Serious Play Pro

After people have had their first experience with the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method one of the things that often surprise them the most is the effectiveness of the process. Seems like the expect that playing, building and telling stories with LEGO bricks must be much more time consuming – especially if you also have to hear everyone’s story.  Subsequently I often get asked  WHY that is the case. There are many answers to this question. Below the answer that I find myself using the most of the time. What about you?

1: In LEGO SERIOUS PLAY (LSP), the LEGO bricks serve as a common language that anyone can use, regardless of their education, position or culture. This ensures that everybody’s knowledge and insights are surfaced.

2: The starting focus in LSP is on each individual and not the group. This means that the structure of the process requires everyone to
be actively involved in the decision process, which increases the probability that all parties will honor the decisions and agreements after the meeting.

3: The LSP method produces more concrete ideas and results, because everyone has time to build her or his answers and input before conversation and knowledge sharing begin.

4: The LSP method ensures faster and better communication and understanding because it uses 3D visualization, metaphors and stories. This also leads to fewer misunderstandings.

5: LSP meetings stay on topic because the focus is on the bricks – not on the person. This also allows the discussion to become very intense without creating personal conflicts.

New Programs added
The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method is a facilitated process, the impact of workshops based on the method are, consequently, directly tied to the quality of the facilitation.

Therefore, purpose with our facilitator training program is to provide the facilitator with the insights, confidence and commitments necessary to prepare and facilitate the workshops in a way that gives maximum value to the end-user and has lasting impact.

February 13-16, London, England: Stage 1 and Stage 2
March 26-29, Eindhoven, The Netherlands: Stage 1 and Stage 2
May 14-18 Mexico City. Mexico: Stage 1 and Stage 2
May 21-25, The Hague, The Netherlands: Stage 1 and Stage 2
June 18-21, Toronto, Canada: Stage 1 and Stage 2
September 3-6, Munich, Germany: Stage 1 and Stage 2
December 10-13, Copenhagen, Denmark: Stage 1 and Stage 2 (offered in collaboration with Robert Rasmussen)

We will be following the updated program and use the new full facilitator manual developed by Robert Rasmussen and myself. The program meets the standards set by the Association of Master Trainers in the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methodology.

Stage 1 gives a strong introduction to the method and how to use it with teams in personal relations. Stage 2 gives an advanced training in the method and on how to use if or business and organisational development

For more details please feel free to contact me by email (per.kristiansen@trivium.dk) or direct message via my profile on seriousplaypro.com

This short film and the project behinds works on bringing play back into the world. Hard to disagree with that.

It is a 12 minutes film, and it is 12 minutes well spent

Enjoy

Seriously! The Future Depends on Play

Again for this year LEGO has extended an invitation to the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY community for their annual Idea Conference, which is April 17 in Billund, Denmark. The invitation goes to those of you, who are trained and certified LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitators – either by LEGO before April 2010 or after by a master trainer delivering a certification at a similar level as LEGO did before the open source was implemented.

In combination with the Idea Conference we will arrange an events for the LSP participants. On April 16th we will arrange and lead a “LSP facilitation refresher/update session”. Here we will among other share best practices from the field and from the train-the-trainer sessions. The exact content will be determined based on input from the registered facilitators.

Participation in the LEGO Idea Conference requires registration. You do that by downloading the registration form (Registration_2012) and email it to Per Kristiansen or Robert Rasmussen. We will
then send you a confirmation with any further details. In the event the interest is higher than the number of invitations, then we will work with the “first come first serve” principle”

Participation in the Idea Conference and the “LSP facilitation refresher/update session” is free of charge. You pay for your own travel, food and accommodation.

Best Regards

Per Kristiansen and Robert Rasmussen

About the LEGO IDEA Conference:
For the last five years, the LEGO Idea House and The LEGO Foundation have jointly hosted the annual LEGO Idea Conference in Billund, Denmark. Through a horizon-broadening program featuring ‘Hands-On, Minds-On workshops, this one-day event shows how the LEGO brand is so much more than a toy brand.
This year’s speakers include John Maeda, Nicolai Moltke-Leth. Sugata Mitra, Peter Madsen, Christian Stadil and Kiran Bir Sethi (Conference Program)

Imagine this!

“I’ve decided to apply the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methodology to journalistic interviews and chose to explore and learn more about OccupyLSX (London Stock Exchange) through the use of LEGO. I have been around St. Paul’s camp looking for someone to involve in my experiment. And that’s when I’ve met Helen. She is 17, she is studying textile, “I still go to the college from here in the morning, which is difficult because it’s freezing and it’s too cold to get up. It’s not nice.” she says with a smile. I ask Helen to build me the first model, to let her familiarize with LEGO”.

This is how Patrizia Bertini – trained LSP facilitator – introduces us to her LEGOviews concept (LW). The LEGOviews idea have been invented and conceptualised by Patrizia and she is now using it in real life situation to investigate complex social realities, like the Occupy movement and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Patrizia: According to Wikipedia, “An interview is a conversation between two people (the interviewer and the interviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.”

LEGOviews (LWs) are journalistic interviews based on the LSP method: they do not much differ from traditional interviews in the aim, though they deeply differ in the cognitive mechanisms and in the process. Most of the best interviews we can think of deeply delve topics in an argumentative way and the interview, in most cases; it’s a dialectic and intellectual fight between the two parts. LEGOviews are not fights, they are collaborative dialogues, they are conversations. Read Patrizia’s full article “When LEGO bricks become Socrates’ Midwife”

The LEGO Foundation has taken over the responsibility for LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method. This change will help create the platform for the continued development and growth of the method.

The President of The LEGO Foundation, Morten Aagaard has long been a great supporter and fan of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method, and was trained as a facilitator in 2004. Morten has asked Per Kristiansen to chair an advisory board. Per has invited Robert Rasmussen to join the board (an invitation he accepted).

The LEGO Foundation will be supported by the Board in the continued development of the method, in accrediting training programs, supporting research, updating the products and raising the awareness of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method.

On behalf of Morten Aaagard
Jette Orduna (Director, Kirkbi) & Per Kristiansen

Robert Rasmussen and I had a meeting a LEGO today assisting them in pulling together a new Identity and Landscape Kit. There will be marginal changes and all to the better.

They expect that the product will be ready early in 2012

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY (LSP) is a facilitated process, and the results and impact of the process are directly tied to the quality of the facilitation. The objective with our LSP facilitator-training program is to provide the facilitator with the insights, confidence and commitments necessary to prepare and facilitate the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process in a way that gives maximum value to the end-user and has lasting impact.

The training schedule for 2012 currently includes the following sessions:

France, Paris, February 13 – 16: Stage 1 and Stage 2
Spain, Madrid, February 20 – 23: Stage 1 and Stage 2
Central America, Panama City, March 19 – 22: Stage 1 and Stage 2
United States,  Boston, March 26 – 29: Stage 1 and Stage 2
Denmark, Odense, May 21 – 24: Stage 1 and Stage 2
Asia, Singapore,  September 10 – 13: Stage 1 and Stage 2
United States, Boston, October 15 – 18: Stage 1 and Stage 2

The training content follows the updated program and use the new full facilitator manual developed by Per Kristiansen and myself. The program meets the standards set by the Association of Master Trainers in the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methodology. Facilitators will receive document of qualification upon completion of the training. The training provides the facilitator with hands-on experiences, theory, facilitation guidelines and application ideas.

For more details please contact me by email: robert@rasmussenconsulting.dk or skype: lego_serious_play

The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method is a facilitated process, the impact of workshops based on the method are, consequently, directly tied to the quality of the facilitation.

Therefore, purpose with our facilitator training program is to provide the facilitator with the insights, confidence and commitments necessary to prepare and facilitate the workshops in a way that gives maximum value to the end-user and has lasting impact.

February 13-16, London, England: Stage 1 and Stage 2
March 26-29, Eindhoven, The Netherlands: Stage 1 and Stage 2
May 21-25, The Hague, The Netherlands: Stage 1 and Stage 2
June 18-21, Toronto, Canada: Stage 1 and Stage 2
December 10-13, Copenhagen, Denmark: Stage 1 and Stage 2 (offered in collaboration with Robert Rasmussen)

More sessions may be added in second half of 2012, expect a session in September (Germany)

We will be following the updated program and use the new full facilitator manual developed by Robert Rasmussen and myself. The program meets the standards set by the Association of Master Trainers in the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methodology.

Stage 1 gives a strong introduction to the method and how to use it with teams in personal relations. Stage 2 gives an advanced training in the method and on how to use if or business and organisational development

For more details please feel free to contact me by email (per.kristiansen@trivium.dk) or direct message via my profile on seriousplaypro.com

Update: We will be moving the community meeting into the spring. Hope to see many of you in 2012

Dear all
When some of us met at the LEGO Idea conference earlier this year, the idea of a real (as opposed to virtual) community meeting emerged.

We, Trivium, voluntered to host and drive this conference. Based on the input we got we will be working on a program. Sofar we have settled on some dates:

October 25-26; 2011

Location will be Copenhagen, Denmark

We expect to start with lucnh on the 25th and work untill late afternoon on the 26th. We will post more on the program as it evolves

We hope to see many of you