Chapter 5
Contemplating the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Territory
When you're watching a Boeing 747 airplane speeding down the runway on its way to takeoff, it's easy to wonder: how on earth it is possible for that giant thing even to get off the ground? Even though we know for sure it will get off the ground—and even though we may know the physics behind it—it still feels like a feat, even after years of watching. We're aware of the simple fact that the difference between the airflow speed above and under the wings is enough to lift 440,000 kilograms gracefully into the air; yet it seems amazing every time we see it. Despite this wondering, however, most of us continuously trust our lives to this law of physics and to the skill set of the pilots to manage the process and get us safely from A to B in the fastest way possible.
There are lots of similarities between this experience and the use of the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method. It feels counterintuitive that a method where we spend time building and playing with LEGO bricks—where everyone's voice has been heard about all topics being discussed, and where the topics are complex and multifaceted—can get you faster and more reliably from A to B than the traditional meeting forms we have used for decades. And, the closer you look, the more fragile and deceptively simple it seems.
We do not continuously reflect upon the physics behind the fact that we're moving through the air when we take a flight somewhere. Similarly, participants who are immersed in the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process don't consciously think about the “physics” involved. Instead, they trust based on their experiences that the process will address their needs, and get them where they want to go.
We use flying as an analogy for several other reasons besides the ones already mentioned:
- Getting from A to B in an airplane is a complex process beneath the surface.
- It takes a lot of training and craft to become a pilot skilled enough to fly safely from A to B.
- Not everything that looks like an airplane can fly.
We transfer these three points to the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method.
Making the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method work is much more complex than it appears at first glance. It is a simple language, yet it is a language with syntax only, one in which participants add the meaning as the process moves forward. The facilitation is the art and craft that make this language flourish with meaning, getting you to where you want to go. The value that comes from using the method is anchored in the facilitation and in the design. Much like piloting a plane, mastering facilitating and designing workshops with LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is impossible to do without training. Consequently, the facilitator training program in the method is the result of numerous iterations spanning a period of more than 12 years. Currently, the facilitator training is four intensive days with a combination of hands-on experiences, theory, and practice.
The practice comes in designing workshops, because all LEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshops are customized to meet the customers'/participants' specific needs. As mentioned several times earlier, it is a method, technique, and language without content. This is where being a pilot and being a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitator differ. The latter not only has to “fly” the participants from A to B; he or she also has to design and build the “plane”—with the elements in the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY territory—that will take them there.
As for point 3 that “not everything that looks like an airplane can fly,” there are many other ways of using the LEGO bricks for business that are not LEGO SERIOUS PLAY. Ever since the LEGO bricks became commonly available, innovative consultants have developed fun ways of using the LEGO bricks, often for team-building activities and icebreakers.
However, a process must fit the criteria we have outlined in Part I of this book for it to be labeled LEGO SERIOUS PLAY. Many of these criteria are hard to measure and also include beliefs, values, and behaviors. These beliefs, values, and behaviors are captured in the next section on LEGO SERIOUS PLAY etiquette. The etiquette summarizes the experiences, science, forms, and practices that have evolved over time. It is the soul of the method and what makes it such a powerful process. Following the etiquette is essential for the success of the workshop; it ties together the different aspects of the method, and all trained facilitators are well immersed in it. When the outcome of a workshop has been less successful for the facilitator, it can in almost all instances be traced back to a noncompliance with the etiquette.
The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Etiquette
The dictionary defines etiquette as: “the forms and practices prescribed by social convention or by authority.” The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY etiquette it is a little different. The etiquette summarizes the experiences, science, forms, and practices that have evolved over time.
The etiquette falls into three major parts:
- Beliefs or underlying values for engaging in a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process
- Process or how you as a facilitator act, i.e., your behavior.
- Group dynamics or how the group acts and behaves—the behavior that you facilitate into existence
The topics that follow might seem to deal with subtle nuances of behavior, but they are merely maintaining the natural relationships of human beings involved in sustained serious play. The topics start with beliefs, continue with process, and then move into group dynamics.
Who Is Responsible for Adhering to the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Etiquette?
The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method is for groups and teams. Any process has either a certified facilitator or a process leader, who enables the process in accordance with the process laid out in the etiquette.
When your role is facilitator, you are not part of the process itself for the group. You can assist with building, but only on a technical level—how to get the bricks to stick together the way the participants want. You don't build your own models or tell your own stories.
When your role is process leader for a group that is already familiar with the method, you are part of the process for the group. You then participate in the process on the same level as everyone else. You construct, give meaning, and make stories like the others in the group.
Being a process leader is a very different role than that of the facilitator; as a process leader you are a member of the system in which the answer is anchored, whereas as a facilitator you help that system uncover its own answer, without assuming that you have it (being a nonmember of that system).
Beliefs
The answer is in the system.
The complex issue has emerged in the system, and in the same system the answer can be found. The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process helps the members of the system to move to a new knowledge level where that answer is constructed (i.e., to expand the system).
Anyone can use the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method.
The only requirement is hands (or feet). LEGO building experts have no advantage at all. You always have a chance to learn the techniques and the skill set before you are challenged with the complex issue. We never identify anyone in front of others as an expert in LEGO SERIOUS PLAY.
It is not about modeling.
LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is about unlocking knowledge and constructing new knowledge; it is not about making a physical representation of what something looks like. It is about the story you are able to tell using your model.
It is not about conveying someone's answer or knowledge.
The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method is not about making people agree with decisions already made; it is about creating knowledge to solve problems. It is about surfacing and clarifying insights.
Process
Workshops with the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method are always about using the bricks to construct and share the story, and the process always moves from individual to shared: the real power of the process is in this sequence.
If you skip the construction and just talk, the effectiveness of the whole approach is lost. By skipping the construction of a model and thus of new knowledge, participants typically fall back on reproducing existing socially acceptable truths. If you construct and don't talk, new meaning will be created individually, but remain tacit; it will never emerge or be shared.
LEGO SERIOUS PLAY challenges always start with individual models. This ensures the sharing of original new knowledge and keeps all participants in the flow.
LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Always Requires at Least Two People
It is a process for meetings. When there are only two people and one is the process leader, both take equal part in the process of constructing, giving meaning, and making the story.
Always Frame the Challenge So It Is Clear
Make sure participants understand why they are building and making stories about this topic or issue, and that they will be making a story using the model. At the same time, the framing should be sufficiently open for each participant to construct her or his own knowledge and meaning about the given issue.
Provide them with instructions about how much time they have (short, medium, or long time), and also any other criteria that they have to take into consideration before they start building.
Trust the Process, and Return to the Model
If passions run high, leading to disagreements or misunderstandings, do not try to get protagonists to discuss a difference or talk it over face-to-face. Refocus questions and explanations to aim them firmly at the models, and away from the people. It works!
Group Dynamics
The goal in LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is to create what we refer to as a 100/100 meeting—one where everyone present feels compelled to bring their insights to the table, and can maximize their confidence and commitment to their fullest potential. Here is more a detailed description of how the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY etiquette ensures that.
Everyone Participates in Every Phase
There is no such thing as saying: “I can't think of anything to build” or “I don't have a story to tell” or “You can skip me this time.”
If this happens, it means one individual is trying to unhook from the process. Like having one player sitting down in the middle of the basketball court, it could fragment the flow for others. This flow is established very naturally in the beginning of the process. Allowing one participant all of the sudden to become an observer, and thus not allow himself or herself to be vulnerable, also means that the remaining participants would indeed become vulnerable. It would introduce a power game into the workshop.
When You Don't Know What to Build, Start Building Anyway
Research has shown that using the hand initiates ideas that will not come by thinking alone. So if builders are stuck, encourage them to start building—anything. It always works. Don't have a planning meeting with yourself about what to build.
There Is No One Right Way to Build
You will never be given building instructions (a blueprint) for what to build and how to build. It is not about modeling someone else's story—it is about giving form to your inner thoughts and ideas.
If you can't build it with the bricks, build it with your words. Sometimes the urgency of the idea will outpace your ability to deliver the full construction of metaphors in time! So carry on with passion and expressive hands and use words to give meaning to what is in the model; as we say below, sometimes any brick can be given a particular meaning.
It's Your Meaning in the Model
The bricks don't have any particular inherent meaning in them, or any predecided iconic value—not even people or barrels or wheels. Whatever the builder says something represents that is what it is! Ask the builder to clarify the meaning, but never criticize the builder's choice of metaphor.
When I Am Asked to Build, You Must Listen to My Story
In other words, every individual who has built something must also have the opportunity to then make the story with the model and to share its meaning with others. Building a model and then not being able to share its story is completely meaningless to others and destructive and demoralizing for the builder.
When I Am Asked to Tell My Story, You Must Accept It, Too
Not only must every story be heard, but you must also accept what people bring up. It may not always be what you want to hear, and you may not even agree but be assured it will still be a valuable insight offered by the least threatening and most constructive method possible.
Question the Model and Its Story, Not the Person
Always ask questions to get more and clearer meaning—for the builder as well as the listener. But always ask about the model and the relationship between the model and the story, not the person and his or her intentions and reasons. Questioning the person's motives can destroy confidence and fragment the group. By making the questions about the model, we take the conflict out and the dialogue is moved from a personal relationship level to the object. Questions mean creating new knowledge, as we make new connections in our brains by giving new meaning to the model.
The Builder Owns the Model
Whatever you build is yours and is sacred. Others cannot edit or even move any part of it unless they ask permission and you agree with the way they are remaking the story. Neither can you ever take someone's model apart without getting permission first from the builder.
Stay in the Flow
Even as insights and issues are transferred to paper for later discussions, there still may be a strong temptation to instantly break off to discuss implications. As a general rule, don't go off at a tangent to the process unless it's clearly decided to do so.
It Must Be Hard Fun to Be Memorable
You will be challenged to the edge of your capabilities in a workshop based on the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method, but never beyond. It is supposed to be hard fun, which will make it exhilarating and sometimes exhausting.
In Part I we focused on the territory of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY, the key concepts. In Part II we turn to the theories that have helped form and further the development of the method.