Delegates get serious with Lego at the University of Northampton in the latest Network & Learn session organised by the South Midlands Growth Hub. UON’s business regional engagement manager Adam Lawton looks back on the day.
Published in association with
WE RECENTLY had the pleasure of welcoming the South East Midlands Growth Hub at the university for the September edition of their popular Network and Learn series.
Sam Hunter from the Growth Hub provides an overview: ‘The South Midlands Growth Hub launched Network and Learn in September 2023. It was an opportunity not just to have another networking event but to provide some valuable guest workshops alongside.
“The fully funded series runs monthly across the whole South Midlands region (West & North Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, Central Bedfordshire, Bedford Borough & Luton Borough) and we visit each area twice over the year.”
The events are always delivered in partnership with the relevant local authority and a guest partner.
We have hosted previous workshops such as Creating a memorable brand, Net Zero 101, Access to finance & funding and AI and how it can benefit your business.
Organised and facilitated by the Knowledge Exchange team, this was the first time the University of Northampton had played host to Network & Learn. Our session started with a short presentation from Lisa Devayya of West Northamptonshire Council’s Economic Growth team, who set out the support available to new and established businesses in the county.
The planned session based around Lego Serious Play had been suggested and was brought to life by colleagues from the Faculty of Business and Law.
UON’s Al-Amin Dabo, senior lecturer in logistics and supply chain management, and Gosia Plotka, lecturer in project management, business systems and operations, delivered the Lego Serious Play workshop.
Speaking before the event Al-Amin said: “LSP encourages people to think with their hands, to unlock subconscious levels of creativity and problem-solving ability. I hope people will walk away from it with knowledge and sustainable solutions they can implement to tackle real-world business challenges.”
Creative thinking was tested straight away with an ice breaker where the audience were asked to create a duck that represented their business.
The session moved into more serious creativity and discussion as participants were asked to use Lego to consider the position of their business on sustainability and where they would like to see the business in the future. Large bags of Lego provided the building tools.
Guests included new and established businesses including architects, a PR company, training companies and entrepreneurs split into small groups. Each exercise provoked conversation and discussion around business sustainability and broader issues on the journey to a more sustainable business future.
Feedback on the day was overwhelmingly positive. Guests said they had experienced something new and relished the opportunity to revisit the creativity of Lego.
Visit semlepgrowthhub.com for details of future Network and Learn sessions.
The LEGO Serious PLay methodology is built upon a process which stems from the heart of LEGO elements and the LEGO building system. Looking for a tool to unlock imagination and innovation within the company, the LEGO Group realised that a solution might be found in the LEGO System in Play itself.
Just as the LEGO Group had been inspiring children to “build their dreams” for decades, perhaps adults could be asked to build their visions for future strategy.
The idea of the methodology originated in 1996 when two professors at IMD in Switzerland and The LEGO Group owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen were exploring alternative strategic planning tools and systems. They developed an understanding of the value of employees and the concept of an evolving, adaptive strategy that included using LEGO elements as three-dimensional models of business issues and challenges.
The strategy was named LEGO SERIOUS PLAY.
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