Using Lego Bricks and ‘Crappy Doodles,’ Melissa Dinwiddie Unleashes Business Innovation Through Play

Melissa Dinwiddie doesn’t have an MBA. She’s never worked for a consulting giant, such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting, or Bain.

She is a ukulele-playing, jazz-singing, Julliard-trained dancer and improv entertainer.

Yet when companies, including Meta, Google, Uber, Intuit, and Salesforce, seek fresh thinking on innovation and team creativity, they turn to Melissa for results.

Melissa draws parallels between performance troupes, such as her All That Jazz improv jazz group, and business teams. To be successful, she notes, all members must listen closely, support one another, adapt on the fly, and create something from nothing.  

Melissa is the founder and CEO of Creative Sandbox Solutions, communication, connection, and creativity experts. Her firm’s specialty is helping teams blast through creative roadblocks. She is the author of The Creative Sandbox Way: Your Path to a Full-Color Life, which she wrote to help readers be comfortable with and embrace their own, authentic creativity.

As Melissa explains this week, her unconventional background and unorthodox methods —  including having six- and seven-figure salaried executives build with Lego bricks — consistently unlock breakthrough ideas and enhance team performance.

Monday Morning Radio is hosted by the father-son duo of Dean and Maxwell Rotbart.

Photo: Melissa Dinwiddie, Creative Sandbox Solutions
Posted: July 21, 2025
Monday Morning Run Time: 49:42
Episode: 14.7