LEGO® Serious Play®
From tangible modelling to systemic solutions — when the organisation's language must be three-dimensional.
The problem
In strategic deliberations, crucial assumptions remain implicit. Members hold different mental models but do not articulate divergence until after decisions are made. Dominant speakers set the frame; reflective participants withhold perspective. When organisations launch digital tools, gaps between user needs and design assumptions often surface only after implementation.
What I do
I employ LEGO® Serious Play® to surface and synthesise tacit knowledge before decisions are documented. Building forces concreteness: "excellent teamwork" becomes architectural specificity — how people actually coordinate. When all participants build simultaneously, all speak. Quieter voices signal perspectives that otherwise remain silent.
Typical formats
- Half-day taster (introduction + one strategic question)
- One- to two-day facilitated session for a leadership team
- Multi-day system modelling for complex, multi-stakeholder problems
Who this is for
Leadership teams, product owners, and multi-stakeholder groups where crucial knowledge is tacit or dominant voices skew the room.
Prior outcomes
Manual engagement in guided dialogue activates neural systems distinct from verbal-only discussion. Models become externalised objects of deliberation — intermediaries rather than extensions of identity — making critique safer. Parallel model-building reveals divergent organisational visions directly, before written strategy codifies a single interpretation.
The three levels
- 01Playful intro
Individual model building — ice-breakers, goals, feedback, coaching, idea development.
2–8 hours - 02Sharing outcomes
Shared model building — vision, values, mission, processes, business models, action plans.
4 hours – 2 days - 03Systems / solutions
System modelling — complex organisations, multiple stakeholders, scenarios, redesign.
2–5 days or more
A typical session, step by step
- 01Practice — build simple models, learn metaphor and story
- 02Task — the facilitator sets a building task
- 03Building — everyone builds their response individually
- 04Story-telling — each explains their model
- 05Refining — the story is refined into a sharper question
- 06Modelling — build a holistic model with all stakeholders
- 07Analysing — draw connections to find the roots
- 08Playing — play through future scenarios
- 09Concluding — agree principles of action
Why it outperforms a standard meeting
Results are more sincere; participants reach a state of flow and stay engaged; whole-brain, hands-on activity unleashes more ideas than verbal brainstorming; metaphor and story make outcomes easier to remember; discussion is equalised between introverts and extroverts; playful co-creation lowers conflict on emotionally charged topics.
Trusted by
- Samsung
- Danfoss
- Nokia Networks
- SABIC
- Salesforce
- Oxford Saïd Business School
- Telia
- Konecranes
- SenseAir
- SEB
- Kemira
- Estonian Development Fund
Gallery
The book: Serious Work
Co-authored with Sean Blair and nine international facilitators. Five core techniques: goal setting, team building, idea generation, values & behaviours, and shared vision. 18+ years of practice distilled into a working handbook.
LEGO® and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® are trademarks of the LEGO Group. This site is not approved, authorised or endorsed by the LEGO Group. The method is used under the LEGO Group open-source guide (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike).