If you lead a company that makes one of the most beloved toys in the world -- like, say, Lego -- you probably think a lot about the specific type of person you want working for you. Presumably, you want people who are creative and have a strong sense of play.
I would imagine that it can be hard to find those people. At some point, most of us tend to lose our sense of play as we become consumed by work and all the other obligations that come with, well, being an adult.
That's why I love this line from a recent job description for a creative director for Lego Group:
"Children are our role models. Their curiosity, creativity and imagination inspire everything we do."
Think about those five words for a minute. There are not many adults that could say children are their role model. If anything, they are more likely to think of children as something to be tolerated or suffered. They certainly aren't the first group that comes to mind when you think about having something to teach the rest of us.
If you were looking for a role model, you might be looking for someone in your own field or company who has excelled at whatever it is you're trying to accomplish. You might look to someone who has had success and established principles or lessons you could learn from. That person is, most likely, a fully grown adult who has had a career doing something similar to what you do.
They aren't children, is my point. After all, children are young. They don't have the education or experience to teach us much of anything, right? I guess if what you're looking for is someone to teach you best accounting principles or corporate governance then no, children are not good role models.
On the other hand, the second sentence in that quote says a lot. The truth is that children have traits that often get lost as adults. For example, Lego's job description mentions curiosity, creativity, and imagination. It would be hard to argue that most adults don't lose a lot of their sense of imagination and curiosity.
At some point, it becomes socially unacceptable to daydream about play while you're supposed to be at work. But maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe there is real value in being curious or flexing your creative muscles.
Of course, there is value in having an imagination. Children know that. If it feels uncomfortable to think about, then perhaps it's only because as adults we train ourselves out of curiosity. We train ourselves to think within processes and systems and rules.
Children, on the other hand, think anything is possible. If the thing you build are Lego sets, then you definitely want people who daydream about building amazing things with small plastic bricks. You want people who are willing to dream about what's possible.
Lego recognizes that its success depends on having people who understand that. It depends on finding people who are inspired by the curiosity and imagination of children. In order to build products that its core audience -- children -- will love, it helps to have people who are thinking the way they think.
If you're looking to hire that type of person, you probably want to be sure that every time you post a job description, you communicate the things you value. That makes sense -- the job description is one of your most important first impressions when attracting a candidate. What you put in it matters.
I thought that line was so good I started looking at other Lego Group job postings, and I found the same two sentences in almost all of them. The job description doesn't say "we make toys for children." It says children are role models for the people who make those toys.
The lesson here is pretty simple -- if you want to attract people who share your values, you should probably figure out a way to tell them what you value. Put the important stuff in the job description. Not just the important tasks or requirements. Not just the important stuff about the job. Put in the important stuff about your company and what you believe.
Put the stuff that helps a candidate know whether they're the type of person who would be a good fit. If you believe children are your role models, that's a pretty important value to communicate to anyone who might be considering applying for a job.
For Lego, those values are curiosity, creativity, and imagination. It's probably something completely different in your business, but that doesn't change the fact that it should be one of the first thing applicants see when they read your job description.
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September 26, 2022 at 03:02PM
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LEGO Uses 5 Words in Its Job Descriptions to Attract the Right Type of People. It's a Stroke of Genius - Inc.
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