A methodology gaining prominence in business circles is LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP).
If you’re a consultant, HR manager, experienced facilitator or academic, understanding how to harness the power of LEGO® Serious Play® can significantly enhance your professional toolkit.
Many organizational issues are addressed in real time by using the power of metaphor that the method is known for.
It could be an organizational development challenge such as lack of employee engagement. Or it could be improved leadership skills that require a practical coaching framework.
It could even be for students who need career planning.
This innovative process creates so many possibilities! There are so many applications!
What is the LEGO® Serious Play® Method?
The LEGO® Serious Play® Method is an innovative facilitation method that uses basic bricks as a medium to enable participants to build models. These 3D models represent their thoughts, ideas, and stories.
When you see the methodology in action, you notice how it taps into the brain’s creative and logical processes. This in turn promotes a holistic approach to problem-solving and idea generation for all fields of business.
- It’s more than just “playing” with LEGO® bricks. It’s a serious process that has the incredible power to help teams visualize and communicate their thoughts in a tangible, 3D format.
- This hands-on, minds-on learning process encourages deep engagement, making it an ideal tool for consultants working on complex projects.
- It’s a real game changer for leadership teams who need to set up their goals and plans for the coming year.
- It’s used by HR managers aiming to enhance team dynamics, and academics exploring innovative teaching methods.
How Do You Use the LEGO® Serious Play® Method?
The application of LEGO® Serious Play® follows a structured, yet flexible, approach:
Warm-Up Exercises: Participants begin with simple building exercises to familiarize themselves with the process and tools. This stage helps to unlock creativity and prepares the group for deeper engagement.
Building Personal Models: Experienced facilitators guide participants to create models using the brick sets. These represent their own perspectives, such as their roles in an organization or their vision for the future.
Exploring Challenges: The method then evolves to explore specific business or organizational challenges. Through collaborative model building, participants externalize problems and develop shared understanding.
Strategic Planning and Scenario Building: Teams build models representing future strategies or scenarios, allowing for interactive and engaging strategic discussions. This phase is particularly valuable for consultants and HR professionals as it promotes alignment and innovative solutions.
Reflection and Storytelling: Participants present and reflect on their models, sharing stories that provide insight and collective understanding. This element of storytelling not only builds empathy but also solidifies team bonds.
And all of this occurs within an environment of psychological safety.
Benefits of the LEGO® Serious Play® Method
The LEGO® Serious Play® method offers numerous benefits across various professional domains:
Enhanced Creativity and Problem-Solving: By engaging both hemispheres of the brain, this method enables participants to think beyond conventional frameworks. This generates creative solutions to complex problems.
Improved Collaboration and Communication: By visualizing thoughts and working together to build models, team members develop shared understanding and align on goals. This is especially beneficial for HR managers facilitating team-building workshops.
Interactive Learning and Teaching: For academics, integrating LSP into their curriculum promotes active learning and interactive classroom environments, enhancing student engagement.
Strategic Clarity: Consultants can use this method to facilitate strategy sessions that clarify organizational visions and identify paths forward in a collaborative manner.
Uses of the LEGO® Serious Play® Method
LSP is incredibly versatile, with applications in:
Business Strategy Development: Facilitators guide teams to build strategic landscapes, visualizing organizational goals and crafting a roadmap for success.
HR and Team Building: By addressing organizational culture and team dynamics through metaphor and storytelling, HR managers can promote team cohesion and resolve conflicts effectively.
Academic Settings: In academia, the method serves as a powerful tool to explore complex concepts, enabling students to engage in hands-on, experiential learning.
Further Applications of the LEGO® Serious Play® method.
LSP is more than just a tool for enhancing creativity – it also plays a significant role in fostering emotional intelligence and promoting well-being.
By integrating elements of psychology, LSP offers a dynamic and inclusive approach that encourages deeper personal insights, group cohesion, and emotional growth.
Here are some further details:
1. Creativity and Emotional Intelligence
- LSP allows participants to engage with their emotions in a hands-on and imaginative way.
- By building models that represent abstract feelings or personal challenges, individuals externalize and visualize their internal states.
- This physical representation of emotions creates a safe space for discussing difficult topics and exploring different perspectives.
- In education, this approach can be particularly powerful for students who may struggle with traditional verbal expression, providing them a way to communicate and connect with others non-verbally.
- Furthermore, the collaborative nature of LSP enhances emotional intelligence.
- Participants not only express their own emotions but also learn to recognize and understand the feelings of others through storytelling and model sharing.
- This empathetic engagement promotes stronger group connections and a deeper sense of understanding.
2. Well-Being and Psychological Benefits
- The LEGO® Serious Play® methodology is rooted in positive psychology and therapeutic practices. These leverage play as a medium for enhancing well-being.
- The act of play stimulates the brain’s reward centers, reducing stress and anxiety while promoting a state of ‘flow’—a condition where individuals are fully immersed and focused.
- This state of deep engagement is beneficial for mental well-being as it allows participants to disconnect from daily stresses and focus on constructive and imaginative problem-solving.
- In educational contexts, incorporating LSP can help foster resilience and adaptability among students.
- As they navigate through scenarios and construct solutions with LEGO® bricks, they develop not only creative skills but also coping mechanisms for real-life challenges.
- Research indicates that such active, hands-on engagement is effective in improving emotional regulation and overall psychological health.
3. Promoting Creative Confidence and Self-Efficacy
- By combining elements of psychology and play, the LEGO® Serious Play® method helps build creative confidence— the belief in one’s ability to think creatively and solve problems.
- This boost in confidence translates into greater self-efficacy, as individuals realize their potential to contribute valuable ideas and take meaningful action.
- Educational settings benefit immensely from this as students become more willing to take risks, experiment with new ideas, and develop innovative solutions. These are all critical skills for future academic and professional success.
- In therapeutic settings, this confidence is equally transformative. Participants often discover new ways of addressing personal and relational challenges, resulting in improved problem-solving skills and emotional resilience.
- For example, using LEGO® models to visualize and work through conflicts helps individuals approach issues with a more solution-focused mindset. This enhances their capacity to manage emotions and build healthier relationships .
4. Application in Educational Settings
- Incorporating the LEGO® Serious Play® method into curricula supports holistic development by blending cognitive, social, and emotional learning.
- Educators can use LSP to teach concepts ranging from teamwork to conflict resolution. This allows students to gain hands-on experience in managing diverse group dynamics and fostering collaborative learning.
- The use of physical models also makes abstract concepts tangible, making it easier for students to grasp and engage with challenging subjects.
- By leveraging the method’s focus on building shared understanding, teachers can create an inclusive environment where each student feels valued and heard.
- This collective approach not only boosts class morale but also promotes a sense of belonging, positively impacting students’ overall well-being and academic performance.
5. Therapeutic and Psychological Applications
- The LEGO® Serious Play® method is increasingly recognized in therapeutic environments for its capacity to address mental health and emotional well-being.
- Therapists use LSP to help clients visualize their feelings and experiences, making it easier to explore and work through them constructively.
- The playful and non-threatening nature of the bricks allows clients to engage in self-discovery without the pressure of verbal articulation, a key aspect when working with children or individuals with trauma.
- Overall, LEGO® Serious Play® offers a holistic and psychologically grounded approach to education and therapy.
- Its ability to blend creativity, emotional intelligence, and well-being makes it a powerful tool for fostering growth, empathy, and resilience across various settings.
By integrating these psychological and educational benefits, LEGO® Serious Play® extends beyond business facilitation.
It has the chance to become a transformative tool in diverse environments, enhancing emotional, social, and cognitive development.
Why Get Training and Certification in the LEGO® Serious Play® Method?
Becoming certified in LEGO® Serious Play® offers numerous advantages for professionals.
Here’s why it’s a valuable investment:
Enhanced Facilitation Skills: Certification equips you with techniques to guide sessions effectively, ensuring that every participant’s voice is heard and valued. This is crucial for HR managers and consultants aiming to foster collaborative environments.
Credibility and Professional Growth: Adding this certification to your credentials showcases your commitment to innovative and effective facilitation techniques. It also opens up networking opportunities within a global community of facilitators.
Versatility Across Domains: Whether you are in business consultancy, HR, or academia, the skills gained through certification are applicable across sectors. This makes you a more adaptable and valuable professional.
Access to a Global Community: By joining the LEGO® Serious Play® network, certified professionals gain access to resources, events, and a community of like-minded experts. This further enriches their careers and personal development.
Why Embrace the LEGO® Serious Play® Method?
The LEGO® Serious Play® method is a dynamic tool for enhancing creativity, collaboration, and strategic thinking.
Whether you’re a consultant aiming to bring fresh insights to your clients, an HR manager looking to build cohesive teams, or an academic striving to enrich your students’ learning experiences, LEGO® Serious Play® offers a proven, hands-on approach.
Investing in training and certification with Serious Play Business not only equips you with the skills to run successful sessions but also positions you as an innovative leader in your field.
Embrace this unique methodology and see how it can transform your professional practice.
Ready to elevate your skills and professional toolkit?
Ready to solve some business challenges?
There are many training options that give you the practical skills you need to be successful.
- At Serious Play Business, we have set up a facilitator training program that can be taken at either the foundation training or advanced training levels.
- Both online courses cover the basic elements to give you the professional facilitation skills you need to be successful.
- The advanced training also gives you more applications so that you can use additional skills for team building. You also have the advantage of becoming an active part of a community of users who attend 2 x 2 hour sessions delivered live.
- Our learning programs are an interactive learning journey to ensure that you have the confidence to go onto client sites and deliver impactful workshops.
Explore our certification programs and lift your facilitation game to an incredible level! You will have 12-month access to your course which includes videos of sessions in action.
