Adaptability is essential for effective leadership, enabling leaders to handle complexities and swift changes in today's business environment. Some leaders, more than others, struggle with adaptability for many reasons, including individual personality traits, leadership style preferences, and past experiences. When leaders struggle with adaptability, their superpower of stability and consistency is often acting as their Achilles heel. These are the leaders who excel in establishing order and achieving predictable results. Still, when situations present rapid change and uncertainty requiring swift adjustments and innovative solutions, these leaders need help with the unpredictability and flexibility that adaptability demands. Supporting leaders who struggle in this area involves examining the tension between their comfort with known methods and the necessity to embrace new, often uncertain approaches in response to evolving challenges.
So, how can leaders who rely on consistency and stability evolve to become more adaptable and flexible? Enter LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP)—a hands-on coaching methodology designed to unlock creativity, drive collaboration, and help leaders adapt to the complexities of modern business challenges. Through playful yet structured exercises, LSP provides leaders the tools to navigate uncertainty, build resilience, and foster adaptability within their teams and organizations.
Leaders who thrive on stability and consistency typically focus on reducing risk, building reliable processes, and ensuring predictable results. While these qualities are essential, they can also limit a leader's ability to adapt to new circumstances. When unexpected challenges arise—whether it's a market disruption, a shift in team dynamics, or a change in customer needs—leaders with a strong need for stability may resist change, struggle with ambiguity, and find it difficult to pivot strategies.
These leaders may:
While the need for stability isn’t inherently bad, it can limit a leader’s ability to drive innovation, make quick decisions, or seize emerging opportunities. The key is to find a balance between maintaining structure and embracing flexibility, and that’s where LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® comes in.
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is a unique coaching method that engages participants in hands-on, minds-on problem-solving using LEGO bricks. This process encourages leaders to think beyond traditional patterns, explore new perspectives, and develop creative solutions—all while maintaining a playful and open mindset. Here's how LSP can help leaders who crave stability become more adaptable:
1. Encourages New Ways of Thinking
Leaders who prioritize consistency often rely on linear, logical problem-solving approaches. However, navigating change requires a more flexible and creative mindset. In LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® sessions, leaders physically build models that represent their challenges, goals, or strategies. By manipulating LEGO bricks to externalize their thinking, they are pushed to break free from rigid, pre-established ideas and explore alternative solutions.
Example: In a coaching session, a leader builds a model representing their challenge as they navigate uncertainty and change. Through coaching reflection questions and discussion, they realize that elements of adaptability—such as being open to new ideas or adjusting team roles—are missing from their model. This insight leads them to rethink how they are currently managing their team and the shifts that will help them navigate their challenge more effectively.
2. Promotes Reflection and Self-Awareness
One barrier to adaptability can be a lack of self-awareness of one's own need for stability. Through LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, leaders are encouraged to reflect on their decision-making processes and how their desire for consistency influences their leadership style. Building models that represent both their strengths and blind spots allows leaders to confront areas where their need for stability may be hindering their ability to lead effectively in uncertain times.
Example: A leader who prefers stability builds a model showcasing their reliance on structured routines. During coaching, they realize the obstacles this creates for other team members as sudden changes in project priorities occur. By visualizing this gap, the leader becomes more open to introducing flexibility without sacrificing the structure they value.
3. Builds Comfort with Ambiguity
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® invites leaders to work through complex problems by constructing metaphorical models—often without a clear right or wrong answer. This process of building, reflecting, and discussing helps leaders become more comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty, key traits of adaptable leadership. The tactile nature of LSP forces participants to "think with their hands," accessing parts of their brain that are less used in verbal or written problem-solving. As a result, they develop resilience in the face of unclear outcomes or incomplete information.
Example: During a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® session, a leader is asked to build a model representing their biggest leadership challenge. They proceed to build a challenge they are experiencing, rallying their team around a new course of action. The exercise's abstract nature allows them to explore different facets of the challenge, including uncertainties they hadn't fully considered before. This practice of grappling with ambiguity, building it with their hands, helps them see the complexity from different vantage points, ultimately helping them unlock and realize the strategic perspective they had been unable to articulate before.
4. Enhances Collaboration and Flexibility
Adaptable leaders must be open to collaboration and ready to adjust their strategies based on input from others. LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® fosters a collaborative environment where leaders can share their models with peers, discuss various interpretations, and co-create solutions. This process encourages flexibility, as leaders must be willing to incorporate new ideas, perspectives, and feedback into their models. The result is a more fluid approach to problem-solving that adapts to different viewpoints.
Example: A leader who tends to micromanage and hold tight to tasks builds a model that shows them at the center of all decision-making processes. As they talk through their build and the challenges they are experiencing, they begin to recognize that distributing decision-making power across the team will elevate the expertise of others, thus leading to more innovative and adaptable solutions.
As the pace of change continues to accelerate, leaders who embrace adaptability will drive their teams and organizations forward. LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® offers a powerful way for leaders to break free from rigid thinking, gain new insights, and develop the flexibility needed to succeed in today's complex business landscape.
For leaders who need stability, LSP provides a structured yet playful environment to explore new ways of thinking, confront blind spots, and develop the adaptability needed to thrive in times of change. By engaging with this hands-on coaching method, leaders can maintain their strengths in stability while learning to navigate uncertainty with confidence and creativity.
If you're a leader who values stability but knows you need to become more adaptable, LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® can help you bridge that gap. By thinking with your hands, you can unlock the creativity, flexibility, and problem-solving skills necessary to lead your team through even the most unpredictable challenges. Reach out to HELM365 to learn more about how LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® can transform your leadership style and help you become a more adaptable and effective leader.