Serious Play Pro

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

Seriousplay.com website has published Open Source document outlining the basic guiding principles of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and its philosophy.

You can download it from clicking on the image. It is a large file (37 MB) and download may take some time depending on your bandwidth.

LSP Open Source Brochure

The core methodology of LSP has been transcribed and made public for people and facilitators looking to benefit from utilising this method. The Open Source document aims to empower and inspire people to become familliar with the LSP method as well as open up the experience to people who previously couldnt be a part of it.

By sharing the method of LSP, LEGO hopes to will illustrate the “power of thinking through your fingers” enabling individuals to unleash insight, inspiration and imagination, in a practical and direct way. The common language – the bricks – makes everyone equal and allows all opinions and aspects to be heard. The bricks allow people to communicate thoughts and ideas in place of traditional communication methods that can be too restrictive.

What is included in the document?
Over the past decade, the LEGO® GROUP has supported the rigorous and careful development of three types of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® resources:

• The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® basic principles and philosophy, upon which everything else is built;
• The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® materials – sets of specially selected LEGO bricks and pieces;
• The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® ‘applications’ – detailed roadmaps of different workshops that make use of the principles, the philosophy and the materials;

In the past all three of these were only available to trained and certified consultants. From June 2010 however, the first two of these have been made ‘open source’. This document outlines the basic principles and philosophy, and the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® boxes (large sets of LEGO bricks and pieces) can be found here on the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® website under the products section.

The document does not include detailed applications, because LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is entering a new phase. New applications will be developed by the international community of users, and may be shared online. In this new phase welcome creative uses of the tools, and innovation in the community.

When LEGO informed the former licensed partners about their plans to “go open source” with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ methodology – most of us did not have a faintest idea what this would mean to our activities.

Obviously – setting up from scratch a new community to deal with training activities of the future facilitators, building its backoffice, setting up technological platform, handling its internal communication and member management is already a challenge that we need to face during the coming months and even years.

But so far we have had to deal with petty practicalities that are despite their pettiness sometimes rather cumbersome and time consuming. Hence – two months down the line, can you comment about the extent of change that the recent changes have had upon your business:

• How much you have had to upgrade your marketing materials: websites, sales brochures, handouts, slides.
• How have you adapted to new ordering system via LEGO Shipping & Handling (incl. some of us – how have you solved the situation that your country might no longer be supported as a delivery destination).
• Etc.

Can you share your experiences and lessons learned at our group forum page … how have you managed so far?

What are the rules of the Game?

On 14th April 2010, a number of future ex-Certified LEGO SERIOUS PLAY partners met with LEGO management and then amongst themselves to discuss the feasibility of creating a community. From LEGO’s side, it was made clear that LEGO would in future only refer, be it in person or on the web, to open communities of parties interested in LEGO SERIOUS PLAY.

Even prior to the April 14th meeting, some interested parties were already feeling that the community would have to establish the rules of the game, before it could function effectively and before any other decisions could be made.

Others felt that before deciding on the rules, the objectives of the community should be established.

Others again felt that we should just get out there and do business together and the objectives and rules would work themselves out.

If anyone reading this article is interested in contributing to the establishment of this community, please comment below…

LEGO has announced today the following:

As of May 1st 2010 LEGO has decided to allow everyone – including facilitators outside of our previous partner network – to use LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. LEGO will no longer be sustaining a network of licensed partners offering LEGO SERIOUS PLAY and as a result LEGO SERIOUS PLAY can be obtained through a wide community of facilitators using the method as part of their toolbox.

As a client looking for an experienced LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitator to run a workshop or as a professional facilitator or consultant looking for training in order to apply LEGO SERIOUS PLAY to your toolbox, we encourage you to search the internet for LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitators within your country.

Groups of facilitators are currently in the process of setting up online community platforms. You will be able to find links to those communities on this site when they are established.

A description of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® core method will be offered as open source to all facilitators, who wish to benefit from using the method. The description is currently under development and will be made public on this site later this year.