Alone but together: flow experience and its impact on creative output in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®

Lukas Zenk,Dirk J Primus,Stephan Sonnenburg

doi:10.1108/ejim-09-2020-0362

Abstract

PurposeDo LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) workshops result in improved experience of flow components as well as higher levels of creative output than traditional meetings (MEET)? This research studies the extent to which LSP, as a specialized material-mediated and process-oriented cocreative workshop setting, differs from MEET, a traditional workshop setting. Hypotheses for differences in individual flow components (autotelic behavior, happiness, balance), group flow components (equal participation, continuous communication) and creative output were developed and tested in a quasi-experimental comparison between LSP and MEET.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted with 39 practitioners in six teams from various industries. In total, 164 observations were collected during two workshops using the Experience Sampling Method. The creative output was assessed by peer evaluations of all participants, followed by structural analysis and quantitative group comparisons.FindingsThe results show that two components of individual flow experience (autotelic behavior, happiness) were significantly higher in LSP, and one of the components of group flow experience (continuous communication) was, as expected, significantly lower. Regarding creative output, the LSP teams outperformed the MEET teams. The study suggests that a process-oriented setting that includes time for individuals to independently explore their ideas using a different kind of material in the presence of other participants has a significant influence on the team result.Practical implicationsLSP can improve the components of participants' flow experience to have an impact on the creative output of teams. In cocreative settings like LSP, teams benefit from a combination of alone time and high-quality collaborative activities using boundary objects and a clear process to share their ideas.Originality/valueThis is the first quasi-experimental study with management practitioners as participants to compare LSP with a traditional and widespread workshop approach in the context of flow experience and creative output.

Highlights

In a period of increasingly unimaginative strategy meetings in the mid-1990s, the LEGO company began to develop the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) method to support more collaborative and innovative settings
The hypothesized effects of differences on individual and group flow experience were tested with multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA)
The results show that the mean scores for the individual experience components autotelic behavior (WISH), happiness (HAPPY) and balance (BALANCE) are greater for participants in LSP than in MEET

Summary

Introduction

In a period of increasingly unimaginative strategy meetings in the mid-1990s, the LEGO company began to develop the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) method to support more collaborative and innovative settings. In contrast to traditional meetings, this method places an emphasis on a specific material (Zenk et al, 2021), LEGO bricks, and follows a predefined process to facilitate workshops for improved participation, collaboration and higher creative output (Kristiansen and Rasmussen, 2014; Wengel et al, 2019). LSP has been utilized as a cocreative workshop method in various organizations worldwide, including Apple, IKEA and IBM, to support creative output in organizational change, idea development and innovation. High levels of creative output and innovation are of the utmost importance, many organizations implement cocreative activities as traditional meetings in which the participants discuss new ideas without a structured and stimulating process (Puccio et al, 2020).

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