We invite you to contribute to an online survey about Lego® Serious Play®. The goal of this survey is to establish the state-of-the-art of LSP® in Europe. This survey is part of the S-Play Project, funded by the European Union, which aims at adapting LSP methodology to the needs of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The outcomes of this project will include tools which you will be able to use in your professional practice. A more detailed description and further information about this project can be found at: http://s-play.eu/
The findings of the survey will be shared with all contributors through a white paper, available on the project website from July 2013. Simply click on the link below, or cut and paste the entire URL into your browser to access the survey: http://www.survey.s-play.eu/index.php/744498/lang-en. Completion of the survey will take no more than 10 minutes.
Your input is very important to us and will be kept strictly confidential (used only for the purposes of research for this project). The information will help us draw a complete picture of LSP in Europe and we would ask you to forward this invitation to all the LSP facilitators you may know.
We would greatly appreciate it if you were able to respond by May 15th 2013. If you have any questions, please do send me an e-mail at: elisabetta.frick(at)usi.ch I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your valuable contribution and any help and insights you might provide!
What happens when I attend a LEGO Serious Play workshop
The Video is a clip that Teamgel team have put together to demonstrate the Lego Serious Play approach unfolding.
And a short story about the background. When I attended Denise Meyerson’s course for LEGO Serious Play facilitators she stressed the importance of the delegates being in a state of FLOW to fully participate in the process. Interestingly, the first time I came across the concept of flow was when I was researching the meaning of “happiness”, but that’s another story. For those of you who need a reminder of what flow constitutes, I refer you to a page on my website – Csíkszentmihályi’s concept of FLOW.
Looking at the steps followed in the LEGO Serious Play methodology it’s the step of letting the delegates have a practice run of the LEGO Serious Play methodology upfront that has as one of its objectives to initiate flow. What we’re wanting is a group state of flow, as much as a state of flow in each and every delegate. If that is correct, and I’m sure some of you might want to say we are only striving for individual states in the individuals, then what we are striving for is something more than the ten characteristics Csíkszentmihályi identifies.
What leads to a group state of flow as opposed to an individual state of flow which, I believe, is also a prerequisite for LEGO Serious Play? I believe (notice, I didn’t say “know”) it’s that shared bond between people and within a team that arises when people have shared an experience in which they are required to work together. Through cooperation a sense of belonging to the team arises. It’s the “When we…” scenario: When we were at school together…”, “When we were in the army together…” And, in Teamgel’s case: “When our LEGO dog called Fluffy beat the heck out of your LEGO dog called Mick Jagger.”
And that’s what LEGO Serious Fun is all about. It’s a process, premised on fun and structured as a team task, designed to achieve a shared bond between people. Something tells me it is the positive, underlying shared emotion that is the foundation of motivation. I prefer to use it as an introduction to using the LEGO Serious Play methodology as it enhances delegate participation in the latter. I also use it as a standalone offering to clients.
Finally the day arrived, where I sincerely believed it was possible to order my first Identity & Landscape Kit (in Europe) for a very LONG time! Due to the Easter Holidays I had to wait a few days after the new 2000430 was supposed to be in stock. And YES, the order went through smoothly and I received my order confirmation. Now I just have to wait 4 – 5 days more to get my hands on it too.
Thanks to Jette Orduna at LEGO for NOT giving up on 2000430 despite a lot of interventions from Murphy!
Now I guess we can start worrying about, when the Connections Kit will be ready! Can’t ruin my enjoyment though.
Unfortunately the launch date has been put back another week. The products are own the way, but has to be moved from the location where they are packed to the warehouse
I know our friends at LEGO are really sorry about this!
Lego Serious Play & Business Model Canvas from Jan Peeters
Jan Peeters has created an interesting presentation that he uploaded to SlideShare on using the Business Model Canvas as the template to build the business case using the Lego Serious Play methodology. Jan joined the Serious Play Pro community recently after being certified by Per Kristiansen in Summer 2011.
It would be great if Jan could post here some comments or reflections of the session as it would be interesting to find out about the context and result of this engaging event.
Are you an LSP facilitator with an amazing experience you would like to share? Would you like to present your research, books or thoughts about LSP, Heritage or inclusivity? Or are you simply curious to see how LEGO SERIOUS PLAY works? A four days’ event in Ferrara [Italy] on 20 – 23 March 2013 will focus on LSP theory, practice and application.
The event Restauro, the trade fair for the Art of Restoration and Conservation of our Cultural and Environmental Heritage, is the first and most important Italian event dedicated to the art of restoration and the conservation of Italian artistic heritage taking place in Ferrara (Italy). About 30.000 visitors attend the exhibition every year during the 4 days; the event is supported by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Activities and Heritage. Visitors are Architects, engineers, students and professionals who work within the Heritage domain. This year the event is expected to gain a special attention, because of the Earthquake that hit Emilia Romagna in May 2012 that damaged and destroyed most of the local heritage.
The LEGO connection
The faculty of Architecture at University of Ferrara is a historical partner of Restauro, providing contents and showing the most advanced techniques in buildings’ restoration. This year the Faculty has accepted an educational challenge aiming at improving and encouraging students’ reflection on Heritage, also in consideration of the recent events which enormously affected the area. To achieve such a goal, and to experiment a new educational approach to help students to build their class project teams, we adopted an LSP-based approach. We run 3 workshops involving around 35 students divided in 3 groups, whose task was to reflect on the course key concepts, Architecture and Heritage, and to build a shared model of the latter. The outcome was exciting and students reflections have brought on the table a number of valuable and original concepts that they have developed further as a group, taking it from the negotiated meanings and the LEGO model they all built together. After such a positive experience, the Department of Ferrara decided to organise an event that could combine the power of LEGO and LEGO SERIOUS PLAY in a 4 days’ event with the goal to bring new ideas about Heritage in a place, and in a moment, where new inputs are needed the most.
I was reflecting on my experience with architecture students at University of Ferrara and LEGO SERIOUS PLAY. [See the video]
I find amazing how students who did not have any clue about the content and the goals of the workshop engaged in the discussion and raised a number of enlightening ideas about Heritage. They were not asked, neither provided, any books or papers to read, the idea was to understand how a bunch of students in their early-twenties could theorise and think about Heritage independently, critically andcollectively.
So, in my research about educative approaches that capitalise on collaboration and collaborative meaning-making, I’ve found about the Harkness Table. For those who are not familiar with it, this is an educative approach introduced in 1931 when Edward Harkness, a philanthropist, challenged Exeter University asking them to innovate education and provided them with an oval table. The idea behind the table, which was meant to allow 12/15 students to sit around together with their teacher, was to create a different approach to education where students were seen as a team and could be encouraged to take part to a discussion, interact and learn about collaborative practices, by reducing the influence of the teacher.
The idea of a class as a team that capitalises on teamwork and encourages interaction among students in a free environment sounded a pretty close approach to that I adopted. The Harkness Table focuses a lot on these concepts, and I’ve found it thrilling. Though the more I read about it, the more the differences emerged.
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