Think of it as giving your client a second language. Instead of only talking about what they're experiencing, they build it. The bricks become metaphors. A wall might represent a boundary. A figure placed at a distance might surface something about trust. The coach doesn't interpret the model. The client does. Every brick holds the meaning the builder gives it, and that's where the depth lives.

I use LEGO® Serious Play® as one tool within my coaching practice. It sits alongside everything else in my toolkit: deep listening, powerful questioning, presence. The bricks don't replace coaching. They enhance it.

This distinction matters more than most people realise. LEGO® Serious Play® was born as a facilitation method for strategy and team alignment. It's brilliant at that.

But coaching is a different discipline. We don't plan build questions in advance. We don't drive toward a predetermined output. We partner with the client in real time, and the bricks arrive when they're needed, not because they're next on the agenda.

A facilitator owns the structure. A coach holds the space. That changes everything about how the method is used.

Facilitator training teaches you to run workshops. Coaching training teaches you to hold the bricks within a coaching conversation, which requires a different set of skills entirely. You need to know when to invite the client to build, when to stay with words, and how to ask questions about a model without interpreting it for the client.

I'm Lead Associate and coach trainer with SERIOUSWORK, the global leader in LEGO® Serious Play® training. If you're a coach who wants to learn this properly, there's a training programme for that.

I've mapped this in detail in my forthcoming book, A Coach's Guide to LEGO® Serious Play®. The alignment isn't forced. It's natural. When a client builds a model, you're maintaining presence. When you ask about an untouched brick, you're listening actively. When they physically remove a piece that represents a limiting belief, that's evoking awareness in its most literal form.

The method doesn't compromise professional standards. It activates them in ways that purely verbal coaching sometimes can't.

There are a few practical things to get right. The client turns off their virtual background so you can see the model. They keep bricks within arm's reach. You guide them to hold the model close to camera when sharing. Some coaches use a second camera; I prefer the client to hold the model as it keeps the connection between builder and build.

For bricks, you can send Window Exploration Kits in advance, provide a purchase link, or work with whatever the client already has at home. I cover all of this in my client onboarding process.

You don't need a specific set. You need enough variety that the client can make meaning quickly. Minifigures, animals, different shapes and colours all help. But here's the thing: a single brick can represent anything the client decides it represents. That's the power of the method.

For online work, I usually send one or two Window Exploration Kits per client and build the cost into the coaching engagement. They come in packs of 100 from LEGO® directly. If that feels like a big commitment to start, you can often source smaller quantities from fellow facilitators or sites like eBay and Bricklink.

Here's what I've learned: the earlier you introduce it, the less awkward it feels. If the first time a client hears about LEGO® bricks is when you're placing them on the table, you've missed a step. Adults can feel self-conscious. Normalise it before it arrives.

On the discovery call, I explain that LEGO® Serious Play® enables clients to 3D print their thoughts, that we can visually explore ideas, and that there are no right or wrong answers. I'll often show a quick model to demonstrate. Then I build it into the contracting: the client knows bricks may appear, and they always have the option to say no.

Not every client grew up with a box of LEGO® on the bedroom floor. Some haven't touched a brick in decades. Others never have. The skills build exists for exactly this reason.

It's a three-phase exercise that takes around fifteen to twenty minutes. Each phase builds on the last, gently moving the client from handling bricks for the first time to using them as a genuine thinking tool. By the end, they've built with intention, explored metaphor, and told a story that matters to them.

It only needs to happen once. And it's not a warm-up. It's the groundwork for everything that follows in the coaching conversation. Without it, clients can feel self-conscious or unsure of what the bricks are for. With it, they're ready.

LEGO® Serious Play® is not a magic genie. It won't always be the right fit.

The most common failure is the coach taking over; planning the builds, directing the story, interpreting the model. That's facilitation, not coaching. Poor contracting is the second: if the client doesn't understand what they're building or why, the result is either literal or performative. And sometimes the method simply isn't for them. That's fine. We don't force other tools on clients who don't want them. The same applies here.

If you're working from emergence, you'll know when to invite the bricks. Hold presence. Notice stuckness and repetition. Sense when the client needs more than words. In those moments, offer the LEGO® bricks and wait to see if the client says yes.

I've seen it work with Managing Directors exploring succession planning, parents navigating a return to work, startup teams who'd never connected as humans, and coaches-as-clients who could articulate a business plan but couldn't feel the vision behind it.

The method thrives when clients build their current state and desired future state. Something clicks. Vague ambitions become visible and concrete. The client can physically touch what success looks like, see the gaps, and start to work with them.

It also works beautifully in group and team coaching, where the bricks give every person a model to speak through. No one gets lost in the crowd when everyone has something to share.