THE opposite of work is not play, Bendigo's first accredited LEGO Serious Play facilitator says.
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Graeme Wiggins says companies must understand work's opposite is actually recreation.
"Play is a way of using a really unstructured approach to address the problems of an organisation," he said.
Mr Wiggins has begun offering LEGO building workshops to businesses through La Trobe University and the Bendigo Tech School.
"People feel comfortable talking about ideas when they are able to 'talk to a model', rather than the idea itself," Mr Wiggins said.
"You are able to explore concepts in far more detail by building things, than by writing or talking about them.
"It enables 100 per cent engagement by everybody in an organisation, because everyone participates equally."
The City of Greater Bendigo's innovation and transformation team has been among the first to use Mr Wiggin's services.
"It was to help them redefine themselves as a new team and set their strategic plan for the next 12 months," he said.
Ian Flately took five of his employees to this week's come-and-try-it session.
"It was a very challenging and intriguing way of exploring problems," the director of Groundline Engineering said.
"Rather than using the analytical side of our brains we were using the creative and imaginative sides."
Mr Flatley said the jury was still out on exactly what his team could take away from a fully-fledged Serious Play workshop.
"But it would appear initially to have a benefit for team-building, strategic problem solving and just providing a unique way of looking at challenges," he said.
"Working with your hands and mind appears to be more intuitive than just your mind on its own, if that makes sense."
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