Keeping up the ‘Josh’ with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Method

How the power of LSP is leveraged to build the design thinking mindset and nurture an LSP culture in a startup serving the Indian Armed Forces.

‘How’s the Josh?’

— ‘High, Sir!’

On the first day, I walked into udChalo — a tech startup dedicated to ‘making life simpler for soldiers’ through travel, housing, and finance; the wall greeted me with a quote: ‘How’s the Josh?’

‘How’s the Josh?’ and the spirited response of ‘High, Sir!’ are more than just words; they are a powerful call to action with strength and determination. Originating from a Bollywood movie — in Hindi, ‘Josh’ means enthusiasm, and when used as a war cry, it signifies a collective spirit and motivation, especially in challenging situations. Soldiers bellow it out to boost morale, foster unity, and declare readiness for any mission. In the fast-paced world of startups, maintaining high morale and ‘Josh’ is a linchpin for success.

*Pic 1: LSP kit officially acquired. Pic 2: Regular workshops with teams. Pic 3: Our CEO, Ravi Kumar, at one of the offsite Pic 4: 3D Service Design Blueprint*

The Design-LSP Nexus

In my role as Chief Design Officer, beyond building the in-house design team and elevating the product experience, a key goal was to foster an innovation mindset throughout the organization by facilitating Design Thinking workshops. Certified in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®(LSP) method just two months before joining udChalo, the LSP bug bit hard, triggering varied ideas to leverage the transformative potential of LSP.

However, an initial challenge was evident — much of the organization was not familiar with the nuances of design. Seeing this as an opportunity, I viewed LSP as an excellent method to nurture an innovation mindset and ignite a ‘Josh’ around design.

I initiated an aspiration workshop with my design team. As the excitement about LSP spread, curious glances from other department folks turned toward us. Suddenly, we were at the receiving end of department heads waving and saying, “Hey, don’t keep all the LEGO® to yourselves; share the ‘Josh’!”

The LSP ‘Josh’ had just begun.

LSP Amidst Chaos

Soon, the second wave of COVID struck, and we shifted back to remote work. I packed my bags, exploration kits, and facilitator’s manual (a novice’s Bible) and took refuge in a military station in east India for a couple of months. During this time, I used LSP (AT1) to engage with soldiers’ families to understand their problems. Their distinctive narratives helped our user research and seamlessly integrate into the affinity maps to build compelling insights.

LSP Wonders

Upon returning to the office, the LSP saga continued. At the leadership offsite, the team marveled at the ‘promotion challenge,’ where they creatively tackled the predecessor’s vision and challenges with unexpected twists. The ‘duck challenge’ showcasing unique perspectives blew them away. Their enthusiastic participation and the diverse models highlighted the effectiveness and versatility of the tool.

We officially decided to invest in the landscape kits to amplify collaboration, innovation, and decision-making – all driven by the dynamic LSP ‘Josh.’

LSP Everyday

The 2D-3D challenge with different teams, including the leadership, made them realize the magic of transforming conventional concepts into 3D views. I started using LSP wherever possible — integrated into various design contexts, from stakeholder interviews to user journeys, empathy maps, and storytelling. The 2nd-floor center table was used to build the user journeys and empathy maps. The builds on the table attracted teams to come and understand the design process, which was one of my many goals. I fused Design Thinking with LSP, harnessing their synergies at every stage of the process. From empathizing to defining, ideating, prototyping, and iterative testing — LSP seamlessly complemented each step.

In service design, LSP became a powerful tool for visualizing interdependencies and creating detailed three-dimensional blueprints. The fourth floor had the layout of the 3D service blueprint for months to reflect on and iterate.

I often facilitated the ‘pencil cup challenge’ with the teams to convey the importance of empowering a team member and stimulating creativity. Amid the Design-Dev conflict, the ‘obituary challenge’ worked like magic for both teams — where they had to imagine the death of the Design/Dev Team and build a model narrating the story of what the organization would miss. This challenge helped to cultivate a deeper appreciation for each other’s contributions and paved the way for a more collaborative culture.

The LSP ‘Josh’ was running high!

“Manali has raised the innovation bar with LSP, transforming our company culture and how we approach problem-solving. I highly recommend that every organization invest in Lego Serious Play.” — Ravi Kumar, CEO at udChalo.

*Pic 1: Stakeholder interview, Pic 2/3/4: LSP and teams*

Leaders, Conflicts, and the SGPs Imperative

During this brick journey, a sudden disruption occurred as the organization faced an influx of leaders, leading to many opinions and inevitable conflicts. While some conflicts were healthy, their impact on decision-making and the org’s trajectory became evident. Additionally, the emergence of travel aggregators with the armed forces segment posed threats. Faced with these obstacles, the once vibrant cry of “How’s the Josh? High, Sir!” faded into the background. The high spirits, camaraderie, and motivation that were once the essence of udChalo’s product development landscape seemed to be dissipating. The call for SGPs became imperative, with the added necessity to address and resolve the conflicts hindering progress.

“The Lego Serious Play workshops by Manali were such an eye-opener; it highlighted the uniqueness of human minds beyond doubt. One had always heard that old adage that every man is unique in the whole universe. You get to see that here. Six pieces and one task – 10 people in the room arrange them in the most unique way to accomplish the same task ! Absolutely unbelievable and irrefutable proof of uniqueness! In more advanced stages, it is a dissection of your inner self. No matter howsoever hard you try to portray a fake and artificial personality, it will be laid bare on the table in the form of a small childlike creative task. Do you want to know your team ? and their temperaments? This is it. Once you know, you apply corrections and align to a common goal.. -each person is corrected differently as per his uniqueness and identity”— Col. D. B. Tingre (Retd.) Chief Strategy Officer

LSP Diplomacy and Revitalizing the Battle Cry: High, Sir!

The Real-Time Identity with the leadership was a real game-changer. It helped everyone loosen up and get real about sharing their identities. It was followed by an RTS for the enterprise. The two full days enabled everyone to revisit and redefine our fundamental values and validate ideas. The interactive and 100–100 open discussions and alignment reignited a sense of purpose and unity that had waned.

The newfound clarity and cohesion translated into actionable insights. Five SGPs were final after testing, but due to confidentiality, I can divulge one —Stay Connected with Soldiers and Their Families, based on which an initiative is already launched —The udChalo Fauji(Defence) family, to extend the services to the soldiers’ siblings and parents too.

Image 1: A core identity model by a leader—he can risk his life to help others, an unknown trait that pleasantly surprised many. Image 2. SGP: Stay connected to soldiers and their families. Image 3. udChalo Fauji Family is an initiative to serve soldiers’ families.

Over twenty months, LSP was a silent collaborator in team dynamics and design methodologies and brought greater clarity and efficiency. The Design Thinking mindset —from facilitating human-centered activities, fostering radical collaboration, leveraging storytelling through the models, embracing iterative experimentation with LSP, adopting a bias toward action, and maintaining mindfulness throughout the process, could be seamlessly nurtured —building an LSP culture, keeping up the “Josh.”

Juggling with ‘Josh’ as an Internal Facilitator

Being an internal facilitator, especially during the strategy workshop with the leadership team, was like dancing on a banana peel! Juggling my role in the C-Suite made it even more tricky. I was very mindful of my expressions and words, ensuring I didn’t slip on the banana peel—I maintained assertiveness in my interactions with the team. I commend the leaders for their remarkable receptiveness to my assertive approach. With a dash of theatrics, I’d enter the room and declare, “Good Morning, everyone! Today, I shed my CDO hat to be your facilitator. Treat me as an external facilitator, the one you’re investing a hefty sum to engage, with a strict no-opinions policy and a profound hatred toward mobiles.” Their enthusiastic acceptance spoke volumes about their respect for skills, belief in the magic of LSP, and, of course, the ‘Josh.’

The ‘Josh’ Continues

I’ve now launched ‘BlockstoUnblock,’ my passion project aimed at spreading the magic of LSP across diverse industries. But my collaboration with udChalo continues, and it also holds a special place in my heart for its dedicated service to the Indian Armed Forces. They have a new goal, so the “Third-Way Innovation Workshop” is underway. Hopefully, by the time you read this, I shall have unearthed the crown jewel at udChalo.