Introduction to LEGO Serious Play Methodology

For whom?

This course is designed for beginners. Anybody who is interested in the methodology. You do not need any prior background knowledge about LEGO Serious Play.

LEGO Serious Play method is used by people who work with people. E.g. consultants, coaches, facilitators, educators, trainers, teachers, professors, researchers and therapists. But also: managers, team leaders, scrum masters, strategists, design thinkers, human resource and marketing professionals would benefit from training.

What do you need:

• Some LEGO bricks. You cannot learn facilitating with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method without laying your hands on LEGO bricks. Ideally you may purchase a box of LEGO Serious Play Starter Kit or a plastic bag of LEGO Serious Play Window Exploration. However, if you do not have dedicated sets then do not worry – any random LEGO bricks would be fine to start out.
• A friend or a group of friends to practice. The basic introduction of the course can be completed alone. For the practice tasks you will need a friend to practice coaching with LEGO Serious Play. Once you have mastered the tasks alone and with a single friend, you will need at small group of 2-4 friends with whom to practice your skills of facilitation.

By the end of this course:

• You can start using LEGO Serious Play methodology in your coaching practice or start running simple workshops with LEGO Serious Play bricks with teams of 2-4 participants.
• You will get the chance to learn in-depth applications of LEGO Serious Play methodology in face to face training where you can take part in a true masterclass.

About your trainer – Marko Rillo

I have been facilitating with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method since 2005 and have grown to enjoy it. For that reason, I hope that I will be able to give you some of my personal enthusiasm and passion about this wonderful tool to you.

At first, I experimented with my students at Tallinn Tech. We used the LEGO Bricks to make discussions fun. Very soon I started using LEGO Bricks to tease the best results out of strategy workshops. During many years interweaving LEGO to different training sessions, I have worked with small and large groups. Done some coaching one-to-one.

In 2006-09, I lead a “Management Brains” TV game where middle managers were solving different case studies. I was surprised to find out that conventional extroverted, dominant, and structured “manager” types were less successful than their competitors who were accommodating, creative, and introverted. This made me curious about studying play at work. I wrote my PhD dissertation at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland on combination of analytical and exploratory tools in strategy work, which gave me a glance of theory.

In 2009, when LEGO group made LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® open source, I founded SeriousPlayPro.com, which is nowadays the largest online community forLEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® practice.

In 2015 I co-wrote the book Serious Work How to Facilitate Meetings & Workshops withLEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Method with Sean Blair and 9 facilitators from around the world.

As a facilitator, I have occasionally failed. Workshops did not produce meaningful results. I have tested and tried what works and what doesn’t. Not everybody likes LEGO bricks. Not everybody is capable of play.

During this training you will also get the safe environment to try and test. To see what works and what does not. Welcome to learn about LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology!

If you have any questions? Just get in touch with me.

Marko Rillo