3 Unexpected Uses of LEGO in Psychology

A lot of us are pretty familiar with LEGO as a construction toy that many children (or even adults) love to fiddle with. However, not many of us know that the LEGO brick can also be used as a tool to help individuals and organizations attain self-awareness and to gain clarity to problems. Below are some of the ways that LEGO bricks can used in the realm of Organisational Psychology, Clinical Supervision and in Research.

1. Business Model Canvas

In the area of Organisational Psychology, some of us might be familiar with the Business Model Canvas as a visual approach to document new and existing business models. When combined together with LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methodology, the visual impact of the Business Model Canvas is enhanced though the construction of metaphoric models using LEGO. The combination of both tools can also be applied to help individuals revamp their careers and to develop their value proposition.

2. Clinical Supervision for Practitioners

In clinical psychology, clinical supervision is an activity that brings skilled supervisors and practitioners together in order to reflect upon their practice. The purpose of clinical supervision is to provide a safe and confidential environment for staff to reflect on and discuss their work and their personal and professional responses to their work. The focus is on supporting staff in their personal and professional development and in reflecting on their practice. LEGO bricks can be used as a starting point for supervisors to elicit responses that might otherwise be hard to gather through verbal means. The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY approach has been adapted in Play Therapy supervision settings but it can be used with other forms of therapy supervision as well.

3. Research Tool in Qualitative Research

As noted earlier, it is possible to come up with metaphorical LEGO models by using LEGO SERIOUS PLAY as a facilitation tool. Thus, the use of LEGO as qualitative research tool comes as a natural choice to qualitative research psychologists. Together with a skilled LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitator, researchers are able to harness the potential of using LEGO bricks to generate rich data and in depth information from participants through metaphors and storytelling.

What are the other uses of LEGO brick in Psychology? If you have thought of other ways that LEGO can be used in Psychology, do let me know in the comments below or drop me a note through email. I would be happy to hear from you.