#19 LEGO® Serious Play: Strengthening the attractiveness of a region through collective intelligence

Discover the LEGO® Serious Play method: a structured workshop to align stakeholders, clarify the vision and prioritize a territorial action plan.

In a context where regions must contend with multiple expectations (residents, visitors, economic stakeholders, institutions), the challenge is no longer simply to "communicate better," but to clarify a vision, align stakeholders, and transform ideas into actionable decisions. However, traditional workshops quickly reach their limits: the same voices dominate, discussions remain abstract, and participants often leave with intentions rather than a shared direction.

This is precisely where the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) method offers unique added value. Far from being a "game," it is a structured and facilitated approach that fosters a shared understanding, reduces blind spots, and leads to more robust choices, more quickly.

What is the LEGO® Serious Play method?

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is a workshop facilitation method that uses brick-based model building to help a group reflect, share, and decide. Each participant builds a tangible representation of their perception (of an issue, a territory, a strategy, a project), and then shares it with the group. Opinions are not debated "in a vacuum": discussions are based on concrete objects that make ideas, priorities, tensions, and cause-and-effect relationships visible.

The method follows guided steps (questioning, building, sharing, exploring, synthesizing) and aims for a simple objective: to transform complexity into collective understanding, and then into decisions.

Why is LEGO® Serious Play relevant to territorial attractiveness?

Territorial projects (attractiveness, tourism, transition, economic development, revitalization, mobility, culture, etc.) share three recurring characteristics:

• Complexity: numerous interconnected factors (image, offerings, access, services, seasonality, land use, employment, environment, etc.).

• Multiple stakeholders: elected officials, technical experts, socio-professional groups, residents, partners, and operators.

• Need for alignment: without a shared vision, actions become fragmented and impact diminishes.

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is effective because it allows these dimensions to be addressed in an inclusive and structured way, avoiding two common pitfalls: the "idea catalog" meeting and the "power struggle" meeting.

Key benefits of LEGO® Serious Play for a territory

1) Inclusive and balanced participation

In many workshops, speaking time is unevenly distributed. With LSP, everyone contributes and shares. The method creates a framework where every participant contributes, including those who are more reserved. As a result, more information, field experience, and early warning signs are captured.

2) Clearer and more constructive exchanges

Talking about a territory often means talking about identity, history, priorities… therefore, sensitive subjects. Using a structured model helps to depersonalize some of the tensions: we discuss the model, what it represents, and its relationships with other elements. This facilitates more frank, nuanced, and often more productive conversations.

3) A systemic approach to the issues (interdependencies)

Territorial attractiveness is not a slogan: it is a system. LSP allows us to build not only individual models, but also shared models and relationship maps (what influences what, where the obstacles are, which levers have the greatest impact). We move from a list of actions to a systemic approach, essential for prioritization.

4) Rapid Alignment on Vision and Priorities

The method helps a group answer key questions:

• What is our real (and credible) territorial promise?

• What makes us unique?

• What contradictions do we need to resolve?

• What choices do we stand by (and which do we not)?

By making everyone's perspectives visible, LSP allows for faster convergence toward a shared vision, and then toward priorities.

5) Actionable and More Accepted Decisions

A good workshop isn't judged by the energy in the room, but by what happens afterward. LSP is particularly useful for:

• clarifying objectives,

• defining strategic directions,

• identifying risks,

• building a roadmap,

• assigning roles,

• defining success indicators.

Because decisions emerge from a collective understanding, they are often better accepted and easier to implement.

6) An effective tool for managing change

Territories are constantly transforming (ecological transition, climate adaptation, new forms of mobility, evolving tourism expectations, housing pressures, etc.). LSP helps to engage stakeholders, create a common language, and reduce resistance to change by giving everyone a role in shaping meaning.

Use Case: How to use LEGO® Serious Play in a territorial project?

Depending on your objectives, a LEGO® Serious Play® workshop can be used to:

• Clarify an attractiveness strategy: identity, promise, target audience, differentiation.

• Rethink a tourism offering: itinerary, seasonality, experience, services, pain points.

• Align governance: roles, responsibilities, decision-making processes, cooperation.

• Prioritize an action plan: impact vs. feasibility, dependencies, quick wins.

• Anticipate risks: vulnerabilities, breaking points, scenarios.

• Mobilize an ecosystem: public/private stakeholders, partners, sectors.

A concrete lever for moving from complexity to action

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® helps you gain clarity, alignment, and the ability to act by transforming complex discussions into shared decisions.

Organizing a LEGO® Serious Play Workshop

Do you have a challenge related to attractiveness, tourism, or territorial transformation, and would you like to align your stakeholders and structure a roadmap?

I can help you design and facilitate a LEGO® Serious Play workshop tailored to your specific context (elected officials/technical staff, socio-professionals, partners, project governance), with a clear deliverable: a shared vision, priorities, and an action plan.