At a barcamp at a conference, an agile coach showed us how to use Lego Serious Play in workshops. I saw what is possible, what is needed and yes, the official certificate is very expensive.
I was very curious to learn more about it. So I started researching.
Research: I searched for the normal Lego Serious Packs on amazon. Further I found some very interesting articles and a lot of open source describing the lego serious play models.
Project Budget: I have no budget. Neither I nor the company will be able to spend a lot of money for this.
Planned Steps: I will try to do it myself, without a budget.
Result: I tried to incorporate it into some sprint retros and my colleagues really loved it.
Role: Scrum Master / Moderator
LEGO Serious Play is an innovative, scientifically-based method for creating possible future scenarios, developing strategies and visions, and making ideas for your company's success tangible in three dimensions. It is a method for facilitating communication in meetings, encouraging thinking and developing ideas to solve problems for individuals, teams and organizations and is based on extensive research in the fields of business and strategy, organizational development, psychology and learning and is based on the concept of "practical knowledge".
The participatory approach strengthens team cohesion and brings together the different perspectives of all workshop participants. It takes listening to another level; instead of defending points of view, diversity is seen and made bearable.
This intuitive and playful method relies on the human imagination to gain deep insight into complex challenges and develop new solutions. It activates the creativity of all participants and enables them to quickly get to the heart of the matter. The playful environment creates a safe framework that allows you to illuminate critical issues and find holistic solutions that all participants can support.
The core process is divided into four steps:
LEGO Serious Play is suitable ...
Lego Serious Play can be used in workshops lasting from 2 hours to 2 days, accommodating 4-12 participants (or more with a co-facilitator). The complexity level can range from low to high, and the dynamics can be playful, constructive, innovative, and intuitive. The objective of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is to transform conventional meetings with low engagement and participation into sessions where all participants are fully engaged with their knowledge, actively contributing to idea generation and decision-making. This increased participation leads to greater insight, engagement, and commitment to implementing the solutions developed collaboratively.
Step 1
There is a lot of stuff on the internet, for example on youtube. You could watch this video to better understand the method:
Further there are some quite interesting books:
But there is as well a lot of free material. Personally, I can recommend this open source brochure:
Step 2
The next step is to buy the bricks. There are several different sets to choose from, but they are all quite expensive.
I decided to start with the window exploration bag. But as I have no budget, I have to improvise. So I started looking for old Lego bricks at home, while studying the list of bricks in the official exploration bag. The plan was to match the original as closely as possible.
After some sorting, I found most of the bricks in the Lego exploration bag. I bought some Lego bricks that were missing.
The last step was to wash them and pack them into 10 small bags for 10 people.
Step 3
You might find it useful to join a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® meetup. You can join one of the existing meetups or organise your own. You can also share your experiences by writing some blog posts.
Step 4
Follow the community on social media to get the latest information.
The workshops with lego bricks develop a common language that everyone can use, regardless of their experience, position, education or culture. In this way, everyone's knowledge and insights can be explored and shared.
The focus of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is initially on the individual, not just the group. Consequently, the structure of the workshop requires everyone to be actively involved in the decision-making and solution-finding process. It generates more ideas and concrete results because everyone has the same amount of time to develop their answers and ideas before the discussion and exchange even begins. It makes communication more fluid and encourages participants to listen better. Looking at 3D models, making up stories and using metaphors creates interest and better recall of what has been explained. Trivialities and trivia are greatly reduced. All this leads to better and deeper understanding.
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