiculed for being in the minority or if it is a deeper psychological influence is not important. The important thing is that it only took one divergent voice from the norm to allow others to speak more freely in support of what they personally believed to be correct. Even if it  wasn’t the same answer as the other person straying from the most common answer.

The importance of hearing from every voice in the room, group, organisation or team is obvious from this. Our workshops using Lego Serious Play, Liberating Structures and Game Storming offer methods for stifling the conformity in the group and gaining maximum insights and ideas.

Talk to us today to discuss your needs and we can design some bespoke workshops for you.

Putting Play to Work

Posted on by Mart Gordon

One of the many things I love about the LEGO® SERIOUSPLAY® method is that name. Serious play seems like an oxymoron right? Play is supposed to be fun and easy and time away from work. “Child’s Play” has long been a phrase that refers to the easiness of a task. But if you watch children at play you can see that it is serious. Everything they do in play is steeped in meaning. We can learn from this.

Why we should use play at work

Play can take many forms but at the most basic level it is an activity that creates enjoyment and engagement. Pamela Meyer says in her book From Workplace to Playspace:

Play in the organizational system allows for dynamic engagement

This attribute of play, that it is engaging, makes play powerful as a tool to us. Play can be used to engage us in our tasks, to help us confront the daunting problems that we may often ignore or sweep aside. If we approach these with a playful mindset we are able to open up avenues of discovery and knowledge that can help us to build strategies and solutions. We already use this in our work life. How many times have you heard the phrase “let’s play it out”? This is a useful phrase because we can literally play it out using play methods like Lego SeriousPlay, Game Storming and Applied Improv.

On top of play being a useful tool in the workplace for discovery, idea creation, knowledge building and strategising, play can have many beneficial effects. Bright HR have researched this with the wellbeing expert Cary Cooper and have found that fun and play are important to the workforce and can have benefits to the organisation. These benefits include:

  • Increased productivity
  • Lower stress levels
  • Reduced workforce absences

This research is based on play being an activity of fun with no work place value other than the wellbeing of the workforce. As the research was carried out in partnership with a wellbeing expert perhaps this is to be expected.

What if we could make the activity of play productive?

If we can make the activity of play productive in terms of the work that needs to be carried out then we can achieve the benefits to the wellbeing of the workforce, which benefits the organisation but also further benefits to the organisation such as greater collaboration, more abundant ideas, greater knowledge sharing, less habitual thinking and so much more.

By way of example. Improv is a tool that can be used in the workplace that can be used to uncover and share knowledge, play out scenarios and promote collaboration through active listening (How Improv techniques can help your business).

Lego SeriousPlay has a method that can be used for any number of issues in the workplace. For instance, team building, solving problems and even defining the values of the organisation. Perhaps designing the business or the value proposition by coupling Lego SeriousPlay with Strategyzer’s value proposition canvas.

Game Storming provides activities that likewise can share knowledge and help with problem solving, design and so much more.

Looking back to how seriously children take play, there is good reason for that. Through play most children are able to learn to stand, walk and use their voices as well as the basics of language by the age of three. Play allows us to push boundaries and see what we can do and our methods at MundoNovus are able to bring these benefits into your organisation.

So not only is it Serious it is Purposeful Play.

Talk to us today to discuss your purposeful play needs and we can design some bespoke workshops for you.

A conversation about bringing play into work

Posted on by Mart Gordon

Before the Easter break I had the good fortune to sit down with Carlos Saba from Happy Startups to discuss my journey in starting MundoNovus and how bringing play into work can help organisations and individuals to unlock potential in their knowledge and add that creative spark.

Take a listen. I will be revisiting many of the topics discussed in this podcast in insightful articles in the future. We touch on elements of Lego SeriousPlay, Game Storming, Applied Improv and Design Thinking.

For more on the Happy Startups approach to creating your business please visit: https://www.happystartups.co/

How Improv techniques can help your business

Posted on by Mart Gordon

Applied Improv allows ideas and insights to bubble up through a positive structure that by it’s nature has a preference for seeking out solutions.

We’re not looking for funny, we’re looking for deeper insights, but if funny also happens then we will happily take that too.

Improv is an ideal way to find deeper insights with the collaboration of your team. The main tenet of improv is to accept the created world you are in through the notion of “yes and”. This means that you say yes to the premise offered to you and then build on that.

The beauty of this is that we can construct a seed idea by creating a setting and a subject. The subject might be “the plans for the launch of a new product that your business has developed”. We can bring in things from the real world, it is fine, this isn’t Inception. We can also create a setting that is out of the ordinary to see where that may lead.

This method is one of literally thousands of ways we can apply improv to help new ideas and understanding emerge. This can help to unearth things we didn’t know we knew. These could be areas we hadn’t thought about in a standard meeting or ideas that are so fresh that we have to try them.

But this is not the only impact that Applied Improv can have on your business or indeed your life.

What if everyone on your team listened more actively to one another?

The more that Improv skills are practised by your team the more they will retain them and let them bleed into their day to day life. When working within Improv or even just when using Improv exercises active listening is a skill that is quickly learned as it is imperative to a coherent scene. When in an active listening state we are more likely to spend time really listening rather than waiting for our turn to speak as so often happens in conversations or standard work meetings. This in turn promotes empathy as once we listen to understand deeply we are more aware of others having different ideas, emotions and opinions.

In essence, what is occurring is a development of NVC or Non-Violent Communication which is sometimes referred to as Collaborative Communication. This is an approach to communication developed by the psychologist Marshall B. Rosenberg from the 1960s onwards. Improv aligns well with the intentions of NVC and specifically fits with the intention of “Caring equally for everyone’s needs”.

So to recap. Improv helps deeper insight, ideas and understanding to bubble up through our directed workshop. It can also help create a collaborative atmosphere in your team brought about by empathic and active listening.

Benefits of 100:100 meetings

Posted on by Mart Gordon

Have you ever been in a meeting where there are a majority of people not contributing, or worse, not being asked to contribute. Meetings often fall into line with the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule as it is often referred to. This means that 80% of what is said is being said by only 20% of people in the room.

What is a 100/100 meeting?

My mentor Robert Rasmussen, the man who created the method of Lego Serious Play into what it is today, introduced me to the concept of 100/100 meetings when I was training with him. The idea is to counteract the typical business meeting and to break us out of the 80/20 problem mentioned above.

Have you ever been in a meeting and felt unable to speak up or unheard or, worse still sat there wondering why you were even called into this meeting in the first place? I know I have. The problem is that there may be over-assertive types or types who can dominate verbal communication or types that can formulate their thoughts quicker than others in the room which can lead businesses to ignore that each person has their own set of insights and ideas. Unearthing those insights and ideas is a strong component of the Lego Serious Play method.

Robert Rasmussen calls meetings where you give every person the oppurtunityto express their critical thoughts 100/100 meetings because you achieve 100% attention and 100% participation. The advantages of this can lead to:

  • A greater abundance of ideas
  • Greater engagement from each member of the team
  • Efficient decision making
  • Lean-in meetings (you can notice that people visibly lean in instead of back away from the table with their arms folded)
  • Unlocking of knowledge we may not have known we had

Facilitated workshops and meetings using the methods we employ at MundoNovus can equalise that power in the room and improve engagement within meetings. Through using Lego Serious Play, Applied Improv, Design Thinking techniques and Liberating structures we have found ways to:

  • Gain greater participation from all attendees in a meeting
  • Get a greater understanding of both the purpose and the outcomes of the meeting throughout the team
  • Provide a way forward that is understood and acted upon along with alternative options should the desired outcomes not be met
  • And provide a moment of stress reduction by making the work fun to engage with.

Work with us at MundoNovus and we can help you design meetings with positive outcomes that help you achieve your objectives as an organisation, team and individuals. Contact us today.

Why we need an engaged workforce

Posted on by Mart Gordon

A huge part of being a successful organisation, whether you are in the public sector or the private sector or a non-profit or charity, is improving productivity and efficiency. It is paramount to have an engaged team or workforce.

I am not a fan of the term workforce as it contains the word force alongside work which, to me at least, brings to mind that work is what one is forced to partake in. This is not the case, there have been moments in my career (as varied as it has been) that I have hit such a flow state that I could carry on working for hours and feeling that only minutes have gone by. This flow state is documented and described best by the Hungarian American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. This is the extreme state of being “in the zone”. It is characterised by a sense of enjoyment in the activity one is engaged in.

As employees and leaders of organisations we can do many things to help our teams to get closer to this flow state or at least to find an element of enjoyment in the activity of work.

Why do we need our teams to enjoy work?

The reasons for needing an engaged team can be varied. The business case would be to cite that an engaged team is likely to have a lower turnover. According to a PWC report companies with highly engaged employees find:

  • 33% higher profits
  • 51% lower voluntary turnover
  • 2.5 x higher performance-related business outcomes

[Source: Engage2Excel]

  • 41% lower absenteeism
  • 17% higher productivity
  • 24% lower turnover (high-turnover organisations)
  • 21% higher profitability

[Source: Gallup.com]

Despite discrepancy between sources we can agree that there are positive outcomes to addressing engagement within our teams.

Richard Branson puts it as:

It should go without saying if the person who works at your company is 100 percent proud of the brand and you give them the tools to do a good job, and they are treated well, they’re going to be happy. If the person who works at your company is not appreciated, they are not going to do things with a smile. Effectively, in the end, shareholders do well, the customers do better, and your staff remains happy.

 

So we have the case for engaging our team.

How do we engage our teams?

My take on this is, ask the team. The engagement of the team firstly should involve the team. I see successful companies who have developed over the last ten years or so who are consistently found to be at the top of the UK workplace list published by the Great Place To Work Institute, particularly Propellernet lead by Jack Hubbard. Propellernet’s approach to this is to put at the core of their business a purpose. This purpose attracts people who buy into that purpose but is also shaped by them as the business plan is shaped by the team in an extraordinary way to be focused on fulfilling each employees dream. This might not be the way for every organisation to create engagement but it does shine a light on setting a purpose that is team-driven.

To find a purpose within your organisation that is team-driven and aligns with the vision of the leaders and the mission of the business is not going to occur in a top-down approach. Our approach at MundoNovus would be to create a bespoke workshop or series of workshops using the Lego Serious Play method to find clarity and a solution that everyone in the team can get behind through a shared understanding and 100% contribution.

Five steps towards an engaged workforce

Engagement Multiplier has published 5 steps to creating an engaged workplace and they simplify it well. The steps they have come up with are:

  1. Connect your staff to an Engaged Purpose that is written for them. At MundoNovus we would posit creating a purpose that is written by the team as detailed above. Uncover what is important to the individuals and connect that to the work and the overall organisational goals.
  2. Measure engagement regularly. Measuring engagement needs to be an ongoing activity so that it is not just a snapshot of one moment in the organisation’s history. A business that was started by a couple of friends had a ritual at the end of each week of having each employee place their ball into one of two bins (the happy bin and the sad/disgruntled bin). This ritual gave an opportunity to take the overriding pulse of the team but also provided a way to start conversations on areas of the work that caused friction or stress.
  3. Show that engagement is a permanent focus, not just a passing trend. This is highly important as nothing will be more disengaging than starting an engagement programme one month and abandon it the next. Forming rituals like the one mentioned above can help to keep the momentum up. Making a regular ritual can also increase social capital and as Margaret Heffernan says “Social capital is what gives companies momentum and social capital is what makes companies robust”. A regular ritual offers a moment for teams to come together and build momentum and trust together.
  4. Listen to your team on their terms. Set up mechanisms for anonymous feedback as well as non-anonymous feedback so that areas of stress or conflict can be opened for conversation without any one person feeling they are becoming a spokesperson or putting a target on themselves.
  5. Take action on quick wins. Small ideas that are quickly and easily implemented can have the greatest impact. An article I wrote on Tiny Noticeable Things (a phrase coined by Adrian Webster) offers further insight into this.

If your organisation is in need of a workshop to examine areas of stress and conflict or to gain ideas from your team then please do not hesitate to contact MundoNovus.

My best,

Mart Gordon

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