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Workshops and conferences

The Build & Share method is offered as a 1,5 hour to full day workshops at conferences and events around the world. It can be offered as a “stand-alone” experience or embedded into the event’s overall topic, scope and agenda.

If positive psychology and the science of well-being, engagement and flourishing is a useful topic for a specific event, Build & Share is one of the most experiential ways to explore these topics. Give us a call and we can work out a creative way to apply Build & Share in your upcoming event.

Examples of international workshops

February 2014 – MPI’s European Meeting and Events Conference, Istanbul, Turkey.

World wide, positive psychology, the science of well-being and flourishing is helping individuals, organizations and communities create more sustainable change and transition. This session will open participants to a world of strengths exploring how the use of our signature strengths engages and motivates us. 

The event was rewarded as the most interesting and innovative presentation at the conference. Below you can see a small appetizer of the session.

 

July 2014 – Pre-conference workshop at The seventh European Conference on Positive Psychology, Amsterdam, Holland.

In this Play Your Strength version of Build & Share Exploration Workshop™ participants will briefly be introduced to various elements of the method. This includes among other things a brief introduction to the concept of character strengths, how to introduce LEGO® into workshops, building of one or two personal signature strengths, explore how these can be combined and how they interact with the strengths of others.

November 2012
The Second China International Conference on Positive Psychology

July 2011
Second World Congress on Positive Psychology, Philadelphia, USA

June 2010
The fifth European Conference on Positive psychology, Copenhagen, Denmark

 

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About

logofigurBuild & Share is a group facilitation method that builds on theory, research and application within positive psychology and narrative practices. When applied in groups the method helps you get deeper, more meaningful understanding of topics especially related to motivation, resilience and engagement.

Build & Share is a method that provides an engaging and more memorable approach to shared group understanding and self-exploration in areas related to well-being and optimal human functioning. Based on research that shows that literal hands-on, minds-on learning produces a deeper, more meaningful understanding of the world and its possibilities, Build & Share deepens the reflection process and supports an effective dialogue – for everyone in the group. This is done by posing reflective questions, but instead of answering these questions in the traditional way, participants build their answer in for example LEGO® and respond by using metaphors and narratives they have created themselves.

Sharing is fundamental

It is crucial that each person’s voice is heard during this process. Everybody shares what is on their minds, and everybody is listened to. This is very important in order to achieve the purposes of the Build & Share process: to let everyone share their thoughts in a constructive way and to give everybody a chance to hear each others’ points of view. Sharing is fundamental to Build & Share; on one hand sharing is done to create a common understanding of the group’s way of dealing with a situation, and on the other hand to create the best starting point for people to feel ownership for the reflections and ideas expressed. Eventually this will help them to arrive at the solutions and actions that need to be taken in order for them to enhance their well-being and group performance.

Who developed Build & Share?

The method has been developed my Mads Bab who runs the Danish based consultancy Gnist (Danish word for Spark). Mads holds a MSc in Applied Positive Psychology, is an international keynote speaker, published author and part time associate professor at the Danish Positive Psychology Master Program. The driver behind the creation of Build & Share is a dedicated approach to develop more powerful ways for, especially, groups to explore concepts within positive psychology. It is startling how few new intervention and group facilitation methods that have been developed over the last decade. Build & Share is a dedicated approach to enhance the effect of scientific validated interventions in groups by applying tactile elements to ensure a more tangible learning process.

Applying Build & Share in your workshops

Build & Share has been offered in various formats over the last 5 years. It has been introduced with a very positive response at conferences in Denmark, USA and China. Now the time has come to offer this exciting method to more facilitators around the globe.

The method builds on a three step core-process consisting of these important steps:

  1. Questions that explore
  2. Building meaning
  3. Sharing & Reflection

Learning the method is easy, becoming proficient takes practice. This is why we offer the Build & Share Handbook and online community as well as exclusive certification courses once a year in Denmark and through partners around the world. Becoming a certified facilitator will give you the opportunity to market your self and your offerings with the Build & Share brand.

 

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Positive Psychology

Central to the use of LEGO® SERIOUS® PLAY® for Positive Psychology is the use of narratives and metaphors that makes it easy for participants to share complex insights. The shared narratives enable collaborative learning and constructive discussions that again fuel creative thinking, ideation and motivation to change.

Through the creation of models, metaphors and narratives, we can explore strengths and other positive qualities, and employ LEGO® to implement positive psychology interventions for positive storytelling in the wide sense of this word. When doing this, we may expect a positive impact on the following outcome variables:

  • Intrinsic motivation. Ryan and Deci (2000) posit two fundamental types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. An intrinsically motivated person is moved to act for the fun or challenge involved in the task rather than for external urges, pressures, or possible rewards. Using components of plat is frequently associated with fun, thus potentially tapping into one’s intrinsic motivation.
  • Confidence. When there is an undeniable danger of low confidence and negative mindset. LEGO® SERIOUS® PLAY® for Positive Psychology can be used to identify and talk through existing evidence of previous achievements, which is the most important means of developing confidence.
  • Creativity. Based on our previous experience of techniques such as visual brainstorming, image brain mapping and visualisation, we are confident in stating that the use of LEGO® facilitates and dramatically improves creativity and problem solving. Constructing novel shared stories around the same situation is another possible means of creativity enhancement.
  • Strengths use. Models and metaphors, when helping the construction of positive stories, can be used to illustrate and contextualise our strengths. A person who is able to identify and put their strengths into daily use will build a strong, healthy relationship with him/herself and others. Strengths rhetoric also legitimates a more positive approach to relationships development.
  • Teamwork. When used in groups, LEGO® SERIOUS® PLAY® is a helpful intervention for team building. Inviting others to take a part in the creation of a new perspective or finding a solution together, generates a spirit of sharing and belonging, developing interpersonal and group skills.
  • Metaperspective acknowledges that everything has a positive and negative side. It allows us to see both the benefits and downsides of strengths and competences. Metaperspective is a mature approach to personal development, resulting in: balance, acceptance, tolerance and development of the whole person. Creating stories through visual means, may enable us to adopt a more holistic approach to the situation and put it in perspective.