Workshops using LEGO® Serious Play® methodology
for approaching serious topics in a playful but powerful way
“Change the process, change the outcome”
(Johann Roos, co-inventor of Lego® Serious Play®)
How does your team interact now? Maybe…
The same few voices fill every meeting.
Assumptions stay unspoken until a project misses the mark.
After a restructure, merger or change of direction, people are working side by side without really understanding each other.
What it is
The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method is a facilitated process where you answer questions by building models, then tell the story of what you've built.
It sounds playful. It is — and it's also a rigorous method, developed in the mid-1990s by two strategy professors at IMD business school to help senior leaders think more deeply about complex problems. It's now used in boardrooms, universities and coaching rooms around the world.
It works because:
Your hands get there first. Building gives your brain time to find thoughts that talking skips over.
Everyone takes part. Everyone builds, everyone shares — the quietest person in the room gets exactly the same airtime as the loudest.
It's safer to talk about a model than about yourself. Questions go to the model, not the person, so difficult things become easier to say.
You can see the whole picture. Ideas become physical, so connections, gaps and tensions are suddenly visible.
No creativity or building skill needed. If you haven't touched a brick since you were eight, you're exactly who this is for.
How a session works
Warm up — short skills-building rounds so everyone is comfortable with the method.
Build — I ask a question; everyone builds their answer in silence, in a few minutes.
Share — each person tells the story of their model; others ask questions about the model.
Reflect & connect — we look at what's emerged, link ideas together and turn insight into next steps.
Why work with me
Trained LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator [Inthrface certified]
EMCC-accredited Senior Practitioner coach (equivalent to ICF PCC) — so the conversation after the build is where the real work happens, not an afterthought.
25+ years in publishing, project management and operations, with Prosci change management, Lean Six Sigma and Scrum credentials — I understand how organisations actually work.
What the research says
Teams: a randomised controlled trial at Henley Business School found an LSP-based team coaching approach produced greater gains in team cohesion than a conventional facilitated team day.
Lasting effect: in interviews six weeks after LSP team days, participants described closer bonds and a better understanding of each other and of the challenges they faced.
Individuals: coaching clients using the method reported deeper insight, more time to think and a feeling of emotional safety — one participant found six answers to a question she'd started with one answer to.
FAQs
I'm not creative. Will I be any good at this? There's no such thing as a wrong model. The warm-up teaches the method before we touch anything that matters, and people are usually absorbed within minutes.
Isn't this just team-building with toys? No. It's a structured thinking and communication method with a fixed process, developed for strategy work. The bricks are a language, not a game.
Will our senior leader dominate? Everyone builds and shares on equal terms, including the most senior person. I brief leaders beforehand so the method can do its job.
Can it fix a team in conflict? These workshops help working teams understand each other and agree how they work. Where there's active conflict, we'll talk first about a longer, more suitable engagement.
In person or online? In person is where it works best. Online is possible with kits posted in advance — ask me.
Accessibility? Tell me what you need. Builds can be adapted.
Ready to see what you already know? [Book a 20-minute discovery call] — for yourself or your team.
LEGO, SERIOUS PLAY, the Minifigure and the Brick and Knob configurations are trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorise or endorse this website.
