You will notice that it is tremendous fun and inspiring to build something with your hands. You can be sure that this will probably be one of the experiences that people will tell their colleagues about. At the same time, this little exercise can do a lot more than just bring a little fun to the event. Because now we come to the exciting part of the method.

The most important thing to know: There is no right or wrong duck. And you will notice that probably no two ducks are alike, for which there are two primary reasons.

First, participants have not seen a picture of the finished product beforehand that serves as a guide in their building activity. This quickly and impressively disproves the assumption that “duck” is a precise and sufficient work instruction. Feel free to encourage a discussion among the team about what this means in terms of collaboration and how you approach a project.

Second, even with only six bricks, there are almost countless ways to assemble them. The key point is that each person has something unique and valuable to contribute to a solution. It is precisely in this realization that the added value lies when we apply the “Duck Challenge” to everyday work. There are different approaches to a problem in our complex business world, and we need the ideas and perspectives of everyone involved to create innovative solutions.