Recently I bought a Transformers toy for my four year old son. The toy can transform from a Transformers to a car and vice versa. My son loved it. He played with it the whole day and was holding it when he went to sleep. I was however a bit disappointed.
I was disappointed because the Transformers was too “un complicated”. In took only six steps to change from one shape to another. I expected it to be more complicated and more challenging. I can’t see why my son loves this toy so much.
After my son went to sleep, I looked at the packaging again, hoping to find out more hidden transformable parts. There was no more to be found. But something caught my eyes. It was printed “4+”. Then I realised why my son loved it. The toy’s complicity level was just right for a four year old. He can change from one shape to another with ease. For him, it was a sense of achievement to be able to transform the toy on his own. The toy designer got it right; the purpose of the toy is its transformability by a four year old. If it was too complicated, it might frustrate my son and he will have given up quickly and not derive any enjoyment from his toy.
I found this is similar when introducing a transformation program to an organization. We have to make the program at the correct “level”. If it is too simple or too complicated, the program can only frustrate and might not work. At the right level, it creates excitement and a sense of achievement.