Thinking With Your Hands: Designing Logic Models Using Lego® Serious Play®

Overview

Our client hired us to help them design methods to evaluate programming across 4 sites operating in four cities.

The challenge?

Their programs were all collecting different pieces of information - surveys, attendance numbers, participant details - but these puzzle pieces weren't fitting together to show the complete picture of their impact.

Using LEGO® SeriousPlay®, we facilitated the creation of a three-dimensional logic model that physically connected their programs to overarching organizational goals.

Seeing the physical connections between LEGO® pieces sparked conversations about how programs were designed to work and how they functioned in practice, revealing unexpected disconnects between intended and actual outcomes.

Project Objectives

  • Develop a comprehensive model that clearly illustrates the connections between program activities and intended outcomes.


  • Integrate diverse stakeholder perspectives into the process to ensure all viewpoints inform the model.


  • Build a cohesive framework that interconnects all program elements with a unified vision


  • Strengthen team members' ability to articulate relationships between their activities, outcome measurement, and organizational impact.

The Solution

We used LEGO® SeriousPlay® (LSP) to design the logic model because it:

  • Reveals hidden disconnects between program design and actual implementation

  • Creates genuine buy-in across all levels by giving everyone equal voice

  • Makes complex program relationships visible and tangible

  • Bridges communication gaps between those who design programs and those who experience them

  • Produces actionable insights about resource allocation and program prioritization.

We used this method to enhance organizational alignment by bringing together program designers, implementers, service recipients, and fundraisers in a structured, equitable process. This diverse mix of perspectives was crucial, as each group brought unique insights about how programs were intended, experienced, and communicated to funders.

The structured facilitation created space for those who designed programs to hear directly from those implementing and receiving services, bridging gaps in understanding that often go unaddressed.

Using an "if-then" framework, participants physically connected activity models to outcome models, revealing which elements:

  • Lacked connections entirely

  • Required additional pathways

  • Demonstrated multiple connections (and the significance of these relationships)

Back of the Napkin takes the insights generated during LEGO model creation and connection and transforms them into logic model document to serve as the programmatic roadmap.

A follow-up workshop with additional staff members ensured their daily work was accurately represented in the model, grounding it in operational reality across different teams and locations.

The Result

The project united staff, leadership, and program participants in a collaborative building experience that delivered :

  • Innovation: Uncovered new program activities that hadn't been previously considered

  • Alignment: Established a shared understanding of program-outcome connections

  • Cohesion: Enhanced the team's ability to clearly communicate program impact

This resulting tool empowered the organization to pursue funding with confidence, backed by clear evaluation metrics and a comprehensive understanding of their programs from design to implementation to evaluation.

People participating in a workshop using LEGO bricks on tables, creating small models and connecting them with string or thread, indicating a collaborative or planning activity.

“The Lego® workshop enabled us to list out all of the things we do while categorizing and visualizing them. Doing so helped staff think things out and go back and read notes to continuously improve.”

— Participant

“To have the opportunity to talk about real concrete things we actually do and are applicable to our own individual site and talk about it as a team, I think, has been real instrumental.”

— Participant

“A lot of times, we’re always talking about what we want the organization to be, and with this, you literally see all the hard work that is going on to impact participants.”

— Participant

Ready to clarify your program impact and
align your team?

Book a free consultation to see how our hands-on approach breaks down barriers, reveals hidden strengths, and creates genuine collaboration across departments.

Group of people smiling around a table with a colorful LEGO creation, featuring figures and animals, in a room with tables and windows.
People sitting around a table with LEGO bricks and models, involved in a creative activity or workshop. A man is holding a LEGO creation and talking to others.
Group of people sitting at tables engaged in discussion with small toy blocks on the table.
Group of eight people smiling behind a table with colorful Lego structures, in a room with bright birthday decorations and a purple wall.
Group of people sitting and standing around a table with Lego models