2. You can discover more about a person in an
hour of play than in a year of conversation
-Plato
2
3. WHAT BRICKSTO USE?
Use the most basic Lego bricks
They enable thinking in metaphors
3
4. WHENTO USE LEGO SERIOUS
PLAY?
Team building
Unleashing creative thinking for accelerated innovation
Work out a solution to a shared problem
Create a shared mindset about something
Constructive discussions where everybody is heard
Build a shared vision
Leadership development
One-on-one coaching andTeam coaching
Use with your children, family, school, ...
4
5. Think with your hands
Just start building.Trust your hands.
Let them pick the bricks they want.
Fiddle about ...
5
6. LEGO SERIOUS PLAY – STEPS
1. The Challenge - Question
2. Build a model – Metaphor
3. Sharing – Give meaning –Tell your story
4. Questions and reflections
6
7. WARM UP – SKILLS BUILDING
1. Normal, non-metaphorical representation
2. Metaphorical representation
3. Combine models into a shared group model
4. Storytelling
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8. WARM UP EXCERCISES
Build a duck, 5-10 min
Build a tower, 10 min
Build something; assign a description – metaphor,
10
Build your dream colleague – metaphor, 10 min
My Monday mornings – story line, 10 min
8
9. DUCK
Build a duck using 7 bricks
Explain how it is a duck
Are different people’s ducks similar?
Now remove 3 bricks so that you have 4 left
Explain how it is still a duck
9
10. HIGHESTTOWER
Either individually or as teams:
Build the highest tower you can in 3 min
It should be able to stand without any support
You cannot reserve bricks
Share something about your tower – explain what
it means
Point out differences in the towers – no right or
wrong way of building
Explain how you reasoned in the beginning.Who did
what? Did you assign roles? Did you split the work?
Test for stability – show attachment to something we
have built when it breaks or is disassembled
10
11. DREAM COLLEAGUE
1. Build a model that represents your Dream Colleague, 3 min
Share, 1 min per person
The facilitator asks questions to better understand the
meanings of different parts of the models
2.Take one aspect from each model and make a shared model
with the others in the team and place it on a paper napkin
Everybody should agree on all the parts of the shared model.
Everybody on the team explains the shared model
11
12. MY MONDAY MORNINGS
1. Build a story describing your Monday Mornings, 3-4 mins
Share your metaphor and storyline
2.Take one part which you think is most important and put it in
the middle and build a model together with everyone else in the
group
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13. Listen with your eyes
Look at the model that is being shared
– use your visual sense to grasp and understand even more of what the
other participants are describing
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15. A) FUTURE SUCCESS
1. Build a model which shows the road blocks to your
immediate and future success
2. Build a model describing what your future will look like
without the barriers
3. Build a model which shows what you need from others and
yourself to knock down the barriers to your success
4. Combine your models which will show how you will get
support from the team/group
15
16. B)TEAM MEMBER
1. Build a model showing who you are on the team
What do you bring to the team?
What could you bring to the team?
Build some of the functions that you carry out on the job, also
include some hidden aspects of you
2. Build an addition to your model that shows how you think
others in your team perceive you
3. Who are you at your best?
Build an addition to your model showing your thoughts about
this – what characterizes you when you are at your best?
16
17. C)TEAM
1. Build an individual model showing how you perceive your
team:
Show what you believe your team is all about
What is the spirit of the team?
The feel of the team?
The values of the team?
2. Build a shared model that shows what your team is all about
What is the team’s shared perception of the team?
What is the spirit and the ‘feel’ of the team?
17
18. D)TEAM ASPIRATIONS
1. Build a individual model showing what you aspire to be like as
a team in the future
2. Build a shared model
Each person explains each part of the shared model
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19. E)TEAM GOALS
Build a model describing the goals for the team
Build a model describing the objectives to meet the goals (first
steps to meet the goals)
Build a model with the objectives in the form of a storyline to
show when in time they should be completed
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20. F) HOW DOYOU SEEYOURSELF?
Build a model describing how you see yourself in your role (team
member, Scrum Master, Product Owner, Manager, ... )
20
21. G)YOUR ROLE
Build a model describing your role on the team
What is easy in your role?
What is difficult in your role?
21
22. H) STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
A. Build a model showing the strengths of your Product,Team,
Organization, ...
B. Build a model describing how you can utilize the strengths
1. Build a modell showing the weaknesses
2. Build a model describing how you can remove or compensate
for the weaknesses
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23. J) APPRECIATION
1. Build a model describing what you appreciated in the
workshop
2. Build a model describing what you would like to change in a
future similar workshop
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24. K) RETROSPECTIVES
1. Build a model describing what went well
2. Build a model describing things that we should start or stop
doing
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25. HOW DOES LEGO SERIOUS PLAY
WORK?
Much of our brain’s activity is dedicated to the manipulation of
our hands
When we model with our hands and tell stories there is more
neuronal activity and better suffusion of blood to critical areas of
the brain
70-80% of our brain’s nerve endings are connected to our hands
25
26. HOW DOES LEGO SERIOUS PLAY
WORK?
Psychological Flow: Individuals gain most from a learning
process when they are committed to and enjoy the process
26
27. THE FACILITATOR
Creates Open-ended building challenges
Gets the group’s dialogue to serve its purpose
Makes the reflections and dialogue process easier
Helps participants express themselves
Asks clarifying questions
27
28. PARTICIPANTS’ ETIQUETTE
The Lego model is your answer to the building challenge
There are no wrong answers
There is no ONE right answer – everyone has different views
What the model looks like is not the most important thing
The meaning attached to each model is what makes it valuable
The Lego models are tools and means to an end
28
29. GROUP SIZE
Roughly 8-12 people per group
One workshop group requires one facilitator
Large group exercises are possible – contact us to find out how
at info@innovationculturegroup.com
29
30. PLAY !
Put bowls of Lego bricks in your meeting rooms and see what
happens
Combine Lego Serious Play with other facilitation techniques
Play around with the Lego bricks and invent new challenges
Get your workshops to a flying start by starting with Lego
Serious Play to get people talking and energized
30
32. TALKSYOU MIGHT FIND
INTERESTING
The future depends on play:
The future depends on play_Seriouslythemovie
Tim Brown:Tales of creativity and play
ted.com/talks/lang/en/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play.h
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity
ted.com/talks/lang/en/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativit
y.html
Sunni Brown: Doodlers, unite!
ted.com/talks/sunni_brown.html
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33. FOOD FORTHOUGHT
How come executives love playing with Lego?
Why do we associate work with ’serious’ and play with ’not serious’ ?
How can you use Lego Serious Play when you have distributed
teams?
Is Lego Serious Play still ’serious’ when it is used in schools?
What is a ’lean in’ vs. a ’lean back’ meeting?
How long can you keep your fingers away from a pile of Lego bricks
(e.g. in a meeting room)?
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Notas del editor
Lego Serious Play:
It’s play with a serious purpose
To enhance your personal effectiveness and your business performance
A facilitated process for groups and teams which fosters creative thinking
Explores relationships and connections in organizations
Build a shared identity
Create a shared vision
An alternative: Build a model which shows the road blocks to THE TEAM’s immediate and future success. Etc.
Each person tells the story about the team, describing the shared model.
Put bowls of Lego bricks in common areas like the pantry or the window sill in the stairway.
Lego Serious Play for Education: http://youtu.be/2TbTa31ACB4
