Playing LEGO® in a professional workshop? Yes, of course! Using the playful component in a strategically meaningful way results in great added value during workshops and the like. That’s why five of our WARGITSCH Transformation Engineers have completed a training as LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitators in Regensburg.
“Build and understand with brain and hand”, this motto also corresponds to the way Transformation Engineers work. With LEGO® building blocks, changes can be made – in the truest sense of the word – in the blink of an eye and vividly depicted. And this on a concrete as well as on a very abstract level.
The training location in Regensburg was a perfect fit for the topic, because the Degginger sees itself as a space and platform for creativity, culture and innovation. Organizational psychologist Felix Hirn (expert for leadership topics and method consulting) led the training and enriched it with numerous application examples from his professional practice. In the course of this, LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® was examined in more detail as a method for strategy development and retrospectives. Further possibilities for use lie in online formats and in individual coaching.
The training is a great enrichment for the participating colleagues and their work as transformation engineers. “I find it very interesting to use LEGO® as a working material to represent the inner world. It’s amazing how easily and profoundly you can use it to open up topics,” says Michael Urban (Head of Product & Communication). “What has stuck with me is the art of formulating the building instructions in the model work. Here we were again able to take away a few things for our everyday consulting work, in terms of scoping and goal guidance. You can see immediately from the models whether you have formulated a question appropriately.”
One of the greatest strengths of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method is to create a common understanding of a topic, metaphor or model within a team. In the course of a workshop, individual models come together to form a group model, and in the end, even a complex system model with derivations or external factors can emerge. In the final project of the training, the participants had to design a workshop for their own practical case. As part of this task, the participants designed, among other things, a 1-day workshop to achieve a common understanding of sustainability within a company.
At the end of the day, the Transformation Engineers left the Creative Quarter with their personal certificate: Certified Facilitator of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Method and Materials
Opinions on the training
"Gamification is becoming increasingly important in the context of transformations. In addition to the rational and analytical, the emotional and haptic 'tangible' is also crucial to get people to engage with change. The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology fits well into our toolbox of methods and rounds it off perfectly. Not everything can be expressed in words, so the LEGO® models, which can be interpreted metaphorically, are very helpful in achieving a common understanding of actual situations, problems, and goals. Thanks go to the trainer and the other participants for the wonderful training experience."
"As a child, I never thought that LEGO® would be such a serious and effective method in adult life to lead teams and find creative solutions. My expectations were far exceeded during the training! It was intense, but I think the duration of two days was just right to gain both a deep understanding of the method and at the same time have enough time to get creative myself. In my professional context, I will use the method primarily in workshops to help teams and groups develop a shared understanding of issues and illuminate the problem space."
"The method goes beyond simply awakening creativity - it's really fascinating how it can be used to understand a topic in detail and interpret its internal and external aspects. I think this method will help us internally in addition to our professional and current projects. This way we will have a better shared vision of what we want to achieve or solve as a company. This includes an overview of all the urgent elements and those that need to be optimized that belong to a certain topic, which can be wonderfully worked out in LEGO® individual models."
