Author: Alicia Jover
Introduction In this article, I share a perspective that seeks to go a step beyond the formal structures of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) methodology. Beyond the technical approach, beyond the models built or the decisions materialized on a worktable. It is a perspective that seeks to explore the invisible territory: what happens inside people when something emerges from the deepest layers, without having been planned.
What truly moves me as a facilitator — and what drives me to continue using this methodology — are the insights that emerge. Those moments when someone, unexpectedly, sees themselves in a different way. I speak here from experience, but also from the foundations. Because there is science behind this magic. But, above all, there is humanity.
Beyond Good Dynamics Since getting certified, I have facilitated many sessions using the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology. And yes, it is true: they all have order, rhythm, depth. People talk more than ever. Meetings “work”; but there is something even more powerful that happens — and is not always visible from the outside —: someone builds a model… and, halfway through their explanation, they stop. They look at the figure. They fall silent. And then they say: “I didn’t know I thought this until I put it here.”
That moment is an insight. An internal shift that reconfigures something deep. And that is where, for me, the true potential of the method lies. In that instant, the symbolic becomes visible, the invisible is named, and the emotional is legitimized. And although there are no closed answers, there are openings. Paths that were not seen before.
The Paradox of Daily Life: Why We Don’t Listen to Our Own Insights We live surrounded by noise. Not just external noise — messages, social media, urgencies, notifications — but also internal noise: judgments, expectations, endless to-do lists. In this context, deep thought becomes almost a luxury.
Insights do not compete with noise. They are subtle. They do not impose themselves. They arrive when there is space. Therefore, often we do not hear them: because we do not give them the opportunity to arise. We get used to living on autopilot. To solving without asking ourselves why. To opining without investigating. To acting without understanding. And thus, true internal movements remain buried under layers of functionality.
This is where the power of a methodology like LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® comes in. Because, by forcing us to build, to stop, to think with our hands, it takes us off autopilot and brings us into a state of connection with what truly matters. Where speed is not valued, but connection is.
What is an Insight and Why is it So Important in Human Processes? An insight is not just a new idea. It is a revelation. A piece that fits and alters the way we see a problem, a role, a relationship, or even ourselves. In coaching and accompaniment, we know this well: without insight, there is no transformation. We can have data, opinions, plans… but if there is no true realization, everything remains on the surface.
The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology has something unique: it allows that insight to arise without being forced, pushed, or directed. The model says something before the person knows it. And this does not happen by chance, but because the method relies on solid foundations such as: ● Jean Piaget’s constructivism (1972). ● Seymour Papert’s constructionism (1980). ● Embodied cognition by Antonio Damasio (1994, 1999) and Barbara Wilson (2002). ● The use of metaphors as the language of thought (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). ● Reflection-in-action by Donald Schön (1983).
In short: we think with our hands. And when we build, we activate another form of knowing. Construction facilitates a healthy emotional distance, which allows us to see what is ours from the outside, without the weight of immediate judgment.
What Makes LSP Facilitate These Moments of Clarity? From my practice — and also from what research supports — there are five keys that make LSP a methodology that generates real insights:
- Thinking with hands: by building, a distinct neurological process is activated that links body, emotion, and memory. The mind relaxes and opens up to new connections.
- Personal metaphors: each person projects unique symbols onto their model, which allows reading the implicit and the emotional. The metaphor is a mirror that does not judge, it only reflects.
- Structured safe space: the workshop framework generates trust, but with clear rules that offer containment. It is a cared-for space where everything has a time and a place.
- Deep peer listening: there are no hierarchies; everyone listens attentively and without interruptions, which amplifies resonance. Listening without an agenda transforms.
- Decelerated time, amplified presence: the paused rhythm of the methodology favors introspection and connection. When we slow down the pace, the quality of what emerges increases.
Two Stories Where Insight Changed the Conversation (and Something Else)
🔹 The Leader Who Felt Alone A director built her leadership model: it was a tall tower, with a single figure at the top. During the explanation, she stopped and, with a choked voice, said: “It’s me… alone… making all the decisions.” No one needed to point out anything. She herself, seeing her model, became aware of something she had felt for a long time but could not express. That day, she gave herself permission to share it with the group and acknowledged that she needed a new way of leading. One where asking for help was not synonymous with weakness.
🔹 The Team That Lived Trapped In a non-profit educational association, the models were filled with walls, barriers, surveillance cameras, tense figures. It was as if, without verbalizing it, everyone had translated the same thing into their constructions: the weight of regulations, the fear of error, the feeling of being under constant scrutiny. When all the models were on the table, a strange silence fell. I asked them to observe together, without interpreting. Then someone — with a voice between astonishment and resignation — said: “We are trapped in a system that suffocates us and, without realizing it, we are feeding it.” That was the insight. It didn’t come from an external analysis, nor from a criticism, nor from a prompt. It came from the collective evidence itself. No one replied. It wasn’t necessary. Because when a truth reveals itself so clearly, what matters is to look at it. The simple fact of seeing it together, of placing it outside themselves, was the first step to being able to transform it. From there, they began to imagine other forms of relationship, structure, and trust. The change was not immediate, but the movement had already begun.
Two different stories, one common point: the change did not come from an instruction, but from a self-discovery that became visible through building.
The Role of the Facilitator: Presence, Not Direction, Not Judgment As a facilitator, I have learned not to look for answers. My task is to hold the space, accompany the uncertainty, and trust that the essential will emerge. It doesn’t always happen. It cannot be forced. But when it happens… something changes in the person living it. That is why I say that I do not facilitate workshops. I facilitate encounters with the unspoken. The role of the facilitator, as Donald Schön (1983) said, is not that of the expert who instructs, but that of the reflective practitioner who sustains the thought process while it is happening.
And there is something crucial in this point: when an insight arises, it is sacred. It is an intimate, powerful, delicate moment. As facilitators, we must resist the temptation to interpret, direct, or translate it. We must not fill it with words or additional content. Because the insight needs space. It needs to be held, not analyzed. Accompanied, not corrected.
I have learned that, often, the greatest act of respect is to remain silent. To give the other the possibility to integrate what they have just discovered. To trust that the truth which emerged will find its place. That not everything needs to be explained aloud to be deeply understood. Sometimes, a facilitator unintentionally interrupts this revealing moment with a question, a closing remark, a conclusion. And, although done with good intentions, it can extinguish the spark that was about to ignite something deeper. Therefore, when an insight arises, the bravest thing is to remain present… and silent. Because in that silence, the essential finds its place. True knowledge does not always come from verbal language, but from that bodily and symbolic instant in which something clicks, and the person recognizes themselves.
Theoretical Foundations (Without Losing the Magic) Although I speak from experience, I cannot leave out the authors who support what we experience in sessions. Because behind every transformative moment, there is a theoretical architecture that gives legitimacy, context, and depth to what emerges. These authors and their ideas not only inspire the methodology but explain why, when a person builds with their hands, paths of thought that were previously closed open up. They help us understand why the body thinks, why the metaphor organizes, why emotion sustains, and why silence facilitates. In short, they allow us to translate the invisible into something understandable, without taking away the mystery. They are theories, yes. But they are also gateways to a wiser way of accompanying what emerges.
● Jean Piaget (1972) – constructivism and learning as active construction. ● Seymour Papert (1980) – constructionism: learning by doing, with meaning. ● Antonio Damasio (1994, 1999) – emotion and the body as the basis of conscious thought. ● George Lakoff & Mark Johnson (1980) – metaphors as structures of thought. ● Donald Schön (1983) – reflection-in-action as the basis of professionalism. ● Barbara Wilson (2002) – embodied cognition: knowledge is in physical experience.
All these currents intertwine and support a methodology that is not only effective but also deeply human. It is no coincidence that many people remember an LSP session long after living it. Something remains. Something reorganizes. Something changes the way of observing.
Conclusion: Not Every Insight Changes a Life, But Some Do The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology has taught me to respect what emerges. To trust what is not seen. And to create spaces where people can see themselves without fear. Because a meeting can be efficient. But an insight… can be unforgettable.
Perhaps the greatest gift of this methodology lies not in what it solves, but in what it reveals. Because an insight, when genuine, is more than an idea: it is an internal transformation that does not need explanation to be felt as real. It is a new look at an old reality. A key that opens a door whose existence we did not even know.
And although not all insights change a life, some do. Sometimes, a phrase spoken in a low voice is enough. A figure that takes shape. An emotion that is named for the first time. In that instant, something rearranges itself. And from there, everything else begins to change. The power of LSP lies in allowing that to happen without interference. Without forcing. Without adorning. Simply facilitating the essential to manifest.
And that evolution begins when we learn to be silent, to touch what we think, to honor what we feel, and to allow the truth — our truth — to have form, space, and voice. Because when someone recognizes themselves from another place, they never go back to being the same person. And that, perhaps, is the greatest act of leadership: holding the space for others to discover themselves.
References: Damasio, A. R. (1999). The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. Harcourt Brace. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press. Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books.