Finding Ideas that Click

July 2004

Investor's Business Daily
July 2004
By Amy Alexander

Nathan Sawaya had it all, or so it seemed. Exciting job as a corporate lawyer in New York City. Six figure salary. Yet for him, living the good life meant doing something a little more artistic.

In February 2004, Sawaya left his job in New York City to work at LEGOland California. He's now a master model builder at the Carlsbad, Calif. theme park. His job? Assembling and designing an ever-changing world of creatures, characters and crafts using LEGO bricks -- the plastic toys that snap together.

"It was really a dream job opportunity," Sawaya, 30, said.

When Sawaya told co-workers at his law firm what he was doing, a few colleagues wrote him off as a complete oddball. But many reacted with envy. They, too, wished for a job that would allow them to plumb theircreativity.

Sawaya was one of three who joined the master model building team at LEGOland, plucked from hundreds after a three-mont nationwide search that screened candidates in major U.S. cities through competitive "build-offs."

Kristi Klein, 28, was studying media arts at the Art Institute of California-Los Angeles and moonlighting at an online flower shop when she decided to take a shot at the LEGOland job.

"I just really wanted something creative and new and different," she said.

Aaron Sneary, 28, was studying Web design at Johns HopkinsUniversity in Washington, D.C.

"You're told these jobs are one in a million," he said.

The build-off was intense.

Sawaya, Klein, Sneary and each of the more than 500 other candidates were given 45 minutes and 2,000 bricks to build something stunning.

Klein constructed a spotted puppy in grass.

Inspired by Aesop, Sneary built a lion and a mouse.

Sawaya crafted a yellow bunny in a dapper, bright red space helmet.

After nearly six months of working in a place where productive play is paramount, Sawaya, Klein and Sneary have learned a thing or two about innovation and what it takes to kindle great on-the-job ideas.

Their advice:
** Have fun. When you're having a good time, you're more likely to come up with good ideas.

"Not only do I do this for a living, but I also do it for a hobby," Sneary said.

** Like your team. LEGOland's master model builder team of six regularly gets together outside of work. A free exchange -- the sort you have with people you enjoy -- greases brainstorming sessions and fertilizes the creativeprocess. "Meetings can get pretty lively," Sawaya said.

** Stuck? Take a break. Even in the halls of LEGOland, brain lock can happen. Master model builders preach the value of a good walk around the park or just switching to a new assignment.

** Bounce ideas around. "It's important to tap other people's minds," Klein said. "People here always see things." Klein says it's also vital to be able to get "in the zone" and create by yourself. The master model builders at LEGOland know to hold back on input unless it's sought.

Investor's Business Daily, July 2004