Learning with LEGO Serious Play
Everyone knows those primary-coloured bricks and figures are lots of fun to play with (and much less fun to accidentally stand on in bare feet). So, out of intrigue, I signed up for a LEGO Serious Play workshop at the Rocketspark Digital Pop-Up Shop event.
During our workshop, facilitated by Rob Bull of Plexus Consulting, I and four others tried out the programme to consider elements of exceptional customer experience.
The point is to think metaphorically and use the pieces to represent your ideas, but my initial build attempts were fairly cautious and literal.
As I allowed myself to relax around the other participants, though, I got the hang of it and started having fun. And that’s when the good stuff happened.
We brought our individual ideas together to physically map out a customer journey and consider all aspects of UX as a team. Each of us brought something unique to the table and distilling the best of those ideas into one big, collaborative build was quite powerful.
We’d spent 2 hours working in metaphors and playing with ideas. When it came time to put those thoughts into words, we scribbled out 18 unanimously-agreed key concepts onto paper in a matter of seconds.
Those concepts are what we would take away once the LEGO had been packed up, and what we would - if we were a real life team - start working on back at the office/factory/workshop on Monday morning.
Exploring ideas through a playful medium (with Rob’s expert guidance) fostered egalitarianism - there was no hierarchy and everyone’s ideas were worthy of consideration. I imagine that someone who might be too intimidated to speak up in a traditional brainstorming meeting may find this a more accessible way of contributing.
Although I’m a one-woman band here at Quick Brown Fox, each time I work with a client, I join their team. I’m not saying I’ll start showing up to meetings with a box of bricks (unless you want me to 😉), but the process of LEGO serious play was a useful refresher on successful collaboration and it reinforced my firm belief that bringing empathy into all of our working relationships is key.
