17       frequently asked questions what do you laugh about the most? it makes me laugh when my kids imitate me or my wife and use our arguments against us. they are very creative and it’s extremely funny to see a reflection of ourselves through them! what do you devote the most time to? besides working and sleeping i like to spend most of the time with my family. i spend many hours playing lego with my two young sons. so i’m not only playing at work ... (laughs)! what’s your favourite piece of lego? that’s difficult to say. i’d probably have to say all of the 5000 pieces ... play up! playing at work? unthinkable for many companies. with their concept of serious play, the toy company lego shows that playing is much more than just an unproductive “waste of time”. with their figures and building bricks, they not only cause joy and happiness but also a noticeable improvement in efficiency. it’s a funny sight indeed when you see executive managers playing with lego toy figures in the grave atmosphere of a meeting room ... and it even is supposed to be funny. it’s definitely something special to combine a meeting of the extraordinary kind with fun and games as well as with discovering, releasing and maximizing the potentials of your employees. for several years, the famous figures and building bricks of danish toy manufacturer lego have been used as helpful tools for strategy planning and the simplification of complex processes. during the project, the participants playfully rebuild the basic identity of their company in a so-called “real time strategy” session: the company’s processes, contacts, services and core competences are displayed with the help of metaphors and story telling. even the company’s surroundings are rebuilt with building blocks and figures. thus, the meaning and logic behind many complex processes are playfully made visible and understandable. in the following interview, “lego serious play” director jesper just jensen talks about how much adults can learn from the playful world of children and how complex business processes can be displayed in a simplified form. dear jesper, would you say that we as adults should more often be inspired by our children and their spontaneous way of thinking and simple acting? i think there are many things adults could learn from children, for instance how they act in everyday life, how they think etc. in our serious play sessions we often see that adults who play are much more committed and motivated to learn new things. even serious topics and complex problems can be solved in a more efficient way when people are playing – and besides that, an intended goal is reached during these processes. “a child can always teach an adult three things: being happy without reason, always being occupied with something and being emphatic about what you want”, is what famous writer paulo coelho once said. what do you think about this statement? i think it’s totally true! children have a fantastic approach to many situations in life. they are much more straight-forward and mostly express themselves clearly and simply without this special kind of “adult filter” that they acquire when they grow up. i think it’s a vital aspect of helping people to establish an honest and open dialogue and dealing with human emotions in a sensitive way. this kind of openness and sensitivity helps solving problems more quickly and making better, more solid decisions. if you enjoy your jobs, you achieve a better performance, are more motivated and create more useful ideas. don’t you think that “playful learning” should generally be more important in companies? yes, definitely! work requires play, play requires work! we often noticed that the people playing in our “serious play” sessions tend to be more dedicated, that they are able to concentrate for a much longer time and display more imaginativeness in their thinking and acting. the possibility of incorporating your imagination into a work situation – no matter if it’s in a strategic, team development or product innovation process – prepares you much better for the unexpected. you’re better prepared for any kind of situation because you have already played them through in a secure environment. many of your customers are big international companies. how do you explain to a company, say from the service sector, that lego bricks can lead to strategic improvements? our concept cannot be communicated that easily. for many people it’s hard to realize the connection between lego building blocks and strategic development. it’s quite a long process until the human potential within an organisation can be discovered, “released” and maximized. “serious play” encourages understanding, commitment and trust of the participants by providing them with a playful mental experience. there are more than 300 companies on five continents that have already worked with our concept. actually it’s a scientific method helping organizations to simplify complex strategies by using plastic building blocks in efficient meetings. the mere sight of lego bricks in a classic meeting room will inevitably make people smile. what were the most beautiful reactions you experienced during your so-called “real time strategy” sessions? it always surprises me how creative people get during our “serious play” sessions. the method is very neutralizing because conflicts are more or less turned into constructive solutions to existing problems. you are given time to depict, reflect and discuss stories and perspectives in a relaxed environment. in normal meetings, people often don’t really listen to each other. to be honest, i don’t think that the situation of a normal meeting encourages the participants to try and understand other people’s opinions before going into the decision mode ... what do you think about the idea of sending lego building blocks to the big politicians of this world so that they can test their current issues in a playful way before transferring them into real life? well, i like your idea of using “serious play” for politicians – i think it’s quite relevant. especially in the field of politics there are more than enough major social problems that call for solutions. the building blocks could be used as “scenario tools” for politicians to visualize the effects of upcoming decisions. helmut wolf