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Real Time Identity (RTI), typically a one-day program, offers any employee the skills and insight to become a more effective member of the enterprise, and generally enriches the quality of life at work. Through the RTI process, individuals become more heedful of who they are and how they operate in their job landscape.  With LEGO bricks they construct models of who they are at the core, who others think they are, and what they are like when they are at their best.  Through “story making,” the participants share insights about their individual and organizational skills, needs and desires.  The result is an atmosphere of increased understanding, trust, and commitment and a stronger, more effective team, department, or organization.  Following a recent implementation of RTI that we facilitated, one of the participants who has worked for the organization for 13 years said, “I finally understand how I fit in here.”  That’s powerful stuff.

Another application of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is Real Time Strategy (RTS), typically a two-day program, which is designed to transform strategic planning into a process of continuous strategizing.  This changes the concept of enterprise strategy from a static expression of words on paper to an open-ended, flexible process that people throughout the organization can get their hands on.

RTS is founded on the fact that, when you cannot control the details, predict the future or make big decisions accurately in advance, the only way to compete effectively is to have a deep understanding of:

• Who you are (Identity)

• Where you are in the marketplace (Landscape)

• How to act in the face of increasing ambiguity and paradox (Simple Guiding Principles)

Identity is addressed first, as it establishes purpose and uniquely defines a team, company, institution or enterprise.  Without a clear understanding of who you are, it is almost impossible to articulate the value you deliver as an organization.  More than a typical “white-boarding” session, the interactive, hands-on process using LEGO bricks allows the entire group to work together to express complex concepts and ideas often left unexplored.

The next step is to portray the Landscape in which the business operates.  This part of the process places a now clear and shared Identity in a context with customers, suppliers, and competitors (in LEGO language these are referred to as “agents”) and more importantly identifies their interconnections with you and each other.  As changes occur in the Landscape, you are able to recognize the impact of the push and pull between agents and take heedful actions to manage the change.

Finally, Simple Guiding Principles emerge to channel actions and to enable the organization to act strategically in the moment, or in real time.  Regardless of what emerges in the landscape, the simple guiding principles allow you to test your decisions to ensure that your actions are consistent with the organization’s core values and culture.  They help you move from what you “could” do to what you “should” do.

Research conducted at learning labs and universities in the United States and Europe shows that when adults “play” their imaginations become unlocked and this leads to unexpected, creative and groundbreaking insights about themselves and their business.  Thinking is deeper when the hands are involved; that is, the range of concepts and possibilities that are produced is usually expanded.  Participants in the SERIOUS PLAY process have reported it to be, “Fun, inspiring, explosive, challenging, engaging, exuberant, intimidating, imaginative, insightful, and very cool.”

The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY concept is a valuable tool for organizations facing serious issues such as customer and client relations, increasing competition, new products and services, improving performance, and adapting to a complex, dynamic world.  If that sounds like the kinds of challenges you are facing, let’s talk further about how an RTI or RTS program can help you.  They are exciting and innovative and they will enable you to cope with accelerating change by simplifying decision making and developing organizational flexibility.