20 Sep An Example of a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Build
Introduction:
As a LEGO® Serious Play® Facilitator we have the exciting role of inciting creativity in others. Through “build challenge” questions the participants create their models and share their stories about their model with the other participants. This repetitive process unlocks unspoken knowledge, assumptions, and skills. Here is an example.
Client Problem:
Our leadership team is very tactical. We would like them to be more strategic & work together differently.
Build Outcome:
We built a model where our team could see the strategic plan of the company in one visual. We have a stop light showing us our overall status. Then we have three additional boards. One is tracking our progress on key performance indicators against our strategic plan. The second is visually managing the executable tasks and problem solving using root cause analysis (fishbone). The third board visualizes our continuous improvement ideas and helps us prioritize the most impactful ideas.
Learnings:
1) We noticed our model had a diverse line of management. Some members were “leaning-in” while others appeared to be leaning out.
2) We became very comfortable asking questions and not assuming what others were.
3) We identified and discussed our needs for tools so we built a toolbox with the tools we might need. Additionally we included the type of tools and what they would be used for as part of our storyline.
4) We also knew we would find some rough waters as we began to implement this way of leading, so we felt it was important to include a life raft with our strategy as the guiding light.
5) We really felt our visual management boards needed to distinguish themselves with specific purposes.
6) All five of the learnings were important, but most of all we didn’t want to spend a significant amount of time in meetings. So we built our meeting structure around the visual management center and we have reduced our meeting time to 15 minutes a week and monthly we do a deep-dive into each strategic initiative for one hour.