LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is a methodology using LEGO bricks to help groups discuss challenging topics, accelerate innovation, and build cohesion. Through a series of building challenges, participants construct LEGO models individually and then share the stories and meanings behind their creations. This allows unconscious ideas and insights to surface that may not emerge through traditional discussion. Workshops follow three phases - a challenge is posed, participants build models in response, then share the stories and discuss as a group. The goal is to think creatively with your hands and gain new perspectives by listening to others' models and interpretations.
2. "You can learn more about a person in an hour of play
than you can from a lifetime of conversation"
Plato
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®
Imagine what we get from playing 4 hours!
3. What is LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®?
A concept developed by Johan Roos and
Victor Bart (professors at Switzerland`s
Institute for Management Development)
and Kjeld Kristiansen (the leader of The
Lego Group)
A tool for efficient training, business or HR
actions
A methodology for efficient results
4. What Advantages Does it Have?
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is a powerful qualitative instrument that
helps researchers to go beyond human conscious and shared thought
to unconscious and sensitive matters
Discuss the un-
discussable - free and
honest exchange of
opinion
Discover the un-
conscious - produces
insights which simply
would not have appeared
in regular discussions
Accelerate innovation
- find hidden
opportunties
Support group
cohesion – socially
"bonds" the group who
"plays" together
Sustain individual
opinions – group work
is not the lowest
common denominator
5. How Does it Work?
At its shortest, a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshop takes three or four hours.
The groups are ideally made out of 6 participants.
A set of consecutive challenges, each one following 3 phases.
Phase 1: The
Challenge
• The moderator poses
the building challenge
to the participants
Phase 2:
Building
• The participants
build a LEGO®
model
representing
their reflections
on the building
challenge
Phase 3:
Sharing
• The participants
share the
meaning and the
story that they
have assigned to
their own
models
6. Phase 1: The Challenge
Formulate the challenges
in advance; have in mind
the group profile and
project objectives; each
challenge has to have a
building time
Step by step – increase the
complexity of building tasks
Begin with 3 skills
building challenges -
Explain the etiquette (the
rules) as you go, formulate
specially designed building
tasks used as learning steps
Formulate the challenges in
an open-ended manner,
that could be answered in
many different ways
Group challenges are
always preceded by
individual constructions of
the same task
7. Phase 2: Building
Build the response to
the challenge
Reflect to the
challenge
Think with your
hands
Be aware of the
building time and try to
make it in time
No wrong nor right
models, anything that
works is allowed, it
does not matter how it
looks like but what is it
8. Phase 3: Sharing
SHARING
• One at a time, participants
share with the others the
story behind their model;
• The moderator plays an
important part here by
asking questions &
facilitating the discussion;
• Questions are meant to
make participants
reflect more and more
and share as much detail as
possible
RULES
• Everybody shares,
everybody listens,
anyone can ask
questions;
• Ask questions about the
model not about the
creator;
• Aim at finding out many
details about the model and
never ask respondent why
did they wanted to build
that model as such