Dilip Mukerjea writes on page 90 of his wonderful book,
'Taleblazers: Imagination to Imprint', as follows:
"Areas of the brain controlling vision are much older than those for language. This truth has enormous implications for our evolution within the digital space of the Third Millennium.
Today, words alone are inadequate when the primary processing organ of the brain is visual. Thus, communication becomes immensely more powerful when it is designed as a blend between text and imagery, in full colour, and with total relevance to the demands of The Learning Economy.
The rationale is that the human brain loves to play; literacy ought to serve this expression of joy so that the theme is play power, not power play.
Today, we are dominated by a visual consciousness!"
As I reread
Dilip's foregoing passage, it brings me back to a wonderful book I had read during the late nineties, entitled
'The Next Common Sense: Mastering Corporate Complexity with Coherence', by investment banker
Michael Lissack & strategy professor
Johan Roos (of the famed
IMD Business School in
Lausanne,
Switzerland].
I even wrote a book review on
Amazon.com as follows:
"Because of my deep personal interest in using visual thinking tools for opportunity discovery and strategic exploration, I find this book very useful and practical.
I particularly like the authors' use of powerful visual metaphors to understand & to master the complexity all around us, and to chart out new strategic directions, whether in business or in life.
If you are planning what you want to do with the rest of your life in our constantly changing & uncertain world - or planning the next strategic moves for your company- read this book and use the ideas.
The authors' website is also worth exploring."Prof Johan Roos went on to expand & exploit many ideas from the foregoing book to create & develop a powerful business tool - aptly called
'Serious Play' - for enhancing process innovation & business performance, with generous funding from the
Lego Group & other interested parties. [The name
LEGO is a portmanteau of two Danish words,
"leg godt", meaning
"play well".]
In fact,
Prof Johan Roos left
IMD Switzerland later on to form
Imagination Lab Foundation in order to further his exploitation of
'Serious Play'.
The subsequent follow-up research initiatives eventually culminated into the
Lego Serious Play product applications & consulting methods, one of which was called
'Real Time Strategy', which combines play, social bonding, construction [
"thinking through concrete objects" or
"thinking through our fingers"], creative imagination, fantasy, story-crafting & metaphors to help top-notch business executives to challenge their views of their businesses.
In a sense, what
Dilip has written about, especially his battle-cry of
'Power Play has given way to Play Power', is serious stuff in the corporate world.
In fact, I have read that
Lego Serious Play is being introduced to the schools in recent years to teach kids as young as six years old. Wow! Just imagine, the future leaders of the next generation!
More information about the
Lego Serious Play product applications & consulting methods is available at their
corporate website.
Readers can also visit this
link to download an interesting article on
'The Science of Lego Serious Play'.
Interestingly, an apt quotation - attributed to the Greek philosopher
Plato - on the website reads as follows:
"You can learn more about a person in a hour of play than you can from a lifetime of conversation."A series of so-called
Working Papers plus other useful publications for practitioners is available at this
link from
Imagination Lab Foundation.
Meanwhile, I like to recommend the following books for further reading, some of which have, in fact, gone far beyond the original concept & practice of
'Serious Play':
1)
'The Next Common Sense: Mastering Corporate Complexity Through Coherence' (1999), by
Michael Lissack & Johan Roos; [may be dated somewhat, but still gives a good round-up of basic concepts for the beginner;]
2)
'Serious Play: How the World's Best Companies Simulate to Innovate' (1999), by
Michael Schrage;
3)
'The Imagination Challenge: Strategic Foresight & Innovation in the Global Economy' (2007), by
Alexander Manu;
4)
'Innovating Strategy Processes' (2005), edited by
Johan Roos & Others;
5)
'Thinking from Within: A Hands-on Strategy Process' (2006), by
Johan Roos;
6)
'Everyday Strategic Preparedness: The Role of Practical Wisdom' (2007), by
Johan Roos &
Matt Statler (2007);
[Throughout the nineties, & up to the early 21st century, I often used my preferred
Googolplex , K'Nex,as well as
Zometools construction kits from the United States, instead of
Lego bricks, in my strategy & innovation workshops with entrepreneurs, managers & professionals.
In fact, I also sold
Zometools construction kits in my then small retail store in the
Central Business District.]
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