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Method

LEGO® Serious Play®

A workshop method in which each person answers a question by building a metaphorical model with LEGO bricks and then explains what it means.

Origin
Roos and Victor, with LEGO (late 1990s)
Output
Models made of bricks that give shape to each person’s ideas, and a conversation in which everyone takes part

What it’s for

In many meetings the same people always talk; building before speaking gives everyone something of their own to show and explain.

Key elements

  • An open question

    The facilitator poses a challenge with no right answer.

  • Build to think

    Hands help find ideas that do not have words yet.

  • Metaphors, not scale models

    The bricks stand for ideas: a tower can be a goal or an obstacle.

  • The model belongs to its builder

    Only the person who built it says what it means; the others ask about the model.

  • Everyone takes part

    Each person builds and shares, whatever their position.

How it’s done

  1. Set the question or challenge.

  2. Build each person their own model, in a few minutes.

  3. Share and reflect tell the story of the model, listen, and repeat the cycle with another question.

Applications in design

  • When to use it

    For topics that are hard to put into words: a team’s identity, a strategy or a shared vision.

  • Avoid

    Interpreting someone else’s model or correcting it.

  • Don’t fall for it

    It is not just an icebreaker: it needs a good question, time and someone experienced in facilitation.

Connections

Related to

Authors and works

  1. 1996–1997

    Johan Roos and Bart Victor, with Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen

    Starting from an executive program for LEGO, they tried the bricks as an alternative to traditional strategic planning. Sources give slightly different dates and protagonists.

  2. 2004

    Johan Roos, Bart Victor and Matt Statler

    They called thinking about strategy with imagination and three-dimensional bricks “serious play”; in four companies they saw it can bring new ideas if people play willingly.

  3. 2010

    LEGO Group

    Released the method’s principles and materials under a Creative Commons licence, so anyone can use and adapt it.

  4. 2014

    Per Kristiansen and Robert Rasmussen

    Wrote a practical guide to the method; the publisher presents Rasmussen as its main architect.

Sources

Original sources

  • Roos, J., Victor, B., & Statler, M. (2004). Playing seriously with strategy. Long Range Planning, 37(6), 549–568. View source: Roos, J., Victor, B., & Statler, M. (2004)
  • LEGO Group (2010). Open-source introduction to LEGO Serious Play. Publicado con licencia Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0.

Secondary sources

  • LEGO Group (n.d.). What is LEGO Serious Play? LEGO.com. View source: LEGO Group (n.d.)
  • Kristiansen, P., & Rasmussen, R. (2014). Building a better business using the LEGO Serious Play method. Wiley.

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