When I first certified as a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator, it became clear to me that serious play requires time in order to enable the participants to get into the groove with their models, and loosen up their skills for maximum results.
So, I typically recommend enough time for participants to achieve the objectives set out (as any sane facilitator would). BUT, it doesn’t always play out that way.
Not long ago, a large, well-known, global technology company approached me to facilitate a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) session for their partner management team. They were in the midst of a major restructuring—merging two distinct teams, each with its own culture, customer focus, and ways of working. With 55 team members from across EMEA coming together for a two-day offsite, the goal was clear but ambitious: align everyone on a shared set of team values. And we had just 100 minutes to do it.
As you might imagine, I pushed back, and asked for more time. But in this instance, I was asked to figure out how it could be done… Never one to shirk a challenge, I set about planning it out.
The session was aptly named the “Team Values Prototyping Session.” (I added prototyping to the objective, as I wasn’t really prepared to accept 110 mins was enough to really get the values nailed) Here’s how we tackled this complex challenge and what we achieved.
The Challenge: Two Teams, One Vision
The company’s restructuring effort brought together two teams with distinct identities. One team managed relationships with enterprise businesses, characterised by a structured and strategic approach. The other worked closely with creators, influencers, and makers, operating with a more agile and dynamic style. These differences extended beyond work styles to their internal cultures, creating potential friction as they merged into a single entity under a new leader.
My client wanted a workshop that would:
- Engage everyone equally.
- Encourage open expression of perspectives.
- Identify common ground and create alignment on shared values.
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® was the perfect method for this mission. Its hands-on, metaphor-driven approach enables deep conversations, fosters creativity, and gives everyone an equal voice.
The Objective
“Team values are the core standards that guide how a team interacts and conducts business. They serve as beliefs that guide the actions and behaviours of group members. Team values shape how team members communicate and work together, encouraging them to enact a positive working environment.”
This objective set the tone for our session and gave participants a clear focus as they engaged in the LSP process.
The Workshop Structure
1. Skills Building (10 Minutes)
To set the tone and ensure everyone was comfortable with the LSP process, we started with a skills-building exercise. This phase focused on getting everyone engaged, motivated, and familiar with using LEGO bricks to express ideas metaphorically. Each table—comprised of 6-7 participants—built a simple model and shared what it represented. The focus was on fun and creativity, breaking the ice and building confidence in the process.
Outcome: Each table shared their models with the room, and the energy in the space shifted as participants grew more comfortable with the technique.
2. Individual Core Models: Where Are We Now? (30 Minutes)
Next, we moved into the core challenge. Participants were asked to build a model representing the current state of their team: “What characterises your team right now?” Each individual built a model, then shared their story within their table. Teams captured key values and insights from these discussions.
Afterward, each table presented their key values to the whole room, and I facilitated a discussion to identify consistent themes and divergent perspectives. These insights formed the foundation of our values prototype.
Outcome: A set of initial values emerged, captured on a canvas at the front of the room. The discussion highlighted both shared ground and areas of difference, setting the stage for deeper exploration.
3. Individual Aspirational Models: Where Do We Want to Go? (50 Minutes)
With the current state mapped out, we turned our attention to the future. Participants were challenged to update their models to reflect their aspirations: “What characterises how you want your team to be?” They could build entirely new models or adapt their previous ones, incorporating insights from the earlier discussion.
Once again, participants shared their models within their tables, capturing any new or evolved values. Each table then presented these updates to the room, and we refined the values prototype together.
Outcome: A richer, more comprehensive values prototype emerged, reflecting the new team’s aspirations. The process fostered alignment and gave everyone a sense of ownership over the values being developed.
4. Refining the Values Prototype (10 Minutes)
In the final step, participants voted on their favorite values from the prototype. Using sticky notes, they marked the values they felt most strongly about. This visual representation captured the collective voice of the team and highlighted the most important values.
The group started with 13 values on their list, but through this voting process, the top four emerged: Balance, Flexibility, Empathy, and Collaboration. These four values represented the shared aspirations of the newly unified team.
Outcome: A completed Values Prototype Canvas, ready for further development beyond the session. The voting process ensured that every perspective was included, creating a strong sense of team ownership.
The Impact
By the end of the 100-minute session, we had achieved what seemed almost impossible: alignment among 55 individuals from two distinct teams on a shared set of values. These values—Balance, Flexibility, Empathy, and Collaboration—now serve as the foundation for the team’s culture moving forward. The visual and tangible nature of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® models made the abstract concept of “values” more accessible and actionable.
The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive. Many remarked on how the session gave them a voice, helped them better understand their new colleagues, and created a sense of unity despite the initial challenges. The new leader was particularly pleased, noting that the Values Prototype Canvas would serve as a cornerstone for the team’s ongoing development.
Lessons Learned
- Engagement is Key: The skills-building phase was crucial for ensuring full participation and comfort with the process.
- Focus on Storytelling: Encouraging participants to share stories about their models brought depth and meaning to the values they identified.
- Iteration Drives Alignment: The iterative nature of the workshop allowed the team to refine their thinking and build consensus.
- Visual Representation Matters: The Values Prototype Canvas provided a powerful, tangible outcome that could be revisited and built upon.
- It can be done: While not ideal to compress the time for such a complex topic, this session showed me that the right audience could move fast, and be focused to achieve the objective quickly
Should You Use LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®?
If you’re facing a similar challenge—bringing together diverse teams, fostering alignment, or tackling complex cultural issues—LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® might be the solution you’re looking for. This case study demonstrates its power to create meaningful engagement, surface insights, and build consensus in a short amount of time. LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® can also be applied to all sorted of challenges – scenario planning; setting a new strategy; restructuring your teams; product development; innovation, and loads more.
My client’s partner management team now has a shared set of values to guide their journey as a unified team. And they built it themselves—one LEGO brick at a time.
Cognitive Union is a progressive, boutique learning and performance consultancy. We work with forward-thinking businesses. Transforming their people. Shaping their culture. Helping them embrace change and take on the world. Find this blog useful? Sign up to our email newsletter (bottom of this page) where you can receive articles like this and other insights (not publically published), and you can also follow us on LinkedIn.