More Lego
This isn’t the first time, nor even the second time I have been part of an lego themed acknowledgement activity at my workplace. It is evolving each time, and this time I had an opportunity to send a note sharing what I think are the key elements. The note below was sent to set of new employees when they arrived and was the launch of the project with existing team members too.
Check out the note for more information on “Properly Acknowledgement Builds”:
— — — — — Forwarded message — — — — —
From: Craig Dunk
Date: Mon, Jun 18, 2018
Subject: Properly Acknowledgement Builds
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Hey everyone,
This morning on your desk you will find a some lego!
While random lego _is_ really fun, in this case it is also part of a project to acknowledge your contributions and remind us of the the learnings and accomplishments we have accumulated. This is a program previously experienced so I have a number of observations about these lego builds I wanted to share as I explain how the program is intended to work:
Celebrating what matters: Teams of people get a project brick when they contribute to a project that a) advances our collective understanding or b) has a real impact on our users or the business. Some of you already have project bricks, they are the large engraved white bricks. The emphasis here is on impact and learning rather than getting a gold watch for “years of service” or a trophy for a “quarterly revenue”. Celebrating arbitrary milestones probably doesn’t represent you nor does it typically reflect what is important to focus on. Of course sometimes we will celebrate milestones too, but, the goal is that all the projects that these bricks represent: they matter.
Team Emphasis: Other than this first time our practice will be to award bricks to the group of people who were involved in the project within a month or so of it going live or benefitting us. We will do so at a meeting or group event where we can all be present. This is an important recognition that we build each other up and have success as teams. Plus presenting in a group gives us all a chance to celebrate you and thank you for your contribution.
Persistent Reminder: In startups and tech companies in general we do a lot of small iterations and focus on learning. As a result it is often hard to keep the perspective that lets you see progress and growth both individually and as a whole company. Your personal lego build can be a great reminder of what you have contributed and learned and how you have grown from your experiences. On top of that individual reminder we will keep an extra project brick from each project and make it part of the “Properly Common Build” as a reminder that our smaller activities align to and build up the whole Properly endeavor.
Personal: People First: Everyone’s contribution and career journey will be different and everyone brings some diversity of perspective and experience to the team. I love that each lego build ends up looking different based both on the projects people are involved in and just fundamentally how they choose to style and arrange it. Also, this is why everyone’s build started in a different configuration — I am not just chaotic :-) . The symbolism of uniqueness here comes from the idea that just 6 bricks can be configured in about 915 million combinations. Not counting the personalization you might want to do with your “minifig”. Note: There is a red box of minifig parts on my desk. Feel free to make up your own minifig for your build.
Shared Norms: There are also a set of bricks, the six black ones that we all have in common in our builds. These are here as part of our effort to act on our cultural norms. And part of acting on them is just to keep them front and center for everyone to evaluate decisions and actions. Just as we want a persistent reminder of our unique and diverse contributions this is a persistent reminder of norms that we value.
Fun more often than Fancy: Lego is a bit geeky and _maybe_ a bit cool, but, it isn’t naturally fancy. We are creators and builders and scrappy and care about people and real progress. So even if fancy works sometimes, I think the style fits better than heavy glass desk ornaments. And I know from when I received these bricks in the past, I would end up imbuing the one dollar piece of plastic with a ton of significance when I knew what the project entailed. So, I hope that you all enjoy these accept them with the intended spirit of gratitude, acknowledgement, celebration and fun that they are given in.
