eLearning Industry – Leticia Lafuente López
Design Thinking And The Application Of Lego Serious Play
Why is Design Thinking so important to solve real life projects? What does gamification have to do with it? In this article we will see the studies and methodologies that are taking place in Spain throughout different workshops conducted by Fausto Camacho.
I accompanied Beatriz Valderrama, a professional colleague. I had met her by chance that morning at an event organized by the Chambers of commerce and after getting to know her agenda, I followed her for the rest of the day and evening.
Arriving at five at the coworking space for the workshop “Design Thinking with Lego® Serious Play®”, we were told the seats were limited, as the methodology did not allow “silent witnesses” and I should wait to see if drop outs occurred to participate.
I really did not know what to expect. Beatriz encouraged me to stay, just in case. After a while, they confirmed that one of the twelve selected to attend the free workshop of Lego® Serious Play® dropped out and I could stay.
I had read something about Lego initiatives for companies and schools abroad. Two weeks later, the facilitator, Fausto Camacho, confirmed that the method began in Denmark in the 90s, when they realized that the sale of toys was stopping because children were playing more and more with the video consoles. Lego then hired a consultant and this resulted in a new methodology, which walked parallel to Lego but without belonging to the organization: The Lego® Serious Play®.
Desing Thinking Workshop: Fist Practice
During the workshop, 12 people sat in a room around a large table. In front of each of us there were two clear bags of Lego (just as the ones you get at the airport to put the bottles with liquids to pass the control zone). One of them contained a few pieces, orange and yellow ones; the other was larger and contained many more pieces of all sizes and colors. We begin with the small bag. The task the facilitator requested us was individually: “Build a duck. You’ve got one minute”.
As the exact measurement of time has always been a cabal to me, even with the watch ahead, I thought this task had to be done immediately, so I got carried away by the maternal instinct and thought, “Nothing can be left away to build this creature”. And I decomposed the duck: “Head, beak, wings, body, tail, legs. I think nothing is left”. I used a piece to represent each item, in order to make it a “complete” being, and I thought the others would be able to put it back on his head.
I finished first, and my surprise was complete when seeing that all people took pains to represent the ducky shower, Donald Duck, any normal duck, but really, duck-shaped and everything. After the given minute, the facilitator asked us to explain what we had done, if we felt satisfied for having done it that way and best of all: “How we had felt doing the duck”.
How to explain that this messy pile of pieces put together was a duck for me? I remembered the chefs making the deconstruction of the food, and I said, “I made a Duck deconstruction. It has everything, just take a look at it and imagine it”.
It had been just three minutes workshop and the methodology started working: 12 people with 12 visions of a duck, with 12 ways to translate it, with 12 ways to explain and feel it, in front of a few pieces of Lego that already were “our creature”. And in my project manager head, associations then began to emerge:
- Never take for granted that everyone understands the purpose of the project in the same way (if everyone understands it).
- Never assume that those who do understand the purpose in the same way also understand that the same steps and associated tasks are necessary to achieve it.
- Never assume that those who do understand the objective will work automatically for the project only, and not to feed their creativity, their ego or their personal interests.
Design Thinking Workshop: Second Practice
Now we should take the bigger bag and, with a given number of pieces, represent our ideal weekend. Translate a lot of feelings, memories, and desires to a few Lego pieces requires concentration. From hence the “serious game”, Fausto explained: “Serious” is not the opposite of “funny”; that is “boring”. A serious game can be fun, but requires active participation, effort, and work by those who run it, as well as a commitment to meet the objectives and assimilate the methodology of the game. That’s why it is serious.
I set to work and created my perfect weekend. This time we had a few minutes, since the task was a bit more complex than the last. We applied the method of successive approximations. Divergence was complete: Some wanted to be completely alone, other wanted to travel, others retreating into a bed of love, others stay in the car with their family, to talk and have a good time without teenagers running away or shutting in their room. The more conceptual the issue pictured, the greater divergence in the proposals. And everyone, without exception, had one; no one left the job half done. 12 visions of happiness put on the table, all represented in small pieces and with an overwhelming sincerity.
Fausto then explained that working with hands enables us to better express the concepts and to remove barriers, such as shame or prudence, to a group of strangers, obstacles that appear frequently when communicating with oral language. With our hands we are more honest, more authentic. And the ideas we communicate are so as well.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
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