LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is a process-based, guided method. Prior to the workshop, a qualified facilitator prepares questions that build on each other from everyday business life. In the workshop, the participants build answers to the questions using LEGO bricks. When presenting and discussing their models, those aspects are disclosed that would never have been brought up using traditional methods. Formal or abstract ideas suddenly become concrete and tangible and more understandable. Thought processes associated with physical experience allow a deeper and more sustainable understanding of thoughts than by just talking about them.

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) was officially launched in 2002.

With LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, organizations generate more ideas, opinions and knowledge in less time. The participants are more involved and committed, they stand behind the jointly developed solutions and are more productive. Many participants in a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshop report that for the first time they were able to express their view of things comprehensively and in all complexity. In this way, all participants understand what their colleagues think, what their motifs are and what importance they assign to individual aspects. This knowledge gained in the workshop enables participants to develop step by step solutions to complex problems and scenarios.

Each participant receives their own LEGO set and, in response to a question, builds models that are the starting point for further exchange and engagement with the problem or topic. Imagination and inspiration are promoted when visualizing topics. For the design of the workshop, a trained facilitator divides the problem into smaller questions that build on one another and are worked on step by step during the workshop. The facilitator uses the core process (link) and various application techniques. The facilitator accompanies the process and encourages the participants to exchange ideas, to discuss and to take decisions. He offers a protected space in which perspectives can be exchanged with equal rights and across hierarchies. This creates a unified understanding of even complex problems and promising solutions are found reliably.

The core process consists of the following four steps:

• The facilitator asks a question
• An individual model is being built as an answer
• The builders share the history of the model
• Reflection phase

In addition to the core process, there are other application techniques. With the help of these techniques, united models are built, solutions are clustered, highly complex systems are created, simulations are created and simple principles of action are derived.

As a rule, 1-2 days are estimated for complex questions. Simpler questions can be dealt with within half a day. Different perspectives on a topic can already be seen after approx. 2 hours.

Each workshop is designed for the respective problem and the customer and then worked on with the participants. The costs depend on the complexity of the task and the duration of the workshop.

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is a method that works with teams or groups. This means that you can start with two people. There are no upper limits to the number of participants, even workshops with more than 1,000 participants have already been carried out. Usually the type of task changes with the number of participants.

Participants must all be directly affected by the problem.

No. The participants in the workshops exchange their views and share their own points of view. This can only happen in a protected room. Any viewers block the openness and are not allowed. Of course, after the workshop, the results can also be presented outside the group of participants.

If you are dealing with yes / no questions or a previously defined decision is to be communicated, this is not a use case for LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is particularly powerful when it comes to dealing with complex issues where it is important and necessary to get the opinions and views of all participants on the table.

The original idea was invented by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen in 1995, the owner of LEGO®, Johan Roos and Bart Victor (then both at IMD Lausanne). The method was then developed by Robert Rasmussen (then LEGO® employee) between 1999 and 2001.