LEGO® Serious Play® for Strategy and Decision-Making: A New Approach to Complex Challenges
In today’s dynamic and fast-paced business environment, leaders are continually seeking innovative methods to enhance strategic decision-making.
Traditional approaches often fall short when addressing the complexities of modern organizations. Facilitators are always on the hunt for dynamic strategies that engage people in meetings to think differently and arrive at better solutions.
What are the key ingredients of the Method?
These basic bricks if used according to the basic application techniques, create deep and meaningful discussions. It’s a true game-changer!
When you see this methodology in action, you understand its power to create exceptional learning experiences. And to create business strategies that might not have been thought of previously!
Experienced facilitators use this hands-on, innovative process as a tool that enables team building – and also a way of unpacking strategic initiatives.
Understanding the LEGO® Serious Play® Method for Strategic Decision-Making
The LEGO® Serious Play® method is more than just a playful activity.
It’s a structured facilitation process designed to tap into the collective intelligence of teams. By using 3D models, participants can visualize abstract ideas and complex issues, making them easier to discuss and solve.
The process helps teams gain a deep understanding of challenges, ensuring that potential solutions are grounded in reality.
This method is built on the concept of learning through play, an approach deeply rooted in research that shows how play-based methods enhance cognitive functioning and problem-solving.
As a strategic planning tool, the LEGO® Serious Play® method goes beyond surface-level discussions. Professional facilitators encourage participants to dive deep into problems and collaborate on innovative solutions.
Why does the Method work well for Strategy in Organizations
One of the key reasons why the method is effective in organizational development is because it encourages creative thinking in a hands-on experience.
Instead of relying solely on traditional brainstorming techniques, participants engage in an immersive process where they build 3D models that represent their ideas, perspectives, or solutions.
These metaphorical models become powerful tools for generating new insights, as they make complex ideas tangible.
For example, in a strategy session, a team may be asked to create models that represent both current challenges and future opportunities.
As each team member explains their model, the group begins to see how different ideas connect, leading to innovative solutions that wouldn’t emerge through conventional means.
Moreover, the LEGO® Serious Play® method helps foster team development by breaking down communication barriers and encouraging everyone to contribute.
The process actively ensures that every voice is heard, from senior leaders to newer team members. This is crucial for leadership development and building a sense of ownership in the strategic process.
How the LEGO® Serious Play® Process Enhances Strategic Decision-Making
In strategy workshops using the LEGO® Serious Play® method, participants engage in an experiential process that leads to greater clarity and deep understanding.
By physically building models of their ideas, they can represent abstract or complex issues in ways that are easier to grasp. These 3D models serve as the basis for further discussion, analysis, and refinement during the workshop.
The facilitation process itself is highly structured, ensuring that participants stay focused on the task while encouraging creative thinking.
It starts with a question or challenge presented by the facilitator, followed by individual model-building. As participants share their models with the group, they engage in reflective dialogue, discussing the meaning behind each piece.
This process fosters deeper insights and helps the group collectively uncover potential solutions to their strategic challenges.
By physically manipulating LEGO bricks, participants engage their brains in a different way, which helps unlock new ideas and perspectives.
This hands-on approach makes the LEGO® Serious Play® method particularly effective for project management, where teams need to identify obstacles and plan their way forward in a structured manner.
The Role of Leadership Development in LEGO® Serious Play® Strategy
Another important aspect of the method is its role in leadership development.
Leaders often need to make decisions in uncertain environments. The LEGO® Serious Play® method provides leaders with a powerful tool to explore complex issues from multiple perspectives and test out potential solutions in a safe, risk-free environment.
In a typical workshop, leaders build models that reflect their understanding of a particular challenge, such as a change in market conditions or the need for organizational restructuring. These models allow leaders to visualize the impact of their decisions and explore different scenarios, making the decision-making process more informed and robust.
Furthermore, the method encourages leaders to collaborate with their teams, facilitating open dialogue and building trust.
By engaging in this experiential process, leaders develop a better understanding of their team’s perspectives and are able to foster a more inclusive, collaborative culture within the organization.
Applying the LEGO® Serious Play® Method to Project Management
The LEGO® Serious Play® method is also effective in project management, where teams navigate challenges and ensure alignment on project goals.
By using LEGO® bricks to build models of the project’s key elements—such as timelines, resources, and potential risks—teams can identify obstacles early and develop strategies to mitigate them.
This facilitation process enables project teams to collaboratively explore potential solutions in a visual, hands-on way. It helps them prioritize tasks, allocate resources efficiently, and adjust their approach as new challenges arise.
The LEGO® Serious Play® method is particularly useful for complex projects that involve multiple stakeholders or cross-functional teams, as it ensures everyone’s input is considered and integrated into the final plan.
The Learning Process and Its Impact on Business Performance
One of the key benefits of the LEGO® Serious Play® method is the way it enhances the learning process for participants.
Unlike traditional meetings or workshops, where passive listening is often the norm, LEGO® Serious Play® strategy workshops engage participants actively. By building and discussing models, individuals become more invested in the learning process, which leads to deeper insights and a stronger understanding of the issues at hand.
This active learning approach translates directly into improved business performance.
When teams leave a LEGO® Serious Play® strategy session, they have a clear understanding of the organization’s challenges and the steps needed to overcome them. The process also fosters a sense of ownership and accountability, as participants are directly involved in shaping the strategy.
Moreover, the LEGO® Serious Play® method enhances team alignment and ensures that everyone is working toward the same goals. This alignment is critical for long-term success, as it helps teams execute their strategies more effectively and achieve better results.
The Power of LEGO® Serious Play® Strategy for Complex Challenges
The LEGO® Serious Play® method is a powerful tool for addressing the complex issues that organizations face in today’s rapidly changing business landscape.
By using 3D models to represent abstract concepts and challenges, teams can gain a deep understanding of their strategic goals and develop innovative solutions that drive long-term success.
Whether used for leadership development, strategic planning, or project management, the LEGO® Serious Play® process fosters creative thinking and encourages open collaboration. An experiential, hands-on method that engages participants in meaningful dialogue and ensures that every voice is heard.
By integrating LEGO® Serious Play® Strategy into your organization’s approach to decision-making. You can unlock new perspectives, foster collaboration, and create actionable strategies that lead to improved business performance.
This method not only helps teams solve complex issues, but also empowers them to take ownership of the strategic process, leading to more effective execution and better results.
If your organization is ready to take a fresh approach to strategic decision-making, consider implementing the LEGO® Serious Play® method in your next strategy workshop. The potential for creative solutions and organizational growth is limitless.
Become a facilitator of the LEGO® Serious Play® Method
We encourage undertaking facilitator training for several reasons.
- It’s important to gain the practical skills you need to conduct both team events and shorter meetings.
- You also gain the theoretical knowledge that underpins the method
- By participating in a facilitator training program you also gain the confidence to use various applications of the method.
- You are able to apply more complex techniques. For example, at Serious Play Business, we have additional specialist modules that go beyond the basic elements of the process. Check out our specialist modules here.
- Independent consultants and HR and Learning and Development Professionals within the business are able to design session plans that are suitable for their environment. We guide you in this process as part of your facilitation training.
- Learning how to apply the method is also a great way of doing continuous professional development. It’s a way of including additional facilitation skills in your approach to delivering impactful workshops.
- You also have the choice of doing the online course or boosting this by attending the advanced course. This gives you a choice in terms of how deep you want to expand your knowledge.
- As part of your access to resources. you will note that we provide you with bonus modules to improve your skills. Here’s more information about what is included in the learning program.
- There are also downloadable session plans to get you started as well as videos to see sessions in action.
Ultimately, we want you to be successful! We want you to deliver effective workshops for lasting impact!
