Organizing workshops using the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method

With more than 10 years’ experience, AVEA Partners became masters in conceiving and facilitating workshops using the method LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®.

In France, Marie-Christine DUPONT and Jean SEMO own a unique and recognized expertise from setting up training workshops since 2007.

Workshops using the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method can be built anywhere in France, either in French or in English, whatever the company size: VSC, SME or bigger groups.

In addition to designing and facilitating those workshops, AVEA Partners relies on a network of local certified facilitators in order to provide onsite workshops, according to the location and the size of the group.

Looking for a workshop in your organization and willing to have a full guarantee of success?
Feel free to get in touch with us via +33 1 46 89 01 37.

The importance of entrusting the organization of a workshop using the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method to a certified facilitator

Let it be said, the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method is not a game !

The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology is a technique that facilitates -in real time- reflection, communication and problem solving. It is applicable to organizations, teams and individuals. It draws its roots from in-depth research in the fields of business, organizational development, psychology and learning. It is based on the concept of « building knowledge by the hands ».

The LSP method is based on a set of fundamental beliefs regarding leadership and organizations:

• leaders do not always hold the answers; success depends on their ability to listen to all participants
• people are naturally inclined to take part into a project and to belong to something bigger than themselves.
• the most sustainable economic model is one that allows everyone to contribute and express themselves
• too often, teams underperform because we leave aside the individual resources of employees
• our world is an ever-changing and complex one.

Based on these observations, the founding principles of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology were born, mainly The Core Process, and the seven Application Techniques.
The group of participants in a workshop using the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method consists of at least two people and can be extended to several tens or even hundreds in one or more sessions depending on the size of the group.
The participants will collectively reflect on a specific problem, clearly identified and formulated during the preliminary and mandatory interview between the certified facilitator and the representative of the organization that leads the workshop.

To take part in a workshop using the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method, no specific skills or predisposition are required, showing up is all it takes.

Construction with bricks :

LEGO® rhymes with building ! However, the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method does not follow any of the usual LEGO® box assembly instructions that are commercially available. A selection of particular LEGO® bricks has been made by the LEGO Group to form specific kits for organizations. These LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® kits are manufactured and distributed by the LEGO Group.

Using metaphors for construction challenges :
Participants are challenged through construction tasks that are pivotal to the method. Metaphors are used to offer a 3D illustration of the question at stake.

Giving hands a voice :

The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method celebrates a hands-on approach. In a fairly short time, participants are expected to handle and assemble bricks without time to properly think.

These quick building exercises are focused on acting as opposed to thinking. This process is a key cog, instrumental to any workshop using this method.

Through the training he has received, a certified facilitator knows how to design and run a workshop using the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method.

Story-telling :

Once the participants have built their Lego model, they need to go through it as they would tell a short story.
A certified facilitator will be able to ask the right questions the right way.
Other participants can also ask the 3D model creator for more information about his creation.

The Prefrontal cortex:

The use of this part of the brain makes it possible to establish new brain connections, different from those that govern the usual perception of the world around us. In the context of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method, these new connections favor creativity and imagination. Neuroscience experts say the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method puts people back into early childhood, when education barriers were not embedded in the mind, allowing to create without constraint.

The certified facilitator will know how to create a space for creativity by gaining trust amongs participants. He knows how to encourage participants to use their hands and to play with the bricks instead of overthinking.

The flow :

The flow is the state of mental involvement of a person fully immersed in an activity.
The certified facilitator knows how to keep the positive and active engagement of people attending the workshop, in order to ensure good group dynamics and create an optimal and fun learning experience.

Ethic :

The successful outcome of a workshop also lies in the understanding of the ethic rules surrounding the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. At the beginning of the workshop the certified facilitator explains the rules to the group of participants. Simples et to-the-point, they promote mutual respect so as to build trust among the participants and encourage them to let go and to use their imagination.

The importance of the facilitator :

In order to ensure the success of a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshop, it is crucial to ensure that the facilitator is certified by the Master Trainers Association with the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method. At the end of the training, a certificate is given to the person who has completed the course.

Why making sure ?

This certification is the only way to guarantee the success of a workshop using the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method. This is the guaranty that a professional is able to master, apply and respect the application techniques, the method and the role of facilitator.
In the case of a high number of participants, several facilitators are required. A facilitator can supervise a group of about eight (8) participants. Thus, a group of 50 people will require no less than 6 facilitators. It goes without saying that their respective certification must also be verified.

The certified facilitator is the guarantor of the respect of the method. He masters :

• The Core Process that governs the course of exercises,
• the implementation and scheduling of the 7 implementation techniques
• the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® ethic
• the Flow techniques from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

In addition, he is able to adapt to the various risks that may occur during the workshop. He is able to handle objections, he can adjust the procedure of the workshop according to the needs of the organisation and its evolution while respecting the techniques and methodology. Moreover, he holds the keys to obtain the active participation of all members of the workshop, giving everyone the opportunity to express themselves freely and on equal terms.

The certified facilitator outlines the agenda of the workshop. This agenda lays out the chronology and the duration of the exercises. It is also a way to guarantee the timely implementation of the 7 implementation techniques and the core process of the method.

The role of the facilitator :

The certified facilitator knows how to ensure the success of a workshop by :

• taking care of the logistic,
• selecting the brick kits according to the workshop,
• picking the exercises according to the goal to achieve
• chosing the warm-up exercises (skill-building)
• creating the challenges the right way
• wrapping-up the outcomes of the workshop (main findings)

During the workshop, the facilitator adopts a particular posture in the way of setting the challenges, in order to ensure timely execution but also and especially to ask the questions and to keep a high engagement of all the participants so that the workshop stays dynamic (flow). The art of asking questions - the wording - is crucial to allow people to express themselves freely, thus promoting idea generation, which is a key element of a session. The role of the facilitator is not to reformulate what the participants say.

It is a matter of asking participants questions in the right way so that they express themselves in confidence and that the arguments come from them and only them.

As you have now understood, the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method is a serious game whose success is pinned on the professionalism of the facilitator. This post will help you to make sure that the worshop is properly prepared for your organisation.

Marie-Christine Dupont , the managing partner of AVEA Partners, is the only person in France authorised by the Association of Master Trainers to deliver the training of the facilitators with the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method.

Why getting a facilitator certification with the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method ?
It is a structured method that has been tried and tested for over 10 years that requires a particular pedagogic approach.
The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method comes from neurosciences. It has been designed by the LEGO Group R&D teams, with the researchers of the MIT and the IMAGILAB Lausanne.
Anyone interested in such a certification wants to « shake things up » in their organisation by relying on individuals' contributions. Solutions then arise from the 3D models created by all the stakeholders of the problem the organisation is facing.
In a group, the best ideas can also come from those who are less prone to voice their opinion because of their personality or hierarchical position.
With the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method, anyone can express their singularity through the shared language of the LEGO® bricks, without the fear of being judged.
The contributions of each and every participants are taken into account and integrated into the work of the group.

This innovative approach guarantees 100% of engagement, of participation and of idea generation from the participants.
This is why the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method is unique.
During a workshop, the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methode triggers an unusual thinking mechanism in relation to our traditional modes of thinking. This mechanism mobilizes other neural connections and promotes the emergence of new ideas : « the hands build the brain ».
The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method facilitates decision-making through a collective 3D construction of the essential components of the environment and its stakeholders.
It then becomes particularly easy and quick to try various scenarii and to see the impact that the shared solutions can have, without taking any risk.

The current problems of the organizations represent a privileged field of application for the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method :

• change in managerial posture,
• Shared vision and team work,
• transfunctional team building,
• empowering entrepreneurship,
• strategic paths,
• new business models,
• creativity and collective innovation.
• Facilitators working towards their LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method certification

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Method

Principles

• Confidence
• Commitment
• Meaning in actions

Human brain puts together information coming from outside in order for the body to survive. If the brain undergoes an abrupt environment change, he will have to adapt or die. The same applies to companies.

LEGO® is offering a new language, concept and methodology in order to face those breaches in real time.

The construction with LEGO® bricks establishes a metaphor, which ease division of goals, communication within teams, and solution of complex issues.

Hand-operated 3D buildings allow to make sense, raise creativity, materialize our imagination, establish connections with the environment, much more instantly and effectively than other approaches.

Set up and tell our story allow people to share their identity and views with others, safely explore previous actions and future strategies, while giving sense and context to created models.

Benefits

For an action strategy in real time:

• Faster understanding and project conception through "stories" and metaphors (conception 3 times faster than projects developed by traditional methods).
• Insight of every opportunity, of the unexpected in complex environments.
• Decision-making in real time, make strategic choices, establish operational action plan.
• Involvement and commitment of every concerned people through project implementation, where the action takes place.

Historical review

Methodology developed during the 2000 period by ImagiLab from "Université de Lausanne" and LEGO Corporation.

This process relies on three different kind of imagination:

• Descriptive imagination supported by tangible realities and potentiality of the project realization.
• Creative imagination giving new opportunities from the (re)-combination of concepts.
• Critical imagination with deconstruction or criticism in order to rebound to a new solution.