Creative thinking, problem solving & decision making using LEGO Serious Play Methodology

LEGO Serious Play (LSP) is communication, problem-solving and team building technique used in organisational and academic contexts. LSP was developed by the LEGO Corporation in collaboration with Professors Johan Roos and Bart Victor (LEGO Serious Play, 2006). The four key foundations of LEGO Serious Play are 1) Constructionism (Papert & Harel, 1991; Piaget, 1955), 2) Play (Gee, 2007; Kane, 2004; Terr, 2000), 3) Imagination (Gauntlett & Holzwarth, 2006), and 4) Identity (LEGO Serious Play, 2006, p. 2). LSP is a facilitated workshop which begins with the notion that “answers are already in the room”(Gauntlett & Holzwarth, 2006, p. 85). The workshop usually consists of four parts during which participants are asked to ‘play’ with LEGO bricks in a focused way. In the first part, participants learn the LSP etiquette, develop ‘building skills’ and become familiar with bricks. The second part is designed for each particular workshop; during this phase, participants build, present and explain individual models to each other. In the third part of the workshop, participants create a shared model from the individual models which they build before. During this phase, participants need to negotiate and agree on the design of their shared model. This stage is followed by reflections and a summary in relation to the questions addressed during the workshop (Nielsen, 2009). The core of the LSP methodology is about building organisational identities and experiences with LEGO bricks and explaining them through metaphors. LSP enables learning through exploration and storytelling (LEGO Serious Play, 2006). The story telling and use of metaphors are “a form of thinking and language through which we understand or experience one thing in terms of another” (p.7). These are the benefits of the LSP concept that facilitates the creation of innovative ideas and solutions (LEGO Serious Play, 2006).