You could hear a pin drop.
Fifteen HR leaders. No laptops. No PowerPoint. No awkward silences. Just hands in bricks.
At first? A little awkward laughter. Some half-hearted fiddling. And then – click.
A quiet shift. Focus. Flow. And suddenly, the room lit up with ideas no one had found the words for before.
It wasn’t another Learning at Work Week workshop. It was something much rarer: a session where people actually said what they meant.
And they didn’t say it with post-its. They said it with LEGO®.
One person turned to me mid-session and said, “I can’t believe how quickly we got to the root of the problem.” Another admitted, “I now realise I don’t have to be good at LEGO®!”
They weren’t just surprised. They were relieved. Because for once, the format of the conversation didn’t get in the way. It opened things up.
Why the usual approaches to collaboration fall short
I’ve been facilitating workshops for 10+ years and let’s be honest…
Most collaboration workshops don’t fail because they’re badly designed. They fail because people stay in performance mode. They say what they think they should. They protect reputations. They don’t get vulnerable. They don’t share their ideas or speak up at the risk of sounding “silly”.
And you can’t build trust in a room full of masks.
That’s where LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® flips the script.
Why LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® works when nothing else does
This isn’t just facilitation theatre. It’s method, not madness. LSP draws from:
- Constructivism: we learn best by doing
- Constructionism: meaning becomes real when we build something
- Metaphor: a shortcut to the truth when words fall short
Participants don’t just talk about collaboration. They build what it looks like. Feels like. What gets in the way.
That’s the power. No overthinking. No PowerPoint posture. Just bricks that speak when you can’t.
The real unlock? You don’t need to be good at LEGO®
This isn’t about design. It’s about depth.
In fact, the most revealing models were the messiest. The ones that looked half-finished. Lopsided. Raw. But that showed exactly what someone hadn’t said out loud yet.
When every model gets shared, every voice gets heard. That’s psychological safety in action.
What we uncovered in this session
This wasn’t a passive exercise. It was deep work, disguised as play.
We explored:
- What real connection feels like (not the team-building kind, the vulnerable kind)
- Where collaboration breaks – and no one says it
- What trust actually looks like, modelled in 10 minutes
One leader told me, “I’ve been talking about connection and collaboration within my business for years, and finally, in 3hrs of play I’ve uncovered the real reasons people aren’t connected. And it wasn’t what I thought”
That’s not just insight. That’s breakthrough.
Who should be using this? Probably you.
Let’s stop pretending this is niche. If you’re working in a hybrid world, navigating silos, change, restructuring, or even just onboarding new people – you need better conversations.
LSP delivers when:
- Your leadership team is stuck in the weeds
- Your function operates in silos
- Culture work is happening, but no one feels it
- You’re tired of talking about inclusion and want to feel it
Play isn’t soft. It’s strategic. It cuts through.
If your workshops aren’t working – try building, not talking
Let me leave you with this:
Collaboration can’t be taught. It has to be experienced.
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® gives your people the tools to think with their hands, speak their truth, and align around what matters most.
And it does it faster, deeper, and more honestly than any “team charter” session I’ve ever seen.
So if you’re serious about culture, inclusion, or collaboration, maybe it’s time to stop talking about it.
And start building it.Curious how it could work for your team? Let’s talk about how we bring LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® into your next strategy session, team reset, or away day.