Google’s lessons learned about successful teams
& how these fit with Lego® Serious Play®

In its extensive Project Aristotle Google recently looked at the drivers of team performance. It found that the mix of the specific personality types or the skills or backgrounds didn’t seem to matter. Of more relevance were how team members interacted & which group norms they shared. Findings also showed that the collective intelligence of teams declined as soon as one person or a small group of team members spoke the majority of the time. Read more What is the connection with Lego® Serious Play®? – Well, the key-results of the study concluded that on good teams, members spoke roughly in the same proportion (referred to as conversational turn-taking), a basic principle underlying the process of Lego® Serious Play® where everyone participates & contributes. A second insight revealed that successful teams had a high average social sensitivity which gave them a sense of confidence that they were safe to express or speak up in the team (referred to as psychological safety), which is comparable to a Lego® Serious Play® workshop where a constructive environment allows for fearless communication. Last but not least, Project Aristotle concluded that success was often built on experiences stemming from emotional interactions, a key-aspect of play. Here you find more about how Lego® Serious Play® can be used for team development. An excellent summary of the outcomes of Project Aristotle is available in the following New York Times article.