Both LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP) and the Three Horizons Framework are powerful tools for strategy and innovation and they actually complement each other very well when used together.
What is LEGO Serious Play?
It’s a facilitated workshop method where participants use LEGO bricks to build models that represent ideas, challenges, and strategies.
Key principles:
- Thinking with your hands (building helps unlock deeper thinking)
- Everyone participates equally
- Stories matter and each model is explained through narrative
- Metaphors are used to represent complex ideas
It’s especially useful for:
- Strategy development
- Team alignment
- Innovation workshops
- Exploring abstract or uncertain futures
- Playing the future as a principle
- Exploring emergent themes and ideas
So what is the Three Horizons Framework?
This is a strategic planning model that helps organizations think about the future in three time horizons:
Horizon 1 (H1): Core Business
- Current operations
- Incremental improvements
- Efficiency and stability
Horizon 2 (H2): Emerging Opportunities
- New products/services gaining traction
- Transitional innovations
- Growth areas
- New opportunities
Horizon 3 (H3): Future Vision
- Radical innovation
- Disruptive ideas
- Long-term possibilities
- New and emerging commercial models
How they work together
A typical workshop flow might include:
- Build the present to create a shared view of reality
- Build emerging changes to highlight the tension between old and new
- Build the future to encourage bold thinking without constraints
- Link the core elements
- Play out scenarios to test and refine
Using LSP with the Three Horizons Framework turns abstract strategy into something visual, shared, and tangible.
Together, they turn strategy from a slide deck into a shared, lived experience. Moving from a model that is “created with” rather than “done to”.
If you would like to know more about this approach and how it could be applied within your organisation reach out via the contact form.
