LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Methods & Psychology in 3D

Here is a great story from Paula Emediato (above), on how she uses 3D cards at Let´s Flow Strategic Psychology, Brazil.

-It is hard now to imagine, but I almost did not purchase this decks of cards! They are now the ones I use the most in my clinic, with coaching sessions and consulting conversations.

They are a great tool to get things started and provide an overview of whichever territory we are getting into.

Usually, when people come looking for psychotherapy, coaching, or with a consulting request, it is not yet clear where to start from, so many things to say. Trust is not always established in first encounters, so they really help create an icebreaker that actually is effective in helping them focus on the main issues. The heroes and the villains are great together because it also gives them a perspective that not all is bad, there are some strengths or good things to treasure as well.

1. A wife that has a complaint about her marriage, what are the villain characteristics your husband has? And what are the heroic characteristics he brings to the marriage?

2. A teenager that did not want to talk about her traumas got interested in the cards. “The villains are fun. Heroes, all they do is save the world.” It gave her permission to talk about “ugly things” as part of what she was going through.

3. Sr. Executive with so many things going on with the firm, it seems there are only problems to swim through the day, feeling powerless and overwhelmed dealing with the daily challenges. The villains allow for issues to become movable objective and the heroes come to rescue. Once the villains have their place “ on the board,” the hero can address issues one by one.

These cards are also helpful when we need to create an action plan. I like to use them for SWOT analysis, giving each quadrant some heroes and some villains to work in the field-forces.

I would say they are great to kick-start just any encounter or meeting, always bringing some of the challenges and the resources/strengths to deal with them. In a team building event, what strengths do you bring to the “Legion” and what do you look forward to transforming. Villains also have superpowers, their expertise just needs to be directed to the right goals and principles. 

The fans are already requesting more female figures in the decks (heroes and villains) and that got me thinking how cool it would be to have the mythological deck—Figures,

Gods, and Goddesses: Athene, Afrodite, Zeus, etc.

Paula holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from PUC-SP, an MBA in Sustainability from FIA-USP, and an MBA in Marketing from FGV Business Institute. Since 1992, she has been working in HR in multinational companies such as PepsiCo, ExxonMobil, Nortel Networks and Voith Hydro. She was the Sr. Global VP for HR, where she was responsible for 12 countries on 3 continents. Now founder and VIP of Let´s Flow – Strategic Psychology, she is certified in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methods, Coaching, Myers Briggs, Systemic Psychology,  and  Neuro-Psychology (EMDR and Brainspotting).