LSP Open Source Brochure

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ContentsLSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5 LSP:Open-SourceBasic Principles and Philosophy

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Introduction

Why make things, rather than just talking?

What LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is, and what LEGOSERIOUS PLAY is not Introduction

The Core of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY

The three basic phases of t he LEGO SERIOUSPLAY process

The etiquette of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY skills building

When and why to use LEGO SERIOUS PLAY

Re ection, ownership and collaboration

Using LEGO SERIOUS PLAY

Leading the process through facilitation

Re ection and Dialogue

Creating LEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshops that work

Taking it further

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This document outlines the basic principles ofLEGO SERIOUS PLAY. It has been made availableby the LEGO Group under a Creative Commons licence(Attribution Share Alike: see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ for licence details). Over the

past decade, the LEGO Group has supported therigorous and careful development of three types ofLEGO SERIOUS PLAY resources:

1. The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY basic principlesand philosophy, upon which everything elseis built;

2. The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY materials setsof specially selected LEGO bricks and pieces;

3. LEGO SERIOUS PLAY applications detailed roadmaps of different workshopswhich make use of the principles andphilosophy, and the materials.

LEGOSERIOUS PLAY

Basic principles and philosophy

In the past, all three of these were only availableto trained and certi cated consultancy professionals.From June 2010, however, the rst two of these havebeen made open source. This document outlinesthe basic principles and philosophy; and LEGO SE-

RIOUS PLAY boxes (large sets of LEGO bricks andpieces) are now on sale from the www.seriousplay.com website.

It does not include detailed applications, becauseLEGO SERIOUS PLAY is entering a new phase.New applications will be developed by the internationalcommunity of users, and may be shared online. In thisnew phase, we welcome creative uses of these tools,and innovation in the community. This documentintroduces users to the LEGO SERIOUS PLAYapproach, so that good use can be made of thematerials. However, in order to make the best use ofthese methods it is likely that you would bene t fromthe help of a trained LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitator.

First published June 2010

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Origins of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is built upon a process whichstems from the heart of LEGO bricks and the LEGOsystem. Looking for a tool to unlock innovation withinthe company, the LEGO Group realized that a solutionmight be found in the LEGO System itself: just as theLEGO Group had been telling children to build theirdreams for decades, so perhaps adults could beasked to build their visions for future strategy.

Building upon the inclusive and participatory natureof the LEGO System, LEGO SERIOUS PLAY rejectsthe idea that external experts must be brought in toidentify problems, and to propose solutions; on thecontrary, LEGO SERIOUS PLAY begins with theassumption that the answers are already in the room,and invites participants to think with their hands tobuild their understandings. Every member of the teamparticipates, and everyone has a voice.

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY went through a number ofiterations from 1998 to 2010, and has been successfullyused by businesses around the world. Furthermore,the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY concept has beendeveloped to meet the needs of teachers and educators,and specially designed LEGO SERIOUS PLAY forEducation products and training are available for thistarget group (see http://educatorsweb.lego.com).

Why use LEGO bricks?

There are a number of reasons why LEGO bricksare particularly well suited to this kind of process.The material makes it easy for participants to puttogether satisfying models which represent somethingthat they wish to communicate. They do not needsigni cant technical skills; the LEGO System is familiarto many, and even if they have not used LEGObricks before, most people nd it quite easy tobuild meaningful constructions.

LEGO bricks come in many shapes and colours, andcan often provide inspiration for metaphors throughserendipity. They can be built into simple or complexforms, as suits the personality of the builder, andresearch has shown that people from all walks oflife feel comfortable attaching diverse metaphoricalmeanings to LEGO bricks.

LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5Introduction - Origins of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY

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LEGO SERIOUS PLAY offers an engaginghands-on environment, where the activity isperceived as meaningful, ones abilities arein balance with the challenge at hand, andone has the tools to express the emergingknowledge.

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LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5Why make things,rather than just talking?

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY exempli es the virtues ofthe LEGO System as a whole. It is creative, enabling,and open. It does not set any path for the individual

or group to follow, but rather embraces and supportsany ideas that may emerge, and encouragesdevelopment and collaboration to make thesestronger. Every stage of the LEGO SERIOUS PLAYprocess involves building with LEGO bricks, utilising thehand-mind connection: there is never a point whereparticipants merely sit back and write down, or chatabout, the issues without building their response rst.Therefore everything that is discussed comes fromout of the building process, where the hand and mindengage to give visual, metaphorical shape to meaningfulthings, emotions, and relationships.

The idea that we need to think with the body hasgained support from a convergence of new evidencefrom psychology and neuroscience. These theoriesemphasize that cognitive processes such aslearning and memory are strongly in uenced by theway we use our bodies to interact with the physicalworld. These processes are supported by the use ofLEGO bricks, because when a system has an inherentlogic, and a set of constraints that can be grasped, itcan support endless possibilities. It is easy to pick up,and yet enables development, experimentation andexpansion. Our mental work is helped by being able tobuild visual reminders of different signi cant aspectsof a problem. Neuroscienti c researchers have calledthis reduction of workload reducing the number ofthings the brain has to deal with at once by off-loadingthe meanings into visible and tangible objects.

Research has shown that the process of makingsomething, which is then discussed, can lead tomuch more valuable, insightful and honest

discussions. (See, for example, David Gauntlett:Creative Explorations, 2007, and Making is Connecting,2011). The creative, re ective process of makingsomething prompts the brain to work in a differentway, and can unlock new perspectives. In addition,when all participants have a constructed object infront of them, at the start of a discussion an objectwhich represents what they think is important aboutthe issue at stake, before anyone has said a wordabout it this gives all participants the opportunityto set their own issues on the table (literally andmetaphorically), and they all have an equal standing.

This is quite unlike the typical discussions that occurin places of work, where a dominant personality oftenidenti es the key issues at the s tart, and then therest of the conversation follows from there. In LEGOSERIOUS PLAY, everyone builds, and everyonediscusses. This gives more junior or less vocalmembers of a team the chance to have a say, andperhaps more importantly offers the senior ordominant members the opportunity to listen toinsights and challenges which they may not haveotherwise heard. Indeed, the process of building andcollaborating often produces insights which simplywould not have appeared in regular discussions.

When we give shape and form to our imagination,by constructing and externalizing concepts making them tangible and shareable we cannot only re ect on them ourselves, but invite othersto re ect with us. LEGO SERIOUS PLAY offers anengaging hands-on environment, where the activityis perceived as meaningful, ones abilities a re inbalance with the challenge at hand, and one hasthe tools to express the emerging knowledge.


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Users of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methods haveto recognize that the strengths of the process liein its cycles of building, re ection, and collaborative

learning. It is a particular kind of facilitated process,used for particular purposes. Therefore:

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is not a fun ice-breakerexercise to start off a meeting. You can useexercises with LEGO bricks for this purpose, ofcourse, but it is not LEGO SERIOUS PLAY.

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is not a tool for buildingorganizational diagrams or for planning physicalenvironments (such as buildings or work spaces).

You can use LEGO bricks for this purpose, ofcourse, but it is not LEGO SERIOUS PLAY.

Also:

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is not anything thatanybody says can be done in an hour.

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is not aboutcommunication as persuasion, where onemember of the team persuades others thattheir point of view is the only relevant one, orwhere the manager communicates messagesto their staff.

The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methodology offersa sophisticated means for a group to share ideas,assumptions and understandings; to engage in rich

dialogue and discussion; and to work out meaningfulsolutions to real problems.

A LEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshop typically takesat least one day. At its shortest, a LEGO SERIOUSPLAY workshop takes three or four hours.Unsurprisingly as time is tight in business, andeverywhere else efforts have been made, overthe years, to reduce the length of time that LEGOSERIOUS PLAY takes. But it has clearly been foundthat shorter workshops are ones of signi cantly lowerquality. If a facilitator was to leave out the skills-build-ing exercises and leap straight into a complex taskand encourage participants to race through it quickly this is simply not effective.

LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5What LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is,and what LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is not

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The process structure

The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method is built upon

basic knowledge about how people and groups bestlearn and develop. The process structure ofthe LSP process is building upon a learning processthat ensures that people take ownership of their ownlearning and learn the most. This learningprocess implies four steps that you move through ina spiral:

1. The rst step of the ideal learning spiral is tohelp people connect to what they are goingto explore, and to understand the contextand meaning of what they are about to learnmore about.

2. The second step is to involve people in aprocess where they create a product connectedto the targets of exploration, involving their ownknowledge and re ections as well as their owncreative skills and their own hands.

3. The third step is to help people re ect on whatthey have created and look deeper into theirown re ections about their own product, in orderto become aware of what their explorationshave brought them, and in order to gain moreinsights.

4. The fourth step is that people get a chance toconnect their newly gained knowledge to newexplorations they would want to pursue.

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is a method that enablesconstructive re ection and dialogue processes.During a structured process, participants use LEGO

bricks to create models that express their thoughts,re ections and ideas.

The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method creates theframework within which the bricks are being used and without this framework, it would not be a LEGOSERIOUS PLAY process.

The core of the LEGO SERIOUSPLAY concept consists of:

Process structure: A basic, step-by-stepprocess structure

Bricks: The use of the bricks as implementsto create visible, tangible 3D-models thatrepresent thoughts, re ections and ideas.

Participants etiquette

Facilitators code of conduct

LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5The Core of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY

When people go through an iterative process likethe one described here, they are learning somethingprofoundly, and they take ownership not only for their

own learning process but also for the things learnedand even for taking the knowledge to the next leveland developing even more with it.

The process structure of LEGO SERIOUS PLAYbuilds on the insights about this ef fective learningprocess, and the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methodrelies on this speci c process structure to createan ideal environment for constructive re ection anddialogue. This structure consists of three basic phasesthat must be covered by any LEGO SERIOUS PLAYprocess. To exploit all the advantages of the methodas a tool for constructive re ection and dialogue, it isimperative that the three basic phases of the processare covered every time and in the correct order.

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LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5The three basic phases of the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process

The three basic phases of the LEGO SERIOUS PLAYprocess structure are:

Phase 1: The Challenge:The facilitator poses the

building challenge to theparticipants.

Phase 2: Building: The participants build aLEGO model representingtheir re ections on thebuilding challenge.

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Phase 3: Sharing:The participants share themeaning and the story thatthey have assigned to theirown models.

Considering the purpose of the workshop in advance,the facilitator has formulated each building challengein a way that will open up re ection and dialogue.When the process starts, the building challenge is

posed to the participants, the building time is madeclear, and the facilitator asks participants to build amodel with their LEGO bricks that expresses theirthoughts on, or response to the building challenge.

The facilitators choice and formulation of the buildingtask is crucial for participants experience of theprocess. The challenge for the facilitator is toformulate the building task so that it best servesthe purpose of the workshop while following thebasic principles of the method.

In the building phase, participants build their responseto the building challenge with LEGO bricks.

While building their models, participants assignmeaning and narrative to their models by means ofmetaphors, gures of speech, and narratives. Duringconstruction of the model, the individual participantundergoes a re ective process through which theygain a clearer and more detailed conception of andinsight into their own re ections and thoughts.

The building process both inspires and supportsthe re ective process, and participants are givena chance to think with their hands. The fact thatparticipants use their hands to build concrete,three-dimensional models of their re ections andideas, gives them easier access to the knowledgeand experience that is stored in their minds and itcatalyses new trains of thought.

Phase 2: Building 2

1 Phase 1: The Challenge

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This sequence challenge, then building, thensharing is repeated several times in any LEGOSERIOUS PLAY session. It is the basic buildingblock of any LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process.


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The point of the sharing phase is that participantsshare their stories and assigned meanings abouttheir models with each other. So one at a time, eachparticipant shares the signi cance and story thatthey have assigned to their own model. It is veryimportant that each participant gets the chance toshare the story about their model. The sharing is initself a re ection process, in that when they share theirmodels, participants explore their own expressions

more closely. Those listening also have an opportunityto explore in more detail what the narrator expressesthrough the model. The facilitator plays a crucial partin the sharing phase when asking facilitating questions.Facilitating questions are asked with the purpose ofgetting participants to re ect more and share moreabout their thoughts and ideas with each other.

It is crucial that each persons voice is heard duringthis process. Everybody shares what is on their minds,and everybody is listened to. This is very important toreach one of the purposes of the LSP process: to leteveryone share their thoughts in a constructive wayand to give everybody a chance to hear each otherspoints of view. This is on the one hand to create ashared understanding of the groups way of handlingthe situation, and on the other hand to create the beststarting point for people to feel ownership for there ections and ideas expressed. Eventually this willhelp them to arrive at the s olutions and actions thatneed to be taken in order for them to handle thesituation the best way possible.

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The Bricks

The Etiquette of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY

The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process should be carried out in ac-cordance with a set of principles that are managed and control-led by the facilitator. This set of SERIOUS PLAY principles is anintegral part of the method, and is known as the Etiquette.

To ensure the integrity of the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process,and to gain the greatest bene t from it, participants must remem-ber and adhere to these guidelines. The facilitator has the task ofmaking the etiquette clear to participants throughout the process.

The principles build on a set of values that are central to theLEGO SERIOUS PLAY method and the thinking that liesbehind it.

These basic values state that:

The answer is in the system. Therefore, the LEGOSERIOUS PLAY method is all about participantsexpressing themselves and listening to each other.

The multitude of contributions to the dialogue is theimportant part. The method has the overall goal of gettingparticipants to express their re ections and thoughts never to produce correct answers or facts.

There is no ONE right answer. Everyone has differentviews, and this is a good thing. The process enables thesedifferent perspectives to come out in the open withoutanybody saying which is right or wrong.

The LEGO models are tools, and means to an end. The model initself is not the result the model building is a helpful processwhile re ecting on an issue or problem, and the model is a toolfor participants to express and to understand more. Themeanings attached to each model are what make it valuable.

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Participants should have equal access to a good range of bricks and pieces,so that they feel they have a pleasing opportunity to express themselves.

The LEGO sets developed for LEGO SERIOUS PLAY processes arerecommended as ideal for this purpose, as they contain many differentpieces, shapes, animals and other useful parts. It has been found that usingonly the most basic rectangular bricks can be frustrating for participants,who do not necessarily want a dif cult building challenge. Instead, animals,ags, mini gures, domes, and a wide range of other attractive shapes makeit easy for people to pick out metaphorical elements.


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What counts is your meaning for your model andonly the person who built the model knows whatit means. This means that:

1. Participants are free to ask questions about eachothers models and storiesbut they may notexpress an opinion about or interpret each othersmodels or stories.

2. The facilitator asks questions about the modeland the storynot about the person. Focusmust be on the model and the story around the

modelnot on the person describing the model.

Listen with your eyes: Look at the model that isbeing shared use your visual sense to graspand understand even more of what the otherparticipants are describing.

Everybody participates during the full process.

The basic values also translate into the following codeof conduct that the facilitator should keep in mindwhen using the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method:

Facilitators code of conduct

ALWAYS follow the 3 ba sic phases of the process.

Maintain ow in the process. Introduce participantsto the method in accordance with the sectionLEGO SERIOUS PLAY skills building. Beprocess-oriented and aware of participantsneeds as the process develops.

Assign building challenges that are clear andserve the workshops purpose: When creating theLEGO SERIOUS PLAY processes, the facilitatormust take into account their knowledge about theparticipants starting point.

A building task must always be completedindividually before it may be completed in agroup. The level of re ection achieved in theLEGO SERIOUS PLAY processes is amovement from individual re ection to groupre ection (where group model building is utilized).

Use the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY models actively look for answers in the models and look for detailsabout the stories, the thoughts, ideas andre ections in the models. When the LEGO modelsare used actively in the process, they are ideallysuited as tools to promote constructive re ectionand dialogue. Therefore, the facilitator should keepfocus on the models, i.e. trust the method andreturn to the models when facilitating the process.

1. Remember that asking questions of the person whobuilt a speci c model is optimal utilization of themodels potential as an implement in the process.Such questions must be aimed at exploring themodel and/or the relationship between severalmodels and the story told. Never ask questions thatrequire the person to explain why they intended themodel to express what it does.

2. The models are ideal for bringing out more detailsand nuances in participants descriptions of theirre ections; and helping participants focus speci -cally on the re ections they are sharing, rather than

on the individuals involved.

Everyone must be given the chance to explain theirmodel. When participants are asked to build anddo their best, it is crucial that they feel that theirstories are listened to. Similarly, it is crucial thattheir contributions to the process are acceptedand recognizednever as a simple truth, but forthe way, that person shares their story today andfrom a personal perspective.

LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5The etiquette ofLEGO SERIOUS PLAY

Participants Etiquette

The basic values listed above translate into thefollowing etiquette that participants should adhere to:

The facilitator poses the building challenges, setsthe building time and guides the process.

The LEGO model IS your answer to thebuilding challenge.

There are no wrong answers: There is no rightand no wrong way to build. What the modellooks like is not the most important thing. Whatis important is what the participants can share/ describe through the model. If the participantsays that a model represents somethingspeci c, then that is what it is!

Think with your hands: If you dont know whatyou want to build, it is often a good idea justto start building. The facilitator may encourageparticipants to do this and say that they shouldlet their hands do the thinking.

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Principles for the skills building process

The rst time a group of people uses LEGO SERIOUS PLAY, the rst couple of hoursare of crucial importance in ensuring participants experience of ow. The facilitatorensures ow by applying the principles for LEGO SERIOUS PLAY skills buildingand taking participants through the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY skills building process.The aim of the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY skills building program is to acquaintparticipants with the following aspects of the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method:

1. The three basic phases of the process.

2. The Etiquette.

3. Use of LEGO bricks as personal metaphors.

4. The use of the LEGO models to share thoughts and present stories.

5. The function of the models and stories as implements in activelistening and constructive dialogue.

The skills building must be taught to participants hands-on. It cannot be conveyed to theparticipants only verbally telling people about the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method andwhat they are supposed to do during the process will not bring them into ow with themethod. They will have to experience it.

Therefore it is necessary that at the start of any LEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshop,participants should be led through a s eries of skills-building exercises, such as thissequence:

To introduce participants to LEGO bricks and to the experience that they are allable to build with the bricks, they are invited to each build a tower. The towerscan be tested for stability by the facilitator, causing some of them to break.Participants will typically be sad to see their tower shatter, and this is taken asa learning point: illustrating the emotional connection we can quickly develop tothings we have built with our own hands. When participants have built their towers,the facilitator should ask them to share something about their own tower suchas their immediate thoughts about it. Including the sharing phase at this stage willmake sure that the participants are introduced to the basic phases of the process

from the very beginning. The facilitator can lead the participants attention to thefact that the participants etiquette includes that you have to share the story aboutyour model each time you have built a model.

LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5LEGO SERIOUS PLAYskills building

Metaphors

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LEGO SERIOUS PLAY skills building

The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method must be implemented correctly to be successful.Thus, participants must be introduced to the method and its use in accordance with theLEGO SERIOUS PLAY skills building program. As s oon as participants are pro cientin the method and the process, they will be able to use the method constructively andef ciently during a facilitated workshop.

In order for a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshop to be successful, it is vital thatparticipants are introduced to the use of the method by rst exploring the three phasesof LEGO SERIOUS PLAY and the act of building itself. Letting the participants becomeacquainted with the method before using it for workshop purposes, will ensure theparticipants experience of ow in the subsequent LEGO SERIOUS PLAY processes.

What is ow?

The theory of ow, developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, states that individuals gainmost from a learning or developmental process when they are committed to and enjoythe process. It is imperative for a participants engagement in a developmental processthat they experience optimum stretch in terms of cognitive and emotional involvement in other words, that their skills and resources are suitably challenged. Flow theory statesthat if a developmental process is not enough of a challenge, the individual gets boredand the learning curve tails off.

By contrast, if individuals are presented with too dif cult a challenge, they becomeanxious, have dif culty memorizing, and lose grasp of the situation, which also resultsin a falling learning curve. Humans feel good and develop best, and therefore learn themost, when they are presented with assignments that challenge them optimally neithertoo little, nor too much.

With this knowledge from the ow theory, LEGOSERIOUS PLAY workshops should start off withpeople in ow so that they as individuals andas a group gain the most from the process. Thefacilitator has the responsibility of ensuring ow inthe LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process. To ensure ow,the facilitator must use their knowledge of the speci cgroup of participants as individuals and as a group,closely monitoring the process and adjustingquestions to promote the participants experienceof ow.

The most important time to ensure ow is when a group of people begin l earning theLEGO SERIOUS PLAY process, and the facilitator does this by following the LEGOSERIOUS PLAY skills building process and principles.


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LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5LEGO SERIOUS PLAYskills building

To introduce participants to the use of metaphors, they should rst be asked tobuild a creature in LEGO bricks (a normal, non-metaphorical representation). Afterthis, the facilitator gives the participants just four minutes to turn the creature intoa representation of the ideal boss or the worst imaginable boss you can think of.This is a turning-point which shifts participants into building on the metaphoricalplane. When participants have shared the meaning of their models, it will be obvi-

ous that each model has a number of different, metaphorically meaningful featureswhich the facilitator can highlight in order to emphasize this special way of usingthe bricks.

To further develop experience with building metaphors and add the storytellingelement, participants are invited to build a metaphorical representation of MyMonday mornings. This challenge will help participants see that they can use thebricks and their metaphors to share a storyline and share personal experiences.

In each of these stages, as in every stage of a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY session,participants should build (individually, simultaneously) and then share (going roundeach participant in turn, each telling the story of their model). The facilitator should beaware of conveying the Participants Etiquette to the participants during the skills buildingchallenges. If these three building challenges do not s eem to get participants into owwith the use of the method, the facilitator should make sure that they reach a state ofow by having them go through some more lightweight building challenges that buildtheir skills in using the method rather than rushing to the workshop process.

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LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5 When and why to useLEGO SERIOUS PLAY

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is a tool which can be usedin a wide range of contexts. Unsurprisingly, however,its use is more appropriate in some situations than inothers. A LEGO SERIOUS PLAY practitioner shouldbe sensitive to the needs of a client and should selectthe most appropriate tools.

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY, at its heart, is a methodfor the facilitation of dialogue and constructivecommunication within groups of people known orrelated to each other. It is based on the belief thateveryone can contribute to the discussion, thedecisions and the outcome.

Therefore it is best suited to:

Team building, where a group of people worktogether (but do not necessarily know eachother very well)

Working out the best solution to ashared problem

Strategy development, where all relevant indi-viduals get the opportunity to contribute theirvision of the aims and challenges, and consoli-date these with the ideas of others

Creating a shared mindset about something

Understanding each others points of view on adeeper level

Having effective and constructive discussionswhere everybody is heard

Unleashing creative thinking

Understanding eachothers points of viewon a deeper level

What LEGO SERIOUS PLAY canachieve in organizations

When a leader or manager wants to gather the fullindividual and team brain power to work on complexbusiness issues such as developing strategy plans,handling con icts, forming and developing teamsand working with turnaround and restructuring thenLEGO SERIOUS PLAY is the method of choice.

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY has been used at companiesworldwide as an innovative way to increase the com-mitment, con dence and insight of their executives,managers and employees. It has been used for abroad range of purposes, including:

Strategy development and exploration Examining and evaluating relations to externalpartners and clients.

Organizational development For management,teams and individual employees.

Innovation and product development Unleashing creative thinking and transformingideas into concrete concepts.

Change management Facilitating and

implementing structural changes and mergers.

Experience shows great relevance of the LEGOSERIOUS PLAY method in other areas such as

scenario development and testing, mergers andacquisitions, branding, leadership and teamdevelopment, turnaround and restructuring,market entry, operational ef ciency andcompetitive analysis.

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LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5 Reflection, ownershipand collaboration

A central strength of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is that participants in the process areencouraged and enabled to:

Having participated in the intense, creative and exhilarating process of a LEGOSERIOUS PLAY session, participants are more likely to feel ownership of the analysisand decisions made. Having been central to the creation of something and havingbeen listened to individuals are more inclined to take ownership of the consequentactions.

Collaboration, too, is strengthened through listening and experiencing a positive,constructive dialogue. Participants come away with skills to communicate moreeffectively, to engage their imaginations more readily, and to approach their workwith increased con dence, commitment and i nsight.

Think andre ect

Contributeto the com-municationprocess

Listen toeach other

Think andcommuni-cate in adifferentway thantheyusually do.

Accessing new and/or different information inyour mind setting yourself free from the usualthinking patterns and automatic thoughts yourun into when confronted with the topic

Starting and inspiring an associativeprocess where the metaphors as well as theLEGO bricks work as inspirators for newthoughts and connections

Finding new lines of thought

Helping the individual keep different points inmind as they are represented in the model while working further on the associative trail.

Externalizing thoughts, feelings, experiencesfrom the person, thus giving the person apossibility to look at these things from anoutside view, and consider it all as somethingthat can be acted on, instead of as somethingthat is a part of themselves.

Thinking withthe hands

The process of re ectingwhile you seek to translateyour thoughts intometaphors, is ahelpful process for:

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LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5 Using LEGO SERIOUS PLAY

As noted above, participants in a LEGO SERIOUSPLAY workshop should be taken through a ba sicskills building session in order for them to obtain theexperience of ow when working with the bricks a ndthe method, and in order to gain the most bene t fromthe workshop.

After the skills building has been completed, thefacilitator can take the participants to the actual

workshop level, where the participants use the

Each of these different ways to use the methodfollows the three basic process steps every time.

A LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process typically beginswith participants building individual models. Theymight then be asked to build additions to models theyhave already built, and to build connections betweenmodels already built.

Additions could, for instance, be building challengesthat ask participants to further investigate a detail

Different ways to use the method:

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method to engage activelyin a process with a speci c focus or theme. TheLEGO SERIOUS PLAY method can be used in avariety of different ways as long as the core of themethod is kept intact by making sure that the ba sicprocess steps are followed, and that the facilitator andthe participants adhere to the Etiquette and code ofconduct. The different ways of using the method canbe combined in different ways in order to serve the

purpose of the workshop.

IndividualModels

Additions AdditionsConnections Connections

Process orientation

concerning the issue they have just re ected upon, orcould be a building challenge that as k participants toadd another dimension or perspective to the modelthey have already built.

Connections are built between two or more models,and they can be shown with placement by placingthe models at a certain distance and in a certaindirection towards each other or by physicallybuilding the relation between two models in amanner which represents the kind of relationship.

Additions and connections can be built in relationto shared models as well, and these can be builtindividually, or together as a group.

Shared models are built by combining individualmodels into one model, through a process ofdialogue and negotiation.

Shared model building requires a very skilled facilitator,as there may be a lot of complex group dynamics inplay. Shared model building requires skilled facilitationduring the building phase, which the individual modelbuilding does not.

When planning to use shared model building in aLEGO SERIOUS PLAY session, it is crucial to keepthe following in mind:

A building challenge for shared models mustalways be posed as an individual building chal-lenge before it is posed as a shared buildingchallenge. This means that whenever a sharedmodel is being built, participants have always

Handling shared model building

SharedModels

29

built their individual response to the buildingchallenge before they are asked to engage inthe shared model building process. This ensuresthat everybodys voice is heard, and thateverybody will have something to contributeto the shared model.

Building a shared model should not be a matterof nding the lowest common denominatorsfrom the individual models. A shared modelbuilding process should have the purpose ofgetting as many details and nuances of thegroups re ections in the shared model, and itshould strive towards capturing that essencewhich each of the group members can acceptand recognize as part of their shared reality.Reaching this will be the responsibility of thefacilitator and requires excellent facilitation skills.

When different ways of building have been usedduring a workshop, participants can re ect on thedifferent responses that have been built in order togain deeper understandings.


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One of the principal advantages of the method is thatit is an excellent tool for externalizing participantsre ections. The term externalizing describes how thethoughts participants share during the process aredistanced from the person because they are built asLEGO models. The participants thoughts are expressedin a way that makes it easy for participants to exploreas a group what has been expressed individually.Externalizing individual re ections in this way distancesthem from the individual, making it easier to explorethe re ections without challenging the person whoexpressed them.

At the same time, the LEGO models (as physicalrepresentations) help anchor what has been saidduring the process, which makes dialogue andsubsequent re ection ow better from the individualand from the group. If a discussion has gone off on atangent, externalization provides the perfect methodfor getting it back on track, by leading the discussionback to the physical models in front of theparticipants and what they can read from them.

The SERIOUS PLAY process is focused on theparticipants re ections and dialogue. The facilitatorsjob is to help participants re ect and express themselvesvia the LEGO models they build during the process.

The facilitator can best achieve this by demonstratingcuriosity and showing an interest in the model theindividual participant has built and the s tory they tellabout it. The facilitator does this by asking questionsthat encourage the participant to dig deeper into themeaning of their model and the story attached to it.

LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5 Reflection and Dialogue

The facilitators opinion, interpretation or understandingof the model and the story becomes irrelevant in thesense that the process has the purpose of getting theparticipants to gain more insight through their ownre ection and dialogue. The facilitator must avoid therole of censor. They must never decide the meaningof a model, and may never decide how relevant orirrelevant, or how good or poor, the models are.

The facilitators most ef cient tool in the process isto ask questions and show genuine interest in takinga deeper look into the thoughts, feelings and ideasconveyed through the models and their assignedstories. Even though the facilitator must take this neutralposition in the process, the facilitator still has apowerful way of in uencing the process throughthe questions they pose. Good facilitating questionsare an effective way of in uencing the process.

The LEGO models:Externalization

With the LEGO models, externalization is integratedinto the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method as afamiliar and effective means by which to expressparticipants reflections. The facilitator mustmaintain focus on the models, consistently usingthem as tools as participants explore their ownand each others reflections. The facilitatorsquestions must consistently relate to models builtduring the processand they must encourage

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LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5 Creating LEGO SERIOUS PLAYworkshops that work

When creating LEGO SERIOUS PLAYworkshops that work, the facilitator ful lsthe following tasks:

2. Setting the scene,conveying LSP etiquette

3. Facilitating the processopen-endedly

1. Planning and prepairing

the process

Facilitator

The facilitator prepares i.e. creates and plans theLSP workshop, and in doing that there are severalthings that they should be aware of and shouldconsider.

First and foremost, the process will be formed andin uenced very much by the building challenges thatare making up the workshop.

Model:The facilitatorstasks

4. Ensuring participantsexperience of ow

Formulating the building challenges

The open-ended approach

The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitator has the task of planning the LEGO SERIOUSPLAY process. In advance, they need to prepare building challenges relevant for the

particular workshop. As mentioned above, the formulation of building challenges has acrucial impact on the process, and it is important that the building challenges areformulated in a way that means they will serve the purpose of the workshop, andensure the integrity of the method.

The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method is built upon an open-ended approach. Thebasic philosophy is that challenges should open up to re ection, rather than ask forde nitive correct responses. The approach presupposes that a challenge has adevelopmental effect when there are several different correct or true solutions.

This means that when participants are presented with a challenge, there are manydifferent ways to meet and solve the challenge, and a challenge should be formulatedexactly to meet this rich approach to reality.

In formulating building challenges, the facilitator must strive to ask open-endedquestions that encourage re ection and dialogue. In this context, open-endedquestions are often all about thoughts, imagined future scenarios, and things thathave yet to happen.

The aim of the building challenges is to reach the core of what participants shouldre ect on. Questions should also focus on experiences and characteristics, ratherthan on hard facts and concrete knowledge.

Participants tend to see a good building challenge as one that is easily understood andthat triggers their thoughts in an unusual way. When formulating each separate building

challenge, the facilitator will naturally bene t from consultancy experience andprofessional perspectives about the speci c participant group.

Progression from one building task to the next

Building a process with several consecutive building challenges that form layers oftenworks well to move teams on in their exploration and learning.

Questions forming layers are questions that move from one level of re ection toanother. The aim of constructing several layers into building tasks is that severalrounds of re ection on the same theme from a variety of perspectives will expandthe scope of participants re ections and produce more nuanced dialogue.

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Size and scale of a workshop

A LEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshop typically involvesfour to eight people. Groups of more than eight tendto be too big, so that the process of going round thetable hearing about constructions might becometiresome (or might put pressure on individuals tospeed up), and can make it dif cult for participants toremember all of the meanings and stories. A workshopcan involve as few as two participants, although agroup of four to eight is optimal bringing the energyof different people and more ideas.

In terms of materials required, each participant shouldbe given a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Starter Kit .

(item no. 2000414) for the skills-building exercises.The workshop group will make collective use of oneLEGO SERIOUS PLAY Identity and Landscape Kit(item no. 2000415), and if connections are to be builtbetween models, participants will bene t from havingone LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Connections Kit (item no.2000413).

Note that one workshop group requires one facilitator. It is notpossible to facilitate two groups side by side (for example,two tables, each with eight participants, in the same room)because each group would need focused attention from thefacilitator, at the same time so this is not possible

This is an example of one basic LEGO SERIOUSPLAY session, which is designed for a working teamthat wish to unlock further potential in their workingrelationships and what they can achieve. Theprocess allows the participants to re ect on theirown feelings, reactions and responses, and todeepen their knowledge of themselves, and howthey relate to the team.

At each stage, as is always the case in LEGOSERIOUS PLAY workshops, the participants build,and then share the story of what they have builtwith each other.

Materials needed: one LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Starter Kit(item no. 2000414) for each participant, for the skills-buildingexercises; one Identity and Landscape Kit (item no. 2000415),and one LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Connections Kit (it em no.2000413).

Outline of a basic LEGO SEROUS PLAY session

LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5 Creating LEGO SERIOUS PLAYworkshops that work

Focus Facilitators instructions/ Building Challenge Duration

Skills Building

(Several individual builds)

Core identity

(Individual build)

Aspirational Identity

(Individual build)

Aspirational Identity

(Individual build)

Team Life

(Individual build)

Shared Team Life

(Shared build)

Team Connections 1

(Individual build)

Team Connections 2

(Individual build)

First of all, the participants go through the several stages of a skills-

building session, as described above.

Build a model showing who you are on this team. What do you bring to

the team? What could you bring? Consider building some of the functions

that you carry out on the job, but also some aspects of you that are more

hidden.

Build an addition to your model that shows how you think others in your

team perceive you.

Who are you at your best, right now? Build another addition to your model

showing your thoughts about this what characterizes you right now when

you are at your best?

Keep your model but set it aside for now, you will need it later.

How do you perceive your team? Build a new model showing what you

believe your team is all about what is the spirit, the feel, of the team

right now?

Build a shared model that shows what your team is all about what is the

teams perception of the team? What is the teams shared perception of

the spirit and the feel of the team life?

When the team has built their shared model, the facilitator asks for a

volunteer to tell the story of the model. The other team members may

contribute to the story.

Now, position your own identity model in connection to the shared model

of your Team Life. Use the position of your model to say something more

about the team and about your connection/relation to the team.

Build two or three connections between your own identity model and the

shared Team Life model. Have your connections show and tell about what

in your team life you feel the most connected to and how.

Aspirational Team Life

(Individual build)

Shared Aspirational Team Life

(Shared build)

Look at the models we have on the table, connected to each other, show-

ing each of you in relation to your team and showing your teams shared

perception of the team life.

Now, each build a model showing what you aspire to be like as a team in

the future.

Build a shared model that shows what you aspire to be like as a team.

Going through a process of this kind would take at least one day, and participants are likely tobecome tired this kind of play is hard work. Make sure that pleasant breaks, and a nice lunch,are scheduled.

6090 minutes total

15 minutes building and

15 minutes sharing


10 minutes sharing


10 minutes sharing


15 minutes sharing

30 minutes

5 minutes positioning

and 15 minutes sharing

10 minutes building and 10

minutes sharing

15 minutes building and 15

minutes sharing

30 minutes

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LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5 Taking it further

Why choose training in LEGO SERIOUS PLAY?

The bene ts of an external LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitator

This document was intended to provide a generalintroduction to the basic principles of LEGO SERIOUSPLAY. However, it is not possible to fully learn andappreciate the strengths of the method simply byreading a short document. In particular, developing asuitable facilitation style takes time and practice, and it is

especially helpful to see a trained professional in action.

Therefore we strongly recommend that new usersseek training in LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitation.

Before the method and materials were open source,many consultancy professionals attended intensiveweek-long training sessions run by the LEGO Group.That training is no longer offered by the LEGO Group,training programs and coaching is available fromthose existing trained practitioners in the LEGO

SERIOUS PLAY community. To nd such trainingclose to you, visit www.seriousplay.com, which includeslinks to LEGO SERIOUS PLAY communities aroundthe world.

There are also the interpersonal dynamics to consider.When a boss or a colleague is asking you a questionor giving you feedback, you will always consider thatquestion or the feedback in the context of the relationyou have to that person. You cannot take youreveryday relation out of the equation when you aremaking interventions in the system.

Using an external and trained consultant to createand drive the intervention will ensure that theintervention is much more likely to be the right one,and will help the organization reach their goals ofchange or development.

Hiring in an external consultant should be more costef cient, because that external consultant should beable to make the right intervention and make it theright way the rst time around. Also the involvementof an external consultant will ensure that involvedemployees will feel in safe hands because they arenot confronted with their boss asking something fromthem which might contain a hidden agenda. Insteadthey are confronted with a consultant looking forgreater insight and trying to help the organization ndtheir own answers.

As we have seen, LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is amethod and a tool for making interventions inorganizations, on the management level creatingthe company strategy, or developing the organizationsvalues or on an employee level helping teamswork well together, or implementing organizationalvalues.

In organizations every intervention has the goal ofaffecting the system (the system being the peoplethat make up the organization and their relationshipsto each other). You affect the system because youwant it to move forward, change and develop. Designingsuch an intervention is a skilled task, requiringexperience and insight. It has been observed andestablished that when managers within an organizationtry to create interventions, they are just as much a part ofthe system as the people they are trying to affect andtherefore they cannot see the needs of the employeesclearly enough to create the right intervention.

Being part of the system yourself will make it verydif cult to know which questions will invoke the rightre ection process, and ultimately the wished forchange process.

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LSP:Open-Source /1/2 /3 /4 /5 Taking it further

Getting started with LEGO SERIOUS PLAY

The above describes what the LEGO SERIOUSPLAY concept is and how it is used as a methodin general. If you want to run LEGO SERIOUS PLAYworkshops and take upon yourself the role of thefacilitator, you need to consider how you makeyourself ready to handle the method so that you

and your workshop participants will get the mostout of using it.

Running an ef cient and successful LEGO SERIOUSPLAY workshop requires a skilled facilitator, deepknowledge about the LEGO SERIOUS PL AYprocess, and experience with facilitating suchprocesses. Being a skilled LEGO SERIOUS PLAYfacilitator requires that you have insight into the pitfallsand essentials of the method and that you havepractical, hands-on experience with the use of themethod. If you have never used the LEGO SERIOUSPLAY method before as a facilitator, it is stronglyrecommended that you build up your practicalknowledge about the method as well as your skillsas a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitator.

First of all, in order to appreciate the method andunderstand it fully it is recommended that youexperience a range of different LEGO SERIOUSPLAY workshops as a participant.

Secondly, to ensure your success with the method, it isrecommended that you train your skills as a facilitatorof the process by fa cilitating a number of lightweightworkshops in settings and with groups of peoplewhere the process is not likely to do any harm if anymistakes should occur.

Train your skills to conduct an ef cient and purposefulskills building process by taking a group of friends orcolleagues through it a couple of times, without a longLEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshop after it.

Practice your formulation of good building challengesby testing different building challenges on friendsor colleagues (who have been taken through thebasic skills building exercises rst). Test yourbuilding challenges on yourself and continue todo this every time you pl an a workshop even whenyou are an experienced facilitator.

Be aware of the fact that the process can bringup things in the dialogue that you could not haveforeseen and prepare for this situation. Train yourfacilitation skills to handle this situation by takingdifferent groups of people through different testLEGO SERIOUS PLAY processes that you create.

Go further online

See the website, www.seriousplay.com, for furtherinformation, and for links into the growing LEGOSERIOUS PLAY community.

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LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Brick, Knob con guration andthe Mini gure are trademarks of the LEGO Group. 2010The LEGO Group

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