At ChangeCorp HQ, the air was thick with nervous energy. The company, a fortress of corporate structure and strict protocols, was about to merge with BrightIdea, a startup full of free spirits who thought the phrase "chain of command" was some kind of outdated pirate lingo. The higher-ups knew this merger was essential for the future, but combining these two cultures was like trying to mix oil and water — with a splash of glitter. They needed something radical to help this transition, something out-of-the-box. Enter: Lego Serious Play.
The company brought in a facilitator who was a master of this Lego-based wizardry. When he arrived, rolling in a suitcase that rattled suspiciously, the employees eyed him with a mix of curiosity and scepticism. “We’re going to build our way through this merger,” he announced with a grin. The employees exchanged glances — was this guy serious? He dumped out piles of Lego bricks onto the tables, and suddenly, the conference room looked like a daycare centre for executives.
“Alright,” the facilitator said, “first task: build something that represents how you feel about this merger.”
There was a pause, then the sound of plastic bricks being nervously clicked together. One by one, the employees got to work. A manager from ChangeCorp meticulously constructed a tall, rigid tower, every piece perfectly aligned. Across the table, a BrightIdea developer slapped together a chaotic swirl of colour that looked like it might collapse at any moment. When it came time to share, the explanations were eye-opening. The ChangeCorp manager described his tower as “stable, reliable, and organized,” while the BrightIdea guy smirked and said, “Mine’s a creative explosion! It might not look stable, but it’s got potential.”
The room erupted in laughter, and for the first time since the merger announcement, people from both sides felt like they might actually get along.
The facilitator then challenged them to work in mixed groups, combining ChangeCorp’s order with BrightIdea’s creativity to build a model of the new company culture. This was when things got interesting. A group that included a ChangeCorp HR director and a BrightIdea UX designer started with a bit of awkwardness — one wanted to create a structure with clearly defined levels, while the other was busy building a floating platform that didn’t quite connect to anything.
“How about we use your floating platform as a way to… bridge our ideas?” the HR director suggested, half-jokingly.
“Perfect!” the designer grinned, and they worked together to connect the floating platform to a more grounded structure. The end result? A crazy, colourful model with a firm foundation and some unexpected quirks—kind of like what they hoped the new company culture would be.
As each group presented their creations, the facilitator beamed. These Lego models weren’t just pieces of plastic; they were the first steps toward merging two very different worlds. The session ended with a round of applause and a collective sigh of relief. Maybe this merger wasn’t going to be such a disaster after all.
As they packed up, the BrightIdea folks joked about keeping a stash of Legos at their desks for future brainstorming, while the ChangeCorp employees laughed at the idea of a “Lego break” instead of their usual coffee runs. But beneath the humour, a real connection had been made, one that would help them navigate the rocky road ahead—brick by brick, of course.
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