Tired of Chris-Farley-like motivational speakers botching Trust Falls in the conference room? Here's a different way to build a better team at work: Lego Serious Play.
Lego Serious Play is a methodology that's been around since the '90s and seeks to enhance business performance through group exercises based around the titular bricks:
The underlying values of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY include the belief in the potential of people, and also the belief that everyone within an organization can contribute to the discussion, solutions, and outcomes....Building landscape models with LEGO bricks, giving them meaning through storymaking, and playing-out various possible scenarios, deepens understanding, sharpens insight, and socially "bonds" together the group who "plays" together. Participants come away with increased confidence and more committed to the shared and common goals.
At first I wasn't sure if this was for real, but they've got a website explaining the concept (and listing testimonials) here, and this morning I came across an article on Kamal Hassan, a Dubai-based business executive who's a certified Trained Lego Serious Play Facilitator. "Adult play, when it is structured correctly as the Lego Serious Play methodology demonstrates, frees our imagination and makes us more open to possibilities," says Hassan. "It also improves communication, especially among teams, by giving everyone a safe way to express their opinions."