How to Choose a LEGO® Serious Play® Certification Provider
A LEGO® Serious Play® certification is only as valuable as the facilitator it produces. The method requires practice and deep domain expertise, so it is not enough to have read a few books or sat in a training room with the original provider. What separates providers is the experience behind the training, the standing of the trainer, and the support you receive after the content ends.
This guide gives you four questions to ask any provider, a side-by-side framework for judging the answers, and a short decision guide. It then shows how Serious Play Business answers each question, so you can compare us against the same standard you apply to everyone else.
To choose a LEGO® Serious Play® certification provider, ask how long they have trained facilitators, what real-world facilitation experience their trainer has, who trained the trainer, and what support you get beyond the course content. Strong answers to all four mean you are buying facilitation skill, not just a certificate.
- Longevity signals refinement: a provider with many years of delivery has seen the method applied across many group sizes and contexts.
- Skilled facilitation means planning and adapting to different groups and thinking on your feet, which is learned through practice and feedback, not reading.
- Look for results-focused certification with real feedback, not just membership of an association.
Why Your Choice of Certification Provider Matters
LEGO® Serious Play® looks simple from the outside: people build models and explain them. The skill lives in the facilitation, and that is what a certification is supposed to teach.
Facilitation Is Adapted, Not Recited
Every group is different. Skilled facilitation means planning for and adapting to different group sizes, make-ups, and contexts, and thinking on your feet during both large and small events. A certification that only walks you through a script leaves you unprepared for the moment a real room goes off plan.
Who Takes a Certification
People come to the method from many directions. Serious Play Business has trained facilitators in all types of roles, including:
- Independent consultants who want to add a structured facilitation method to their practice
- HR and Learning & Development professionals who run workshops inside organizations
- Academics who want to use the method in teaching and research settings
A LEGO® Serious Play® certification is worth what the trainer's experience is worth: the method requires practice and deep domain expertise, and a few books or one training session is not enough.
Four Questions to Ask Any Provider
The same four questions work for any provider, and none of them require you to criticize anyone. They simply make the differences visible.
1. How Long Has the Provider Been Training Facilitators?
Longevity signals refinement, not just tenure. A provider that has delivered facilitator training for many years has had time to improve how it teaches, based on how the method is applied around the world. Ask when they started, and whether they were delivering training before the method became widely known.
2. What Is the Trainer's Real-World Facilitation Experience?
A good trainer still facilitates. Ask which organizations the trainer has worked with, in what settings, and with groups of what size. Experience with both large and small groups matters, because you will meet both.
3. Who Trained the Trainer, and What Is Their Standing in the Method?
Ask who trained the provider, and whether they hold recognized standing in the method. One concrete marker is Master Trainer status: a small number of facilitators were selected by the LEGO® Group as Master Trainers before the method went open source.
4. What Support Do You Get Beyond the Content?
Facilitation improves with feedback. Ask whether you get individual Q&A sessions and feedback from the trainer, how much self-paced content is included, and whether the certification is results-focused rather than simply membership of an association.
| Question | What a strong answer looks like | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| How long have you trained facilitators? | Many years of delivery, with large numbers of facilitators trained in different roles | Longevity signals refinement, not just tenure |
| What is the trainer's facilitation experience? | Named organizations and experience with both large and small groups | Skilled facilitation means adapting to different groups and contexts |
| Who trained the trainer? | Recognized standing in the method, such as Master Trainer status | It is not enough to have read a few books or sat in a training room |
| What support do I get? | Individualized Q&A and feedback from the trainer, plus substantial self-paced content | Results-focused certification, not just membership of an association |
How to Choose: A Short Decision Guide
Use this sequence when you are comparing two or three providers. It takes the four questions above and turns them into a decision.
- Write down the four questions and ask every provider the same ones, so the answers are comparable.
- Check the length and breadth of delivery. Look for years of training and facilitators from a range of roles, not just one niche.
- Check the trainer's standing. Ask who trained them and whether they hold recognized status in the method.
- Check the support. Prefer programs with direct feedback and Q&A over content you work through alone.
- Weigh value, not just price. Compare what each program includes before comparing what it costs.
Compare certification providers on four things: years of training, the trainer's real-world facilitation experience, who trained the trainer, and the feedback you receive.
How Serious Play Business Answers These Questions
If we ask you to apply a standard, we should meet it ourselves. Here are our answers to the same four questions.
Experience and Reach
Serious Play Business has more than 18 years of experience training facilitators around the world in the LEGO® Serious Play® methodology. We have trained more than 2,000 facilitators across all types of roles, with testimonials from facilitators in 25+ countries. We were delivering this training long before many current providers had heard of the method.
Real-World Facilitation and Trainer Standing
Dr. Denise Meyerson has been invited to facilitate large and small groups around the world for major clients such as Microsoft, Coca-Cola, SAP, and Cisco. She was the 2023 Visiting Scholar at Virginia Commonwealth University and has presented at global events including the Training Magazine Conference in Orlando and CREA, Europe's premier innovation event.
Dr. Denise Meyerson was one of only four Master Trainers of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method selected by the LEGO® Group before the method went open source. She has trained facilitators for over 18 years across 25+ countries and is the author of three books on facilitation, including What the Duck.
What Our Certification Includes
Our certification is built around the support that makes facilitators confident. It offers Foundational and Advanced Certifications, 40+ hours of self-paced content, and individualized Q&A sessions and feedback from Dr. Meyerson. It is results-focused certification, not just membership of an arbitrary association.
We also set out to open the methodology to more than a select few who can afford very high price points. If you want to go deeper on the path, read our guides to the journey of becoming a LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator and how certification elevates facilitation skills, or see our LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator training.
Build Facilitation Skill You Can Rely On
Ready to bring LEGO® Serious Play® to your team, or want to talk through what a workshop could look like? Tell us about your group and we will help you plan it.
To understand the full methodology behind the workshop design described above, read our full explanation of how the LEGO® Serious Play® method works.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for when choosing a LEGO® Serious Play® certification provider?
Look at four things: how long the provider has been training facilitators, what real-world facilitation experience the trainer has, who trained the trainer and what standing they hold in the method, and what support you receive beyond the course content, such as feedback and Q&A. Together these tell you whether you are buying a credential or genuine facilitation skill.
How many years of experience should a facilitator trainer have?
There is no fixed number, but longevity signals refinement, not just tenure: a provider that has trained facilitators for many years has seen the method applied across many group sizes and contexts. Serious Play Business has more than 18 years of experience training facilitators around the world.
Does it matter who trains me in LEGO® Serious Play®?
Yes. LEGO® Serious Play® requires practice and deep domain expertise, and it is not enough to have read a few books or sat in a training room with the original provider. A trainer who has planned for and adapted to different group sizes, make-ups, and contexts can teach you to do the same.
What is a Master Trainer of LEGO® Serious Play®?
A Master Trainer is one of a small number of facilitators selected by the LEGO® Group, before the method went open source, to train other facilitators in the method. Dr. Denise Meyerson was one of only four Master Trainers selected.
Why do certification prices vary so much between providers?
Price alone does not tell you what you are getting, which is why this guide compares experience, content, and support rather than cost. Serious Play Business is determined to open the methodology to more than a select few who can afford very high price points, and encourages buyers to weigh value for money against what each program actually includes.
Who can become a LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator?
Serious Play Business has trained more than 2,000 facilitators across all types of roles, including independent consultants, HR and Learning & Development professionals, and academics.