Have You Ever Used LEGO For Problem Solving?

Luke Battye from http://seriousplayworkshops.co.uk has written the following blog post.

Did you know that you could use LEGO as a problem solving tool?

LEGO has a bit of a non-existent reputation in the corporate world due to their reputation as a toy. Yes, they may wonderful bricks that stick together, but what could they possibly know about being a serious tool? The answer may surprise you.

When video games first began to become popular as a household toy LEGO faced a problem. Would they live on, choosing to revolutionise their workforce and dominate the toy industry once again, or would they die out? Needless to say LEGO chose the primary answer, however, it was far from an easy road from there. The decision was the bit they knew how to do – the question was: how were they going to revolutionise their workforce?

LEGO’s Problem Solving Tool

Knowing they had to think outside of the box LEGO needed something new. After much deliberation they created LEGO Serious Play, a method of playing for adults, based firmly in psychology and methodical thinking. The concept was simple, if LEGO could get their own staff to recognise the benefit their product has form a educational perspective, if they could cause a revolution within the ranks of the designers then they could come up with something spectacular. The could break what was becoming the system, and bring physical toys back into the mainstream.

Needless to say it worked, with LEGO realising that their product could not only be used by a wider audience but for a multitude of purposes. Soon they were merging with video games, they created the architect range and designer ranges for adults, and they reinforced the strength of the brand.

How does this help you solve your problem?

Lego Serious Play has a core strength in the way that it helps engage people with the use of building as a facilitation tool. What this means is that everyone in a Serious Play workshop has to build as it is through building that real progress can be made. The idea is that we learn as we build.

This makes LEGO the ideal tool for unlocking creative answers as everyone needs to physically create to come up with deeper solutions to whatever problem they face. It allows for reflection and creation, yet it is also flexible enough that groups of people can, quite literally, build links between their solutions.

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