Connect

Courage to Try

Humans need connection. Our personal intelligence is connected to others — we extend our thinking into the world. Our minds are extended by books, journals, tools and technology and the communities where we belong. We are connected and inter-connected. But connections can become weak and likewise they can be stronger.

We need high definition connection. Moving Puzzles believes that connection takes COURAGE TO TRY.

Courage is NOT

❌ accepting quick fixes
❌ maintaining status quo
❌ fixing problems with rigid rules
❌ working ourselves to exhaustion

We value:

✅ memorable experiences
✅ closer connections in teams
✅ options and variations to connect
✅ energetic minds via moving bodies
✅ principles to be creative in change

To build trust in ourselves and with others, we need to connect with Courage, which means having the tools and techniques to take action without fear of failure. Knowing we have COUAGE TO TRY new connections, dropping those that no longer give us energy.

Book

Trust between bodies

Teams depend on trust. In his Leadership Fable, Five Disfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni talks about how teams that lack vulnerability are full of fear, which prevents building trust and closes the door to positive interpersonal conflict on key issues.

Daniel Coyle goes further in his In his book The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. His research is clear: collisions — personal encounters of the serendipitous kind, in close proximity, are key to successful organisations.

So vulnerability and proximity build trust.

How do we get close enough to trust?

In her book, The Body is the Brain, Amanda Blake talks about human touch receptors sparking our emotions.

No wonder we do fist bumps, high fives, hand shakes and all kinds of formal moments of trust. We need playful moments of trust!

We need to CONNECT with COURAGE.

Our sense of connection is fundamentally a question of psychological safety. Psychological safety appears in our bodies as emotions; warmth of happiness, lightness of joy, expansiveness of pride. Notice how these connections live in our bodies.

Psychological safety = physiological safety.

Emotional Connection = Trust.

Trust is BETWEEN BODIES.

Ways of PLAYFUL for CONNECTION

As a quality of attention, playfulness engages our minds and bodies.
As a tool for imagination, playing is the ability to embody roles beyond yourself.
As a method of goal-seeking, play allows for multiple alternative solutions.
As a partner dialogue, play breaks free of habitual ways of relating.
As a tool for problem solving, playing with constraints and limits fosters creativity.
As a style of learning, play is exploratory and open-minded.
As a regulator of emotions, play reduces stress by lowering the stakes.
As a technique of mindfulness, play engages bodies to touch the world.
As a builder of courage, play exposes fears gradually and safely.

‍Practice Pieces

Playfulness - the role of mimicry, sensitivity and surprise in problem solving. Internal and external mindfulness during partner games‍
Cooperation - task-based work in partnering towards shared outcomes‍
Role-based situations - study of interaction dynamics such as contact, leading, following, pursuit and avoidance
Adaptive Competitions - competing in a non zero-sum way that is adaptive regardless of partner capabilities. Asymmetric competition - different goals, power and constraints for different agents inside conflicting and uncertain situations ‍
Shared attention - cooperative play and goals for groups and teams, developing flexible team dynamics in motion‍
Communication using objects - emotion, meaning and storytelling conveyed with help of object compositions such as Lego Serious Play, developing more creative and inclusive team communication

Creative team communication

OFFERINGS

Flexible Team Dynamics via Inspire By FM
Creative team communication via Lego Serious Play

PRAcTICE PIECES

Aniza

"During the teambuilding exercises, I found myself having more fun than I thought! I have not touched LEGO in years, but I was surprised how effective it was in helping visualse mine, my teams and everyone's goals for the year. We still talk about our LEGO sculptures, goes to show how memorable it was!"

Teambuilding workshop using Lego Serious Play (UoA)

Cass

"I recently had the opportunity to attend Dean's "What are Goals" workshop, and it was a positive and impactful experience. Dean's facilitation skills combined made this workshop a really enjoyable experience. From the very beginning, Dean created a warm and welcoming atmosphere through the use of of communication games, fostering a sense of camaraderie among the participants. His engaging and interactive teaching style kept us all actively involved throughout the workshop. Dean's ability to encourage open dialogue and invite questions allowed for a rich learning environment where everyone felt comfortable sharing their thoughts and experiences."

Teambuilding workshop using Lego Serious Play (UoA)