Play in the Workplace

Why Use LEGO® In Corporate Settings?

Incorporating LEGO® into professional discussions might seem odd, but it offers a unique opportunity for everyone to participate freely. The physicality of the bricks serves as a bridge between abstract thoughts and tangible representations. When people build models, they externalize their inner ideas in a way that is visually engaging.

Daryl Austin, an author for the wall street journal, stated that during a meeting, “engineers at German company Metafinanz snickered when they saw small piles of LEGO® bricks awaiting them in the conference room. The compliance team was skeptical, the risk management team was openly critical”, yet “by the time we were done, the biggest critics had become the system's loudest champions” (2022).

The use of LEGO® Austin is referring to here is an open-source facilitation method that enables constructive reflection and dialogue through a structured process, which can greatly benefit professional environments (Gauntlett, 2013). Known as LEGO® Serious Play (LSP), this method offers a step-by-step process structure which involves the use of LEGO® bricks to create tangible models that represent thoughts, reflections, and ideas. This structure consists of three aspects: Beginning with a facilitator proposing a challenge to participants, followed by participants building a model to represent their thoughts on the topic, finishing with a sharing of the meaning and story of everyone’s model. “Research has shown that the process of making something, which is then discussed, can lead to much more valuable, insightful and honest discussions” (Gauntlett, 2013). This facilitation method has been implemented in corporate environments to improve efficiency in meetings, through a reflective process which fosters creativity and allows for the discussion of diverse perspectives and ideas, offering “a sophisticated means for a group to share ideas, assumptions and understandings” (Gauntlett, 2013).

Works Cited

Austin, D. (2022). Why more companies are putting LEGO® bricks in the office; executives believe bringing in the colorful brick toys helps with creativity, anxiety and communication. New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company Inc. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/why-more-companies-are-putting-LEGO®-bricks-office/docview/2707398261/se-2

LEGO® Group. LEGO® Serious Play™: Open Source: An Introduction to LEGO® Serious Play. https://davidgauntlett.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/04/LEGO®_SERIOUS_PLAY_OpenSource_14mb.pdf