When Playing with LEGO Becomes Serious Business

This month I attended a LEGO® Serious Play® taster session run by Make Happy and hosted by Melissa at Buick Mackane.

LEGO Serious Play is a facilitated method that uses LEGO bricks to help people think, communicate and solve problems. Rather than simply answering questions, participants build models that represent their ideas, experiences or perspectives. The real value isn't in how impressive the model looks, it's in the story behind it.

Everyone builds. Everyone shares. Every model is unique.

It's a refreshingly different way of encouraging conversation and making sure every voice is heard.

Why I signed up

The session caught my eye because I was curious to see whether this approach could help me, and my PR agency team, think differently about developing creative content. In our industry, fresh ideas are everything, so I'm always interested in new techniques that encourage creativity, collaboration and different ways of looking at a challenge.

I'll admit, though, that before I arrived, I thought I knew what to expect. I imagined an evening of building LEGO models, perhaps with a bit of discussion along the way. I couldn't have been more wrong.

It all started with a duck

Our very first challenge was simple: build your best duck.

Within a few minutes, the table was filled with ducks. Some were tiny, some were colourful, some were abstract, and some looked remarkably realistic. We had all been given the same question and access to the same LEGO bricks, yet no two ducks were the same.

It was a brilliant icebreaker and an immediate reminder that there isn't one 'right' way to approach a task. We all interpreted the brief differently, drawing on our own creativity, experiences and imagination.

Like many people in the room, I felt a little unsure at first. Using LEGO bricks to answer questions isn't something most adults do every day! But those initial reservations disappeared surprisingly quickly.

As we worked through the exercises, it became clear that there wasn't a correct model. Instead, each build became a way of expressing ideas that might have been difficult to explain with words alone.

Listening to everyone explain their models was just as interesting as building my own. It was fascinating to see how a handful of colourful bricks could represent completely different thoughts, experiences and perspectives.

But what struck me most was how naturally conversations flowed. Rather than people competing to have the best idea, everyone was genuinely curious about the meaning behind each other's creations.

More than just playing with LEGO

• There is no single right answer

  The duck exercise perfectly demonstrated that creativity isn't about producing identical results. Give a group of people the same challenge and the same resources, and you'll still end up with completely different ideas. That's something worth remembering whenever we're brainstorming or solving problems.

  
  

• Building helps you think

  Sometimes it's easier to think with your hands than with a blank sheet of paper. I realised that building gave me the chance to reflect, organise my thoughts and discover ideas I hadn't realised were there.

  
  

• The story is more important than the model

  There was no prize for the tallest tower or the most elaborate creation. The LEGO models were simply a way to unlock conversations, and the stories behind them were where the real value lay.

  
  

• Play has a place at work

  We often associate play with children, but this workshop challenged that assumption. Playing with LEGO wasn't a distraction from serious thinking, it was the method that made serious thinking easier.

  
  

• It made me think differently about creativity

  I went along wondering whether LEGO Serious Play might offer something useful for creative thinking within a PR agency. I left convinced that it's not about generating ideas for you, but about creating the space for ideas to emerge naturally. I can definitely see how this approach could help teams explore challenges, develop campaigns and encourage everyone to contribute.

Tiny Bricks – Big Ideas

Whether you're part of a team looking for new ways to collaborate, someone interested in creative problem-solving, or simply curious to experience something different, I'd recommend giving LEGO Serious Play a try.

You don't need to be creative. You don't need to be good at building LEGO. You just need to be willing to be curious.

For me, it was another reminder that some of the best learning happens when we allow ourselves to play.