Introduction: From Scepticism to Breakthroughs

The first time I introduced LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) in an IT strategy workshop, I was met with polite smiles and raised eyebrows.
“LEGO and enterprise IT? Really?”

But 15 minutes later, the energy in the room had shifted completely. Participants were leaning forward, hands busy building, voices animated. Skepticism turned into curiosity, and then into creativity and collaboration.

Last year, I took the step to become a Certified Facilitator for the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Method and Materials. Since then, I’ve facilitated several workshops with customers, partners, and colleagues. One pattern stands out every time: once people allow themselves to engage, the method unlocks ideas fast and brings complex topics into focus.

LSP is not a playful gimmick. It’s a structured facilitation method that helps teams surface hidden knowledge, build shared understanding, and make strategic decisions with clarity.

Why LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Works in IT

LSP is powerful because it combines hands-on building, metaphorical thinking, and structured facilitation. In IT, where teams deal with complexity, silos, and competing perspectives, this combination is uniquely effective:

1. Hand-Brain Principle:
   Building with your hands activates parts of the brain often left idle in typical meetings. When people build a model to express an idea, they speak more openly, they’re more creative, and they explain their thinking with more depth than slides or spreadsheets ever could.
2. Radical Simplification:
   IT systems and strategies are complex by nature. LSP forces participants to distill ideas into their essence. The LEGO models don’t make the problem simpler—they make it understandable, visible, and discussable.
3. A Universal Language:
   LEGO bricks cut through jargon and hierarchy. Whether it’s a solution architect, a product manager, or an operations engineer, everyone can build and everyone can contribute. It levels the playing field and gives each voice equal weight.

How the Process Works

LSP isn’t free play—it’s a facilitated, structured method. As a facilitator, I guide participants through a clear process:

Core Steps of the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Process

The LSP method follows a structured process that ensures all participants are actively engaged and can contribute meaningfully. Each step builds on the previous one, moving from individual ideas to a shared understanding of complex systems.

1. Skill Building – Getting Comfortable with the Medium:
   Every session begins with a warm-up phase designed to help participants get familiar with the materials and the idea of building metaphors.
   Through simple, low-stakes exercises—such as building a tower to symbolize resilience or a bridge to represent connection—participants learn to translate abstract concepts into tangible models.
   This step lowers inhibitions, builds trust in the method, and gives everyone a shared visual language. Once participants accept and internalize this new way of communicating, the dynamic in the room shifts: conversations become more open, focused, and surprisingly productive.
2. Setting the Challenge – Framing the Right Question:
   Next, the facilitator introduces a focused, meaningful question—such as “What’s blocking us from scaling this platform?” or “What should our future IT landscape look like?”.
   This prompt defines the scope and direction of the session and ensures everyone builds toward a shared objective.
3. Build → Share → Reflect – Unlocking Insights:
   • Build: Each participant constructs a model that represents their perspective or answer to the challenge.
   • Share: Every person tells the story behind their model, ensuring equal voice and deeper understanding.
   • Reflect: As a group, participants identify patterns, contradictions, gaps, and opportunities. This structured storytelling cycle drives richer conversations and helps surface insights that often remain hidden in traditional workshop formats.
4. From Individual to Shared Model – Creating Shared Understanding:
   Once the team is confident and engaged, individual models are combined into a shared model that reflects the collective view.
   This step often exposes interdependencies, tensions, and opportunities that no single perspective could have revealed on its own. It’s where alignment, clarity, and actionable strategy start to take shape.

Example from practice:. In a recent architecture strategy workshop, one participant used a single red brick to symbolize a “single point of failure.” That simple metaphor shifted the discussion from vague risk statements to a concrete redesign strategy. This kind of clarity is hard to achieve just with slides.

Where LEGO SERIOUS PLAY Creates Real Value in IT

1. Strategic Planning and Architecture:
   When building roadmaps for complex IT transformations, LSP makes hidden assumptions visible. Business and technical perspectives align more quickly because everyone can literally see the future state in front of them.
2. Breaking Down Silos:
   IT organizations often suffer from fragmented communication. LSP gives everyone a seat at the table. Equal speaking time ensures even quieter voices are heard—often surfacing crucial insights.
3. Solution Design and RFPs:
   When responding to complex solution requirements, LSP allows teams to quickly prototype, test ideas, and align on the best approach. It accelerates clarity.
4. Defining OKRs (Objectives and Key Results):
   Instead of vague PowerPoint bullets, participants build tangible representations of goals, key results, and dependencies. The visual, tactile nature of these models makes alignment much more concrete.

Conclusion - A Facilitator’s Perspective

What I find most fascinating as a facilitator is the moment of collective “aha”, when a group that began the session with crossed arms and quiet skepticism suddenly leans in. Once the first models are on the table, the conversation accelerates: people start building, storytelling, and connecting dots in ways that traditional workshops rarely achieve.

More than once, I’ve heard participants say, “I didn’t think this would work for us—but now we actually see the problem and the solution.”.

In IT, where complexity and competing perspectives are the daily reality, these moments of shared clarity are game-changing.

To summarize: LSP blends the hand-brain principle, radical simplification, and a universal medium into a structured process that turns abstract concepts into tangible shared understanding.
It helps teams make assumptions visible, unlock hidden knowledge, align on what truly matters, and move forward with confidence. It levels the playing field, fosters equal participation, and turns passive discussions into active co-creation.

And that skeptical start I mentioned at the beginning? It’s now one of my favorite moments—because I know what comes next.

If you’re curious how LSP could help your team tackle complex IT challenges, get in touch or connect with me on LinkedIn.

References

• Per Kristiansen & Robert Rasmussen: Building a Better Business Using the Lego Serious Play Method - Wiley, 2014
• David Hillmer: PLAY! Der unverzichtbare LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Praxis-Guide für Workshops, Coachings und Moderation - Hanser, 2023
• Hello Agile - Academy and Consultancy link