Today is a special day! We're really proud to announce a new template named "Develop your team". Created in collaboration with Strategic Play, a great team who empower organizations to unlock their creative genius using play, and especially LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methods.
To celebrate this collaboration, we welcome Jacquie Lloyd Smith from Strategic Play and Author of the book "Strategic Play: The Creative Facilitator's Guide", as a guest on our blog.
She's sharing her 20 years’ global experience in the design and delivery of incredible learning experiences in a playful way: a card deck featuring LEGO® visuals and now powered by Stormz!
So we leave it to Jacquie to tell us the genesis of this collaboration and how you can develop your team with this practical, visual, and user-friendly technique.
Stormz Technology and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methods
By Jacquie Lloyd Smith
Have you ever met someone, maybe only briefly, but your paths continued to cross until you finally connected?
Well this is the story of how we at Strategic Play and the creative minds at Stormz began an interesting visual project. The story takes place over a span of five years and starts in Buffalo, New York, going to Sestri Levante, Italy; back to New York, then to Toronto and Whistler, Canada; and ends in Paris, France. Beautiful locations for the happenstance meetings, but the backstory is not as interesting as the final outcome—the electronic visual cards.
Back in June of 2016, we (Jacquie and Steve) at Strategic Play® were in the final stages of production of the cards, when Mary Ellen introduced us to the Stormz technology tools. From the first iPad swipe we knew it was a partnership made in heaven. The teams at both Strategic Play and Stormz had already met at a number of creativity conferences, but until this moment we did not know what we were going to develop together.
We are happy to announce we have now firmly connected our 3D Diagnostic Cards, based on LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methods, with Stormz. These cards are available online in an introductory set in the complementary Stormz Visual Package. If you are a facilitator using Stormz, make sure you try out the set and please send us an email to let us know what you think.
Stormz is designed and developed for group discussion and decision making, it is proving to be a powerful tool for creative problem solving. The technology allows for groups to identify, discuss, vote, and comment on concepts and ideas in order to gain greater understanding.
The diagnostic cards are powerful, pocket-sized tools for inspiring creative thinking, problem solving, decision making, and collaboration. Why do people love these cards and what makes them so powerful?
The LEGO® vignettes use a degree of satire to convey powerful meanings about human conditions.
With this form of communication, it’s easy for anyone to say “The Emperor has no clothes.” In a world where people often hide behind language, tread carefully not to offend, and search for real meaning in communication, these visuals help conversations get to the point where people can tell the real story in a way that is perhaps lighthearted, palatable, and most effective. The cards allow people to tell their stories and move away from a “you” point of blame to an “I” point of view.
We designed these cards to transform dialogs and enable critical conversations.
Used with the Stormz technology on smartphones and iPads, facilitators have a tool to reach large groups and facilitate powerful conversations. Online or in-person.
Create a free account and play with the new Stormz Lego template or learn more about Strategic Play Diagnostic Cards!