About LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Methodology

Whether you want to focus on strategy, change, culture or other aspects of team working, LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methods free up conversations and enable new narratives to emerge.


LEGO SERIOUS PLAY can support a whole day’s facilitation or just a part of it – and the benefits go far beyond an enjoyable workshop experience. LEGO Serious Play methods deliver focused - serious – conversations which:

  • Unlock fresh perspectives, creativity and innovative thinking
  • Foster genuine collaboration - everyone contributes, everyone listens, and everyone works together 
  • Develop alignment - shared understanding of the context, shared solutions, and shared decision-making about future direction.

About LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methods and materials


LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is a powerful, creative facilitation methodology used for facilitating deep thinking, communication, and collaboration. Whether you want to focus on strategy, change, culture or team building and effectiveness, LEGO SERIOUS PLAY provides an engaging and interactive way to free up conversations and foster team working. While LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is undoubtedly playful, the intent is definitely serious and the benefits go far beyond an enjoyable workshop experience.


LEGO SERIOUS PLAY:

  • Enables participation - everyone builds and shares in a process which is visual, auditory and kinetic
  • Promotes active listening and learning through the sharing of meaningful models
  • Focuses on ideas - supporting more balanced and honest conversations, and allowing new narratives to emerge
  • Develops alignment about direction through shared understanding of context and potential solutions
  • Fosters genuine collaboration - leading to deeper engagement with ideas, better decision-making, and stronger buy-in.

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY can support a part of or a whole day’s facilitation, or it can be used when you have limited time for your meeting.

Lego structure with wires and a small motor, likely a science experiment, on a gray base.

Faces of Humanity

Individual model builds - great for idea generation, exploring values and behaviours, and other aspects of team building. They are also the foundation for all shared model builds.

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Person points to LEGO structure on a white table; other people and LEGO bricks are also present.

Nature's Symphony

Shared models builds - for bringing a vision to life at team or organisation level, exploring innovation, or collaborating on team effectiveness.

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Hands reaching to modify a Lego city on a white table. Several people gather around, wires connecting different structures.

Sands of Time

Systems level builds - giving you 'the helicopter view' - for scenario planning, planning transformation and change, and developing strategy.

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LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Q&A

  • What are the origins of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY?

    The idea for SERIOUS PLAY originated in the mid 1990s when Johan Roos and Bart Victor, professors at IMD (Institute for Management Development) in Switzerland, were exploring imaginative but effective ways of guiding strategic decision-making. They were tasked by Kjeld Kidd Kristiansen, the owner of LEGO Group, to help 300 LEGO leaders formulate a strategic response to emerging market trends, and adapt the company while keeping to its core values. The rest as they say is history!

  • What happens in a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshop?

    Each LEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshop is founded on a key question or questions carefully designed to achieve workshop objectives and deliver real world outcomes for the client. Each workshop is based around a session or sessions using a series of steps:

      -  CHALLENGE - the facilitator sets a challenge based around a key question(s) agree in advance with the client

      -  BUILD - everyone builds their answer by 'thinking with their hands' using LEGO bricks as metaphors

      -  SHARING - everyone shares, everyone listens, everyone learns

      -  REFLECTION - the group collaborates for deeper thinking and collective decision-making.

  • Do you only facilitate using LEGO SERIOUS PLAY?

    No I use different faciltation methods. While LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is a very effective facilitation methodology it's not always right for every conversation or every client. Even when it forms most of a day's facilitation it will always be combined with other approaches. Different facilitation method are discussed with clients during the scoping and planning stage and LEGO SERIOUS PLAY will only be offered if it's appropriate to the client's situation.

  • I'm curious but want to know more - can I try before I buy?

    The Facilitator Effect runs LEGO SERIOUS PLAY taster workshops to enable people to experience the method and find out more about how it is applied to different kinds of challenges. Use the contact page to enquire about face to face tasters in central London, online taster sessions or the possibility of having a taster at your workplace.


    Can't come to a taster? No problem, I'd be happy to meet and explain more - just message me or pop a meeting in our diaries.

  • I am interested in booking a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshop - how can I find out more?

    Great - I look forward to hearing from you - just use the contact page to request more information about workshops or to book a meeting.