“Why do you have LEGOs on your desk?” “Are you actually working of playing with LEGO?” “I’ve seen you talking on the phone and building LEGO, is that part of your work?”
This is a short sample of the questions I have been asked over the last 2 months at co-working spaces. There has been of course more distant – yet not so discret – comments or whispers like: What is this guy doing with LEGO at a workplace? And naturally, Who is that “LEGO guy”?
During my 15 years in business, management and leadership positions, I have heard and seen many colleagues and staff struggle with stress, anxiety or frustration. Often blaming the organisation or the workplace environment, many professionals feel they have no control over their work. There is always too much to do. They feel no freedom, autonomy or agency in their daily tasks. Last year, I realised most of this was actually coming from a misalignment with their personality, values and purpose.
So I decided to actually dig into this and find out how to truly align them.
For many years I had brought play (board games, outdoor games, bricks, etc.) to the team I lead or the management teams I was part of. And the result and outcomes were always positive. So I started to think: what if there was actually a researched and proven approach based on play, used in business environment and that really enables actions afterwards?
Playing at work?
It was time for me to discover the LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP) methodology. I was lucky to know people in my network who had already trained in LSP and after a few sessions, I also embarked on the training to become a certified LSP facilitator.
The key word in LSP is actually “Serious”.
Yes, we use the famous kids’ bricks and the playful approach makes it engaging and fun. But the method focus on real business challenges or key identity questions. We tackle complex problems with many connected parts to which we build an answer to.
In short, LSP can be applied in three ways:
- Strategy: creating a vision, a business development plan, a marketing strategy, innovation, etc.
- Collaboration: defining or improving a team dynamic, values, mission or purpose, optimisation of processes, etc.
- Personal Development: personal aspirations, goals setting and visualisation, wellbeing, performance, career growth, etc.
So yes, since last year, I have decided that playing will be part of working. Helping people and teams to turn to play mode instead of only work mode enables your brain to think differently and engage in different conversations.
So yes, I always have LEGO bricks with me, on my desk, in my bag; ready to explore a challenging question, brainstorm an idea, dive into new insights, or simply engage with new people in a fun way.
So yes, I plan my day, ideate, organise my thoughts, reflect, check-in and many more work activities, using a kids’ toy.
Funny enough, (nearly) all the people who engaged and asked about it ended up getting their hands in the LEGO bricks, putting bricks together and wondering how it could be part of their work too.
So if you come across the “LEGO guy” or if you see bricks on a table (meaning I must be around), just come and ask. I am sure something will spark from it.
