Very Serious Playing
For centuries generals used little model armies to depict the position, strength and affiliation of military forces, when working on their tactics. It helped them and their advisors to develop a common understanding of the opportunities and challenges that would wait for them on the battlefield.
A while ago I was invited to a workshop. The purpose was to reshape one of our departments, and colleagues from other branches (like me) were brought in to include different views on what the outcome should look like. I was told beforehand that lots of LEGO® would be involved and that got me very curious and excited. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed.
My turn to explain my model during the facilitator training.
(c) Shared Picture by participants of Manuel Grasslers Deep Play Training August 2021
When I arrived, I saw a long table with a big pile of bricks in various shapes, sizes and colors. The facilitator called it a „LEGO® Buffet“, two words that never fail to get my attention.
During the Workshop we’ve been introduced to the concept of LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP) and I was hooked in an instant.
In short, the method allows a group of people to create a collective vision of something, by literally building it. I couldn’t help myself but to think of those generals standing in a tent with model armies on a table, and I had so many questions:
When did commanders stop using them? Isn’t a collective vision somehow what we emergency managers call a common recognized information picture? Aren’t battlefields somehow comparable to disaster zones? And how much more serious does it get, than responding to emergencies?
It was my firm belief that playing with tiny pieces of danish plastic would help me find the answers. I attended Manuel Grasslers (phenomenal) two-day LSP Deep Play Training and officially got certified as LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator.
What I learned about the method, and it’s application in my line of work, can be found throughout this text. It is directed at everybody who spend lots of time trying to gather knowledge from various people, to eventually manage harmful events better. Especially those who are tired of endless monologues, and an excessive use of post-its, in meetings.
What is LEGO® Serious Play®?
It was designed in the 90’s by Professor Johan Roos and Bart Victor, after LEGO®s owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen tried to find new tools for strategy development. For those of you who’d like to read up on the details, you can find more information here.
The technique itself is quite simple. The workshop facilitator asks a question, every participant gives an answer by building a LEGO® model and presenting it to the group. Each participant tries to tell a story with their design and assigns meanings and value to the bricks they use. The point is to support the architect’s idea with something more tangible than just words.
On top of that, models (ideas) can be combined to build a shared model (a shared idea), or placed on a matrix, timeline, map, etc., to create a 3D diagram.
One brick can have thousand meanings. This bush can be placed on a mini-figures head to (e.g.) show it is learning, growing more resilient, or reaching out for help
It’s easy and fun for the participants. The hard part lies with the facilitator, who needs to come up with the initial question. Easy questions will deliver obvious answers. You want those questions to aim at the core of the problem, but to be vague enough to spark creativity and leave space for unexpected solutions. Manuel introduced me to the phrase of “sufficiently unclear” questions, which I quite like. (You will find examples later in the text)
We all have been to those meetings that involve a fraction of the participants talking most of the time and not leaving enough opportunities for the rest to talk. Personally, I spent my fair share of time in such off-balanced gatherings. Here’s what I noticed: The closer the topic revolves around new equipment, the more likely it is for common conversation etiquette to be forgotten. In fact, I never saw people argue over anything as I have seen them argue over the perfect spot for a waste bin in an ambulance (I am not kidding. I wish I was.).
By using LSP as a workshop method everybody gets to design and present their ideas. Even the most introvert colleague will be given time to share their views.
You might think now: “Okay, this all sounds plausible. But LEGO® isn’t cheap and drawing probably works too.”
Have you ever heard somebody say „I’m just not the best drawer?“ Many people hold back to not embarrass themselves when it comes to drawing in a group. It creates a creativity barrier. Putting blocks of plastic together is simple and doesn’t leave people behind feeling like someone else does it better than them.
Another benefit is the option to combine models. With LEGO® bricks you can take elements of one model and put them onto another model. It lets you merge several models into one. Try that with pen and paper and you will end up having sticky fingers from all the glue you’ll need.
How could this possibly be useful in emergencies?
While learning about LSP, I thought about its applicability within my daily work. I’m happy to let you in on my thoughts and experiences so far.
Risk Management
Imagine you have been assigned to lead a risk analysis workshop with several people. Instead of discussing what risks should be considered, give everybody 4-6 minutes, let them dig into a pile of LEGO® and have them build a model of a hazard they think of. Afterwards ask everybody to share what hazard they picked and why. Are two hazards related or similar? Ask the architects if they would consider merging them into one model or if not, then let them explain why. You will end up with a collection of hazard-models. Draw a risk matrix on a piece of flip chart paper, put it on the table and place your LEGO®-hazards on it. Now your participants can shift the models around and discuss where the risks should sit on the matrix.
I find this approach a lot more interactive than using post-its and expect it to result in higher attention/participation.
Another less widely used method for analyzing risks is called “pre-mortem”. This one just seems ideal for LSP, since it’s about making up stories about the future and how something went wrong. You may want to try out a question like “How did we fail to function during the incident?” or “Why did the assessment team not return from their assignment?” and see what your workshop attendants will come up with.
From those lists of identified risks, measures can be developed. Ask further questions and build LEGO® answers or mix it up with other methods, to keep the workshop from getting too one-sided.
Emergency Planning
Hover-Stretchers and drones: How do you picture the future?
If you’re working on new tactics, or try to come up with new response concepts, you might consider thinking outside the box. You want to use as much of your design team’s creativity, to come up with the best solution for the challenges you face. LSP can help you unleash this creativity.
I think for emergency planning there really is a lot of potential to get your mind outside the box. Here’s a list of questions/tasks that might inspire you to approach your emergency plans from a different direction, or facilitate your first LSP workshop:
What’s our biggest benefit we could fail to notice in this situation?
How will the decision to … affect the response?
Build the perfect team for the job!
How would our tactics need to change if we’d only have half the time?
How would our tactics need to change if it starts to rain?
One of my favorites is “Why wouldn’t the public be thankful after we responded?”. I find it a deeply interesting one. In my experience affected communities do not get included a lot in the process of emergency planning. Certainly this question leads to some interesting answers (or LEGO® models).
Having 3D models of whatever you’re planning allows for a much stronger understanding between everybody involved. People can point at a specific aspect within a model and ask questions about it, while everybody can see what they are pointing at. That’s so much clearer than pointing on a vague post-it with maximum ten words on it.
All your generated ideas can be considered in your plans and help to test them, while they are still written. However, eventually all plans should be validated by an exercise. Which leads us to the next use case…
Exercise Design
LSP is all about telling stories, and what’s an exercise plot if not a story? I think developing an exercise with LSP might be the one idea that I’m most curious to try out.
Why not switch the mandatory scenario brainstorming for a collective playing session and actually build a picture of the challenges you’re going to throw at the trainees? Why not use minifigures to plan where to position victims in the field? Why not use bricks to plan the exercise timeline?
The more I think about it, the more ideas come to my mind. I’d probably choose an approach like this:
Define exercise goals (without LEGO®)
Have participants construct models of challenges/scenarios that help to achieve those goals
Let everybody present their ideas
Use the “challenge-models” (from Step 2) to construct a shared model of a scenario that will be suitable to reach the goals. (That’s basically your exercise)
Now I’d probably try a different angle of view and ask “How can we control the difficulty of the scenario?” and let the participants build little models again. They shall present their ideas and put strings between their model and the aspect in the scenario, they plan to control with it. That way everybody can see where the control measures will take effect.
While playing, discussing, and constructing, we might find out that ideas don’t work out. That’s okay, nothing is set in stone. We can rebuild and try again.
Eventually, with this 3D-picture of my exercise, I’d go in a project management phase, list what we’d need to organize, and of course write up a more detailed script.
Business Continuity Management
I think you understand how I’m going to use LEGO® in emergency management. Why wouldn’t it be suitable for business continuity workshops then? There’s certainly potential to raise business continuity awareness within an organization, or to identify its vulnerable elements. Questions like the ones beneath might help to deliver valuable insights.
There’s a fire in the building. What’s the one thing you’d save? (Alternatively: Who is the one person you’d safe?)
How does your department react if supplier xyz announces they can no longer deliver their services/goods?
How can one do the most damage to the company?
There might be ways to support or perform a business impact analysis with LSP, I just haven’t figured out a way yet. If you happen to have ideas about that, I’m curious to hear about them!
What’s left to say?
“LEGO® Serious Play® is a 3D-printer for our thoughts.”
Just because something is designed to play with, doesn’t make it merely a toy. It can be a tool and like all tools, it must be used right. Utilizing LEGO® in your meetings won’t make tricky concepts automatically become clear. However, it might help you and your colleagues to have more structured meetings and generate surprisingly creative ideas!
I heard LSP being described as a 3D-printer for our thoughts. I think that’s quite accurate. I hope to have given you valuable insights on how to use this printer in the field of risk/emergency/business continuity management. Surely there is much more potential to be discovered and I would love to hear about your experiences and thoughts!
A few last tips:
Don’t bore people with the method. It’s easy to overuse.
Don’t be pushy. If somebody doesn’t want to play, you can’t force them.
People tend to be sensitive about their models. Avoid patronizing or assuming. Ask the architect if you’re not sure what certain aspects in a model stand for.
And, no, this blog post wasn’t sponsored in any way. I wish it was. There’s a lot of LEGO® waiting to be bought…
Regards
Bernhard