Serious Play Pro

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

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:

United States, Atlanta, January 24 – 27:  Stage 1 and Stage 2
United States,  Boston, March 26 – 29: Stage 1 and Stage 2
France, Paris, February 13 – 16: Stage 1 and Stage 2
Spain, Madrid, February 20 – 23: Stage 1 and Stage 2
Denmark, Odense, May 21 – 24: Stage 1 and Stage 2
Central America, Panama City, March 19 – 22: 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 or skype:l ego_serious_play

Where:  Burlington, Ontario, Canada (Toronto Area)

When: December 3 & 4, 2011

Who: Jacqueline Lloyd Smith, MA, MBA, (ATR), (CMC) – Certified Canadian Management Consultant

What: Specialized training for coaches, leadership professionals, branding professionals, HR and learning and development professionals, therapists, business development professionals, university professors, teachers, anyone who helps people get clear about their identity, understand more about their style and preferences, set performance goals, and create solid implementation plans. Using these hands-on methods will help you deliver enormous benefits to your internal and external clients.

Find out why organizations like the Royal Bank of Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard College and the City of Mississauga use these tools to develop their high potential leaders.

To read more about this unique training opportunity, please visit:

http://www.strategicplay.ca/article/facilitator-training-with-lego-bricks-119.asp

Here you can download the training brochure and registration form along with our newest brochure on why Strateicplay® methods stick.

Strategicplay – leading the way in North America!

Or call toll free anywhere in North America at: 1-888-238-2608

In June, members of the Strategic Play team toured behind the scenes with three imaginers at Disney in California.  This was an amazing day as we were guided through art studios, 3D model development areas, archives, libraries, and 3D sound studios.  You may have a hard time imagining this but a freestanding, free moving dinosaur signed his name on a photo as a keepsake for us.

We saw the original artwork – an illustration drawn for the purposes of getting bank funding to open the park in the early 1950s.  The artwork is interesting as it represents the first drawing that captured Walt’s imagination and put the concept into a visual, allowing for storytelling and eventually the funding.

But the highlight was having lunch with Tony Baxter and his imagineers.  They told us fantastic stories about their creative processes, funny stories about hits and misses and accidents that turned into great rides.  We heard about Johnny Depp riding on the Pirates of the Caribbean over and over again to watch the pirates.  So if you ever wonder why in the movies “Jack” seems to have an animated quality, it’s because the imagineers at Disney indirectly influenced the actor.

The imagineers, curious about everything, were also keenly interested in hearing about our work: 3D visual thinking tools, such as LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ , Service Design, and visual business planning.They wanted to know how we use these tools for organizational and talent development.

To learn more about our work and training please visit: www.strategicplay.ca

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

I found a recent article in the Vancouver Sun paper on September 29, 2011, to be very disappointing.  The article explains that a group of teachers form a secondary school attended an offsite retreat where they spent the day engaging in co-operative team building. But the majority of the activities included playing ping-pong, air hockey, foosball, archery, bocce, shuffleboard, Frisbee golf, volleyball, basketball, and board games.

First, it is unfortunate these opportunities for professional development are not better planned, organized, and facilitated with real business goals and outcomes attached to every activity.  I am sure many readers can relate to attending workshops or training where the goal or outcome for the session was unclear. But offsite, educational meetings that incorporate play can be extremely useful if the activities are relevant and are connected directly back to work.

Our teachers are tasked with an extremely important job.  They deserve quality professional development days that offer a high level of current training where they can gather new information and think about things in different ways. They also need opportunities where they can become re-engaged and re-energized to once again perform at their peak.  Playful, self-directed learning opportunities can be very beneficial.

Second, this occurrence of seemingly pointless play sends the wrong message to the public. Many people are unaware that research supports play for learning; when people experience hands-on learning they are able to store useful information in their long term memory where it can be recalled when situations arise at work. This is much more effective than traditional training where the subject matter presents disconnected facts, which people store in their short-term memory and quickly forget.

Training our children’s teachers in this fashion would allow them to consider the way they teach in the classroom.  Most people remember grade nine-science class where they dissected a frog, but they do not remember the lecture. So for the public to read this article and then draw the conclusion that experiential play is not a great investment is a huge disservice.

Strategic Play workshops are in high demand globally. Facilitator trainers are designing and creating customized workshops that use play with a purpose to help governments at all levels, fortune 500 companies, communities, and non-profits to tackle some of the most complex problems impacted by globalization and constant societal change.  Strategic play sessions have proven invaluable in dealing with issues related to homelessness, resource industry shifts, health care customer needs, shifts and stress upon the educational system, reducing crime, reengagement of youth, etc.

A day of play may be enjoyable for some and may even encourage bonding among colleagues. But it is optimistic for anyone to believe that simply having fun together at an offsite meeting with no clear goals will translate into better work performance.

For more information on how to target goals, outcomes and tackle messy problems, visit :www.strategicplay.ca

This video interview is strictly speaking not about play, but about games, learning and systems thinking. Nevertheless, I found it an interesting way to spend ca 7 min of my time

Katie Salen is from the Institute of Play