We’ve been playing with a metaphor of Square Wheels for 25 years, starting with a simple line-art drawing by Roy Sabean and eventually winding up using LEGO® to represent, “How things really work in most organizations…”
From the original line art below left, I actually captured 250 unique comments, thoughts and ideas about the illustration. This included some one liners like, “We are not like that; we push our wagon uphill” and
a) “The Square Wheels were invented by a woman!” (man)
b) “but the men are stupid enough to do things that way.” (woman)
Joan, Chris and I put together a stop-motion video that was great fun. And we recently used that at the top of the homepage for our newly revised website, one that was first on the internet in 1998. (It was in dire need of updating!)
Some of my Facebook friends pointed out some of the key learning points and I added some others. Then, I had the thought of putting it up here and asking people to comment on what they see, what metaphors are included, and how this relates to how organizations really work. The video is 39 seconds. So take a look and tell us what you see.
Hint: A Spectator Sheep appears at the 35 second mark. Spectator Sheep are those that have nothing to really contribute to things and who stand far away, voicing their opinion about things: Naaaaaaaaa Baaaaaaaaaa !! Some people say that there are Spectator Sheep in their workgroup or among the management team…
This is the first upload I have done of one of our stop-motion videos. We have a dozen or so of them that we have been playing with. It is one of the benefits of using the LEGO bricks to create scenes. If you like this, we can share some others.
In the comments section, we would love to see your thoughts on the bullet points, the key concepts that we play with around people and motivation and continuous continuous improvement.
Note for background about the main scenario: The wagon puller has been pulling and the wagon pushers have been pushing and the view at the front has been much different than the view from the back for the duration they have been working together. They have been using the Square Wheels because they work and their challenge was to deliver the round wheels to their customer. For some reason, they are taking a break from things…
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For the FUN of It!
Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of team building games and organization improvement products. Managing Partner of Performance Management Company since 1984, he is an experienced presenter and consultant who designs simple, powerful learning tools.
See the powerful new teambuilding game, The Collaboration Journey Challenge
You can reach Scott at scott@squarewheels.com
See his poems and performance haiku poems at www.poemsontheworkplace.com
Learn more about Scott at his LinkedIn site.
The LEGO Group does not sponsor, authorize or endorse any of these materials.
and all materials produced by PMC remain the intellectual property of PMC.
LEGO® is a trademark of The LEGO® Group®
Our new website is at www.SquareWheels.com
Also published on Medium.
Scott Knutson
Enjoyed the stop-motion. As usual, the problem wasn’t solved. Part of it was, a symptom, but the LEGO people celebrated and seemed like they had th problem solved.
Ron Doerksen
Our company, Team Trust, faciitates Dr. Simmermans business simulation THE SEARCH FOR THE LOST DUTCHMAN’S GOLD MINE. Collaboration, trust, communication all come up and are hot topics in the realm of workplace environment. Last week I spoke with a company in great need of addressing some of these issues. I had a set of materials from the simulation and was able to give them a visual of what we will be doing together. They were most enthusiastic. Thank you Dr. Simmerman for your creative energy and all the tools you have been creating over the years!